Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Equipment
- Settings
- Creating Your Portrait (ABLE Method)
- Head Shots
- Conformation Shots
- Lighting and Positioning
- Things to Avoid
Introduction
Everyone loves a good equine portrait, and if the comments in Facebook groups are anything to go by, it’s one of the most shared and celebrated forms of equestrian photography.
If you’ve ever wanted to take your horse portraits from “nice snapshot” to “wall-worthy image,” this guide is for you. This is NOT a “fine art” portrait guide, which is a whole course in itself. This is your quick guide to levelling up those spur of the moment portraits to add a new type of image to your armoury.
We’ll cover the essentials: choosing the right lens, working with flattering angles, finding the best backgrounds, and getting the horse’s ears and eyes in the right position. We’ll also talk about camera settings and finish with a section on conformation shots — those all-important side-on images used to show off the horse’s build.
A future article will explore advanced techniques like off-camera flash and dramatic black backgrounds, but for now, we’re keeping things simple and effective.