PHOTOGRAPHY EDUCATION FOR EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Become a Better Equine Photographer
You can know your camera inside and out and still find yourself standing in a field thinking, Okay...what do I do with these two now?
Because photographing horses is about a whole lot more than camera settings.
It's light. Location. Composition. Posing. Expression. Conformation. Timing. Knowing when to move yourself, when to move the horse, and when to abandon the plan entirely because the horse has clearly decided we're doing something else now.
And when you're photographing a horse and a person together, you get to make all those decisions while trying to make both of them look good at exactly the same time.
That's the fun part.
I want to help you understand what you're seeing, make better decisions while you're behind the camera, and create stronger photographs of horses and their people on purpose.
Not because everything happened to go perfectly that day.
HORSE & EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHY
Horses Are Not Just Big Dogs.
If you've spent any time photographing horses, you already know there's a little more to it than pointing your camera at a horse and hoping everyone looks good.
You need to understand light, composition, posing, and all the usual photography things.
But you also need to understand the horse.
Where are the feet?
What are the ears doing?
Is the neck flattering?
Does the horse look balanced?
Is the expression right?
Are you photographing the breed in a way that makes sense for that breed?
And if there's a person in the photograph, now you have to get both of them looking good at exactly the same time.
No pressure.
I've spent years specializing in horse and equestrian photography, and a big part of what I teach is how to make better decisions before you press the shutter instead of trying to fix everything later.
That includes photographing horses alone, horses with their people, working at liberty, posing, expression, conformation, location choices, light, composition, and all the little details horse people notice immediately.
Because your client may not know exactly why something looks wrong.
But I promise you, she knows her horse.
BEFORE AND AFTER THE SHUTTER
Getting Better Happens on Both Sides of the Shutter
There's a lot you can learn while you're standing behind the camera.
You start noticing the light before you put the horse in it.
You realize moving yourself three feet would give you a much cleaner background.
You catch the awkward leg before you've photographed it 47 times.
You notice the person's hand, the horse's expression, the ears, the angle of the neck, the bright thing growing out of somebody's head.
The more you learn to see before you press the shutter, the less time you spend later wondering how difficult it would be to Photoshop your way out of the problem.
But there's another part of getting better that happens after the session.
You look at what you made.
What worked?
What didn't?
Which photographs keep pulling you back?
Why?
What did you miss while you were shooting?
And what do you want to do differently next time?
That's one of the biggest differences between simply taking more photographs and actually becoming a better photographer.
You don't just make the photograph. You learn from it.
And then you take what you learned back behind the camera with you.
LET'S WORK ON YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
Choose How You Want to Learn
There isn't one right way to become a better photographer.
Sometimes you need someone to look at the work you've already created and tell you what you're not seeing.
Sometimes you need something you can keep beside you while you're figuring out what on earth to do with four horse legs and two human arms.
And sometimes you need to get out there with your camera and work through it together.
Pick the kind of help that makes the most sense for where you are right now.
I Want to Get Better at Posing Horses & People
Four horse legs. Two human legs. Two arms. Two hands. A lead rope. One subject who understands what I'm saying. One who possibly...doesn't.
What could possibly go wrong?
Equine & Equestrian Photography: Poses That Sell is packed with practical posing ideas for photographing horses and their people, so you don't have to invent every pose while your client and her horse are standing there waiting for you.
I Want to Photograph Horses Better
Horses bring their own set of challenges to a photograph.
Posing. Expression. Conformation. Light. Location. And the occasional horse who decides eating grass is considerably more important than whatever you're trying to accomplish.
Let's work on creating stronger equine photographs intentionally, not accidentally..
Let's Get Behind the Camera Together
Sometimes the best way to learn photography is to actually photograph. Private photography workshops give us the chance to work together on the things you want to improve.
That could be posing horses and riders. Working with light. Choosing locations and backgrounds. Photographing horses at liberty. Composition. Expression. Camera position. Or figuring out why something that looks perfectly good in your head isn't quite translating through the camera.
This isn't a one-size-fits-all workshop where I show up with a 97-slide PowerPoint and you quietly wonder when we're going to talk about the thing you actually came to learn.
We'll build it around what you need.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY EDUCATOR
I've Spent a Lot of Time on Both Sides of the Camera
Okay, technically I spend considerably more time behind the camera. You know what I mean.
I'm Betsy Bird, and I've spent years photographing horses, riders, equestrian seniors, pets, and the businesses that serve them through Ride the Sky Equine Photography.
I'm a Master Photographer and Certified Professional Photographer, and I'm the co-author of Equine & Equestrian Photography: Poses That Sell.
Image competition has also been a huge part of my own photography education. I'm a PPA Juror in Training, and years of competing, studying images, receiving critiques, judging, and helping other photographers evaluate their work have changed the way I see photographs.
But here's the important part.
I still photograph real clients and real horses.
Horses who won't put their ears forward. Horses who think standing square is an unreasonable request. Locations with less-than-helpful light. Clients who are nervous in front of the camera. Weather that did not read the session notes.
The things I teach aren't based on how photography works when everything goes perfectly.
They're based on how it works when you're actually out there trying to make a great photograph.
photography education faqs
You Might Be Wondering...
Do I need to be a professional photographer to learn from you?
Nope.
You don't need a photography degree, a certain number of years in business, or a wall full of awards.
You should understand the basics of using your camera so we can spend our time working on things like light, composition, posing, expression, conformation, location, and making stronger photographs.
If you're already photographing horses for clients, working toward that goal, or simply serious about becoming a better equine photographer, you're in the right place.
You don't have to know everything before you start. After all, that would sort of defeat the purpose of education.
What kind of photography do you teach?
Horse and equestrian photography is my specialty.
That includes photographing horses alone, horses with their people, posing, expression, conformation, light, location, composition, liberty work, and all the decisions that go into creating a strong equine photograph.
I also teach broader photographic concepts that apply no matter what's standing in front of your camera.
But if your usual subject has four legs, weighs 1,200 pounds, and occasionally decides to leave the set, you're definitely among your people here.
What can you help me with when I'm photographing horses and their people?
A lot.
We can work on posing the horse, posing the person, creating connection between them, choosing flattering camera angles, working with hands and lead ropes, expression, feet, ears, conformation, light, backgrounds, locations, composition, and all the little details that can make or break a horse-and-rider portrait.
And then there's the really fun part: learning how to watch all of those things at the same time.
That's one of the reasons photographing horses and people together takes practice.
There's a lot going on in that viewfinder.
What's the difference between a private workshop and an image critique?
An image critique starts with photographs you've already made.
We look at what's working, what's getting in the way, and why. The goal is to help you understand your photographs better so you can carry that knowledge into future sessions.
A private workshop gets us behind the camera.
We can work hands-on with posing, lighting, locations, composition, horse-and-rider photographs, liberty work, or whatever part of photographing horses you want to improve.
If you keep running into the same problem while you're shooting, a workshop may make more sense.
If you're looking at your finished images thinking, I know something isn't quite right, but I can't figure out what it is, start with a critique.
Can you help me with pet photography, too?
Absolutely.
I photograph pets through Ride the Sky, too, and I've spent plenty of time working with dogs who have their own ideas about where to sit, where to look, and whether participating in my plan is necessary.
A lot of what I teach about light, composition, expression, location, storytelling, and working with animals applies to pet photography as well.
Horses are my specialty, but they're definitely not the only four-legged creatures I photograph or teach.
Do you teach image competition?
Do you teach image competition?
Yes.
Image competition has been an important part of my own development as a photographer, and I teach photographers how competition works, how to evaluate images, how the 12 Elements come into play, and how to use what they learn through competition to become stronger photographers.
There will eventually be more dedicated image competition education here at Unbridled Business.
For now, if you're working on competition images and want feedback on them, Image
Critiques are a good place to start.
What if photography isn't actually the part of my business I need help with?
Then you're still in the right place.
Sometimes the photography is working just fine.
It's the marketing that's not bringing in enough of the right horse owners. Or inquiries aren't turning into bookings. Or client communication is taking forever. Or your workflow consists mostly of I'll remember.
Unbridled Business isn't only about becoming a better photographer. It's also about running the business behind the photography.
You'll find help with marketing, client communication, systems and workflows, AI, business decisions, mentoring, and more.
And if you have absolutely no idea which part needs your attention, that's exactly why I made the Start Here page.
NOT SURE WHERE TO START?
That's What the Start Here Page is for.
You know something needs work.
You're just not entirely sure whether it's your photography, your marketing, your client communication, your workflow,
or one of the million other things that comes with running this business.
That's okay.
Start here and I'll help you figure out where to go next.
Rein in the Chaos. Grow Unbridled.
Copyright© ((right_now.year}} Ride the Sky Equine Photography - All Rights Reserved.