5 tips to becoming a better equine photographer

Jamie Flejou
Mar 8, 2020
3 min read

Hi everyone and welcome to my first blog post!

This is all very new to me, I've always wanted to start a blog but never really thought it would interest anyone however it seems that my instagram poll proved me differently.

As my first blog post I thought I would talk about 5 tips which will improve your equine photography. We all know It can be tricky to capture that perfect picture when photographing our precious ponies (we've all had to make some ridiculous sounds and poses to get their ears forward) but what really does help getting that perfect picture?

1. Get low!

I've always found that getting a lower angle helps making the horse look bigger and more magnificent whereas getting a picture from a higher angle will simply not look as good especially when taking jumping pictures, I always make sure I am crouching down to make the jump look to height/bigger and it's always been a rule of mine to never be over eye level of the horse as lower angles compliments their proportions.

2. It's all about that perfect timing

Timing is absolutely EVERYTHING when it comes to any kind of photography especially equine photography, it's what makes or breaks a picture. Let's face it, a picture of horse coming down from canter to trot won't look good, chances are feet will be all over the place and head up in the air. Firstly, make sure you use the continuous burst mode on your camera and have a high shutter speed so you don't get any motion blur and get numerous pictures at once.

When it comes to trotting pictures, you must make sure that the horses' legs are a M shape with inside legs extended and outside legs together. Of course this is also depending on the breed, high stepping horses such as welsh's or Icelandic's will mean you want pictures of them as they're stepping up.

For cantering pictures I find that getting a shot of the horse being as uphill as possible makes the horse look scopier and more powerful. Making sure the inside leg is underneath them but still lifted and the leading leg on your side of the arena.

3. Don't crop heads and legs out!

Don't deliberately crop out legs/heads of both horse and rider. it's a common mistake for photographers to focus so much on the horse that the rider's head ends up being cropped off (it's a mistake I use to make ALL the time as I just focused on the pretty pony hehe). It's not desirable and I can guarantee you that the client will never choose a picture with their face cropped out of it, after all, they want a picture of them and the horse TOGETHER!

4. Having the correct gear is essential

Guaranteed knowing how to use your equipment well is important however having the correct equipment is just as important to make sure you get the best out of your images. I started off with a Nikon d3200 and a 55-200mm lens and had it for 6yrs, when I learnt how to use it properly It produced some of the most amazing shots (such as the picture above) so if you're still new to photography I highly recommend getting this camera as it's been through it all and stayed sturdy while still producing awesome pictures! However if you're someone who's beginning to get more serious in photographing horses then a 70-200mm lens is an essential whether it be the f/2.8 or f/4 as equine photography will require long range shooting. I also use a 50mm f/1.8 for a lot of my shoots and absolutely adore it, it's definitely another essential lens to have.

My biggest piece of advice when it comes to equipment is learn to use it and slowly upgrade, don't buy an expensive, flashy camera straight away as chances are you won't understand how to use it and It won't produce what you want it. Start small and work your way up, that's exactly what I did and I find it's the best way to do it.

5. Learn to direct horses

Learning to guide a horse and their handler while also having some direction tips up your sleeve will work wonders (Pinterest will save your life when it comes to posing inspiration). When taking a posed horse photo, be very clear on where you need the horse to stand or look. Pay close attention to lighting and compositional elements (rule of thirds for example). It is a good idea to have an assistant distract the horse into looking in the proper direction.