Linda Top Photography Tips |
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Linda's Top Ten Photography Tips
In my interest and my promotion of the Bashkir Curly horse, our hypoallergenic curly sport horses, and our Curly Deluxe Trail horses, I recognized there was a REAL need to stunning photography. So, new camera in hand, I set my goal on producing stunning photography of these horses that would do them justice. From my hypoallergenic curly sport horses, to our Curly Deluxe Trail horses, I set my sites high, and have produced many award winning pictures...I compete in several annual photo contest, some images of horses, other contests, just general photography. The following slide shows are of photos I have taken over the years of my horses. The first is "Award Photos" which is my collection of photos won by entering contests that accepted both digital and 35mm photos. The second slide show is of my personal favorites. I hope you enjoy them too! As you will see, most of my photos are of my beloved horses, the Bashkir Curly horse. In addition all of the photos on this website, be it my hypoallergenic curly sport horse, or our Curly Deluxe Trail horse, foals or general pictures have been taken by me. Read my article on Top tips, and you can be a great photographer too! 1). KNOW your intent....do you want conformation shots? candid shots? action shots? when you head out with your camera, think about your goal here, it will make a big difference. We frequently shoot action first, then when the horse is settled down a bit, do the conformation shots. Often getting your horse to stand quietly for conformation shots, can be tough, if he has lots of energy to burn. 2). KNOW your target audience.....are you a breeder or wanting to sell a horse, or just wanting nice photos of your horse to show off to friends? Difference disciplines require different shots...ie...stock horses should be standing square for conformation shots, sport horses should be standing with all four legs seen. KNOW what your audience and what they consider"normal" for that disipline, otherwise your photo will not get any attention. 3). MAKE a plan....what kind of shots are we doing today? is there proper lighting? too much sun? cloudy days are best, early morning ( and I mean early ----5 am in the summer ) light is VERY good, and so is evening light. Professionals often start outside shots right as dawn is breaking. If you shoot in the afternoon, and there is very bright sun, put your horse in the shade, it also may trigger your flash, but that is OK. This trick really does work! ALSO, lots of books on photography composition out there, check your library if you don't want to buy. Surf the internet and see what pics you like, try and copy the composition of the shot.
5). CLEAN your horse/horse/nicely dress your human subjects....this makes a HUGE amount of impact for a good photo. Most photo shoots around here are about 2-3 hours...we CLEAN our horse, trim what is appropriate for our goal, and then go at it. 6). WATCH your background.....nothing worse than getting that GREAT shot, with a horrible background. Look before you shoot, many times, you don't notice things until the shot is done. If possible MOVE stuff out of the way, also trim up the weeds, make things tidy, your shots will show it. Sometimes a messy background is good. Horse show crowds....things that should be in horse pics are OK, but most photos simply look best without a messy background. background.... Look for eye appealing contrast, a light colored horse photographs best on dark or green background, a dark horse, on green or light colored background.
9). WAIT....be patient....one of the shots I did, with a mare/2 foals/birds...took almost an hour to get the perfect shot, the horses kept moving, the birds kept leaving, but it finally all came together, and I was ready ! I also had to keep moving my position, laying on the ground again each time...but it was WELL worth it...it is a shot that probably could never be duplicated
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