How to Photograph Horses

Horses, both powerful and elegant, make excellent photographic subjects. But like all animals with minds and wills of their own, they can be difficult to capture with a camera. Good photographs of horses reveal them at their best, and convey to the viewer an idea of their personalities. A little preparation as you head out in your boots, camera in hand, to the field where your horse awaits will help you take pictures he’d be proud to show his mom.

Things You'll Need

• Horse
• Camera
• Treats
• Assistant

Instructions

1. Choose the right equipment. Even standing stock-still, a horse moves: He twitches his tail, his ears, his muscles. A digital camera with image stabilization will prevent these small movements from appearing as blurs. High pixel resolution further helps with clarity of the image. For film cameras, use a film speed suited to the kind of picture you intend to take. Motion shots of your horse are best recorded on fast film (400 ISO or higher), but slow films (200 or 100 ISO) record crisper detail and make less grainy enlargements.

2. Shoot in mild light. An outdoor setting offers better light than stables. If including blue skies behind your horse is not important to you, photograph on a slightly overcast day. The film of clouds filters the sun and creates an even distribution of light. If the weather is sunny, choose a time of day when the light is bright but gentle, either in the early morning or an hour or two before dusk. Avoid midday; the high noontime sun casts harsh shadows and turns highlights into glare.

3. Decide what sort of horse photograph to take. A full-body profile portrait of a horse will be most practical if you intend to use the photograph to market your horse, either for sale or for breeding. More informal and personal is a portrait of the horse’s face. This sort works best if the horse is comfortable with the camera. The image of a horse with his head grazing is a pretty one, but common, and may not draw out the distinctive qualities of the horse.

4. Prepare the horse for picture day. Unless you are taking a candid portrait of your horse, messy mane and all, you’ll have to spruce him up. Extend this grooming to his trappings if he’ll be wearing them in the picture. Depending on his disposition, your horse may be very interested in the camera (which will lead to lots of pictures of his nostrils) or indifferent (so that all the shots are of him wandering away). In order to keep him in position, you may want to have an assistant offer treats or otherwise engage the horse's attention.

5. Edit your background. As you frame your shot, consider exactly what you see in the viewfinder. Your horse is there, of course, and you want to include nothing else that may distract from him. Be sure that the landscape works with his figure. If trees or buildings interfere with his outline, shift your position. Remove those unnecessary things (wheelbarrows, trucks) that you are able to take away.

6. Compose your shot. Think about the space around the horse: are the borders within the frame too broad, dwarfing him, or are they too narrow, making the composition look tight? Seek a balance between your subject and what surrounds him. A picture taken from very far away may look more like a picture of a landscape with a horse in it than a picture of a horse. Be sure that the details you want the viewer to see of the horse himself aren’t lost in shadows or bleached by light.

7. Take lots of exposures. Even if you think you got the right picture the first time, take many more. Your horse will go about his business as you work, getting used to you with your camera, shifting his body and changing the distribution of light, and the best picture may be the next one, or the one after that.

Tips & Warnings

• A tripod will help improve image quality, especially with slow film and a long exposure. Even a makeshift brace like a fence or a chair will reduce shakiness.

• Don't assume that a horse who doesn't know you will take kindly to having his picture taken, especially at close range. Some react strongly when they feel threatened. You won't get a good picture, and you might get hurt.

Resources

• If you want to see how the pros do it, or you want to have a pro do it for you, look at the portfolios on equinephotographers.org, a network of photographers specializing in horses.
• Robert Vavra is to horses what Mario Testino is to supermodels. Whether you want your horse to look like the cover of Equine Vogue or you just want to consider some compositional possibilities, his website is full of images and ideas.