The first and most important blog post is going to be a simple guide to taking good, clean photos that will advertise your horse at it's best. Or at least the best it can look at that point in time. I will give my three biggest hints on photographing here. I am by no means a professional, just an amatuer who loves to play around, but I've found a good picture doesn't take long to get if you know your basics.
1.) Shoot your photographs from a chair.
I kid you not! When you take your photos from a chair and at a distance it takes all the guesswork out of the height of your photos. If you are a tall person like me it is easy to make the horse look short, ugly and any number of other distortions that make for an unappealing photo. The horse in the photo below is 14.1hh on a good day. I took his photo from a chair from about 100 feet away with a long lens. He looks like a good height, and there are no distortions (ie his body looks well balanced) so his legs look like a normal length, his head doesn't look large and his hip (which is slightly weak) doesn't look terribly so.
2.) Pick an aesthetically pleasing, but not distracting background.
Most people will tell you a wall, or some sort of greenery is preferred, and in most cases I agree. However if the wall you have available is an ugly color, dirty and/or otherwise not aesthetically pleasing, don't do it! I personally prefer to find a pretty bush, some nice trees or a nice flat area in front of a pretty garden or view (mountain, pond, etc). Ideally photos would be on gravel or pavement clear of weeds and manure, with some sort of nice background. Proof that background makes a difference (now wouldn't this photo be prettier if there wasn't a manure pile behind her?--yeah that's my fault):
3.) ALWAYS clip and bathe prior to photos.
I don't care if it's the middle of winter and your horse is a fuzzy yak, they should be clean and have no whiskers. If your horse doesn't clip--use scissors to minimize the old-man beard. If they have nasty dirty legs--wash them! I don't care if it's super duper cold--legs are SUPPOSED to be cold. Wash the legs, and rub them dry with a towel. Soft scrub soap with oxi-clean works well and won't leave purple dye on them if you are worried you won't get it all off before they are done. If they are a hairy yak and it is FREEZING out, curry the heck out of your horse and brush then HOT water and some show sheen in a bucket works--dunk a rag in, ring it out so it is just damp and scrub the horse in circular motions. Then when they are dry, take a dust rag (the kind that are sort of static-y?) and spray with show sheen or use a bit of baby oil and show sheen combined and wipe em down! Baby oil on face, baby oil or quick braid applied to tail head, mane forelock, and ears makes a nice neat appearance. Hint: don't go to heavy on the baby oil!:) A little show sheen or baby oil on the feet if you will be in grass or on pavement or non-dusty gravel makes a nice finish. Amazing what a tiny bit of baby oil does for a head, even if the rest of the horse is scruffy and suffering from oild man beard syndrome. Note: this is my retired horse--she lives in a pasture so has to keep her whiskers:)
Okay folks, that is all for today! But no worries, I have plenty to share to improve your photography skills--and help you sell your horse!
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