Tips I learned while photographing Hemi for all those that wish to do their out session with a horse:
1) First and foremost be aware of the safety of the horse, handler and yourself. Also have realistic expectations. Horses will move a lot and try to eat that yummy grass whenever they can. They literally are like photographing toddlers. Have patience and rely on the handler's relationship with the horse to keep everyone safe. Ask them to pose in a spot but ask them also if they feel comfortable posing in that location. Safety for yourself would be always be being aware of where you are around the horse. If you are unsure, ask the handler about the horses personality. Do they bite, headbutt, kick? In my experience, I just acknowledged that they could do any of those things and used a longer lens to zoom in. Fortunately for me, Hemi was good to me and only was fresh with his handler Alex, from Pups Unlimited Grooming in Attleboro, MA. But don't all toddlers give their Mama's trouble!?
2) This one piggybacks off #1. Make sure the horse always has a handler. Even for the photos alone of Hemi, someone was holding the reigns and then that person was photoshopped out.
3) Use a faster shutter speed. I shot all of these with a shutter speed of 500. With the light I had, that was enough to freeze the action to not have blurry images.
4) Get Close ups of the details. The ears, eye, nose, main, all the bits and pieces that are special about that animal. Here I used a long lens while Alex held Hemi's reigns and was always aware where he was so as to not spook him and so that he could see me out of his one good side.
5) Bring a lint roller to touch up the handler's clothes.
6) Pay attention to the ears of the horse. Perked up ears look happy and not scared. Ask the handler if there are noises that would spook the horse. At one point someone behind me played a horse whinny on the phone and he perked right up! We tried shaking keys, but that lasted a hot minute. He responded most to the kissey noises.
7) Move the horse. When Hemi got restless, Alex would let him walk and reset him. Also, standing still photos are great but do photos of walking toward and way from the camera.
8) Know when the horse is done. There did in fact come a time when Hemi's body language told us he was done with photos. Keep it fun and end on a good note. Ask the handler to give you the heads up when they feel the horse ready to be done.
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