It’s getting warmer, birds are singing and the grass is green. Anytime now your four-legged pal will stop looking like a wooly mammoth, and you start thinking that it’d be nice to get some professional portraits with your horse
But then again maybe you’ll get around to it later. When you’ve got a bit more money? Or Spring cleaned the yard? Or you’ve both lost a few pounds? Or maybe when the kids are no longer at home…?
I understand that there’s always a reason not too, but each year you put it off your horse gets older. So here are a few reasons why this year might be the one where you actually take the plunge and get those portraits with your horse taken
You love your horse
What better reason could there be, for commissioning a portrait with your horse, than that you love them? I’m sure that there are times (probably when they’re standing on your foot!) when you don’t feel that way, but despite that, you know that you love them. They are your heart horse. I mean, what would you do without them? If this is you it’s probably way past time to get a proper photo
Do you have loads of selfies and video clips, of your horse, on your phone? How long does it take you to scroll through to find the one you want… ‘it’s here somewhere…’
Mobile pics are great for capturing those day to day moments and quick snaps. I wouldn’t be without my phone pics. I love them, but they are not the ones I large prints for my wall. Phones are generally not designed for that. And it’s too easy for a phone camera to distort your horse’s proportions (big head, tiny legs ring any bells?). Plus it’s not easy to get both of you looking good in the same picture when you are the one trying to take it!
Instead imagine if you had a beautiful image, of you and your horse, right there on your wall over the mantlepiece, or on the stairs. And when you are curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine how special would it be to hold a handsome luxury bound album full of images of your favourite four legged bestie?
A thousand competition pics and selfies but no portraits?
A Photo shoot can be fun!
You don’t love (or even like) having your photo taken. I get that! If I’m being honest it wasn’t my favourite thing to do either. Even now I wince a little inside when some one gets their phone out to snap me. So, I found myself a great professional, whose work I loved and we had a blast!
Portrait photographers are in business to make you look and feel your best. A good equestrian portrait photographer are there to make sure you and your horse look and feel your best, and to do this they will put you at your and make sure you are comfortable throughout. Despite any nerves beforehand the vast majority of my clients finish their shoot saying how much they enjoyed the experience, how relaxed it was and how much fun they’ve had. They almost forget they were in front of the camera
Experienced professional photographers know about posing both human and horse, as well as understanding light, composition etc It’s not just about pressing a button
At the risk of sounding heretical, professional portraits are about more than your social media feed (although they can look great there too). Portraits with your horse are about creating artwork and preserving memories to last long after the horses, dogs and people have gone. It’s all about beautifully capturing a small piece of your world, that’s special to you, and saving it forever
Stop time
Walls love art
Are you the person with plain blank walls because you can’t find anything to hang on them, or do you hang pictures just so the walls don’t look so empty?
For me a house always looks more homely with pictures on the wall. Even better if they are related to the home owners in some way. It’s one of the reasons I love printed photographs so much. My own home has a mixture of painted art, photographs of places I’ve been lucky enough to visit (and look both visually stunning and bring back some fabulous memories) and images of the people and animals that I love. It makes me smile every time I see them. They make it feel like home… my home
Not to bring a downer to things, but this is sadly true. One day your beautiful four legged friend will be gone
It’s a sad fact that horses have shorter lives than we do. When that awful day comes what you will have left to remember them by are the memories that you made together and the images that you have. There is nothing like being able to share and reminisce over a high quality professional image rather than a blurry phone snap that doesn’t really look like them or you at your best. We spend so much money on that have little value that we often put off investing in the things that can end up meaning the most
Life is way too short
Let's face it, the time is never going to be perfect
People and their horses grow and change over the years and, because you live with it day by day, you don’t always see the changes. A lot can happen whilst you are waiting for ‘just the right time’ to take pictures. The truth is that whatever you are waiting for eg your horse to be in top shape, for your project horse to stop being one, for you to lose a few pounds, it may never happen! In the meantime time is slipping past and before you know it, it’s next season or next year, or the year after, and you’re both getting older and you still haven’t got the images you’ve been dreaming about
If you have decided that professional photographic portraits are something that you’d like to do with your horse you can find out more about Kate Everall Photography sessions on our website or contact me at mail@kateeverallphotography.com and we can start planning your session
