Portrait of a Horse!

[Nathaniel]

Something unusual for me. I have photographed many things in life but this is the first time I have been asked to take a portrait of a horse! The folk would like the photo to be capable of being blown up and to be framed and kept in their lounge.The only horse/horses I have photographed are the wild ponies in Conwy! I therefore wondering whether I should use my long lens on my 6D so that I can photograph the horse from a distance and get a full screen image.

Any advice from our good members will be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Nathaniel

[Stan]

Re: Portrait of a Horse!

Is it their horse or just any old wild one and when you say portrait, do you mean head and shoulders or the whole thing. If their own horse, then you are going to be able to get quite close and arrange him again a complimentary background. If a wild one, then you will probably be a bit further away but the same considerations re background apply. Having found your horses, be prepared to spend some time looking for the angles and getting it looking towards you, whilst paying attention to what is behind him. Lasy year we went into the new forest to get some shots for a craft fayre and i remember we spent a good couple of hours following them around to get a handful of acceptable shots.

I would have thought in either scenario your 70-200 with or without the converter would do the job. Here are a couple of examples shot with my 70-200. (uploading direct so quality may suffer)

Stan

1828 - new forest pony.jpg

1839 - new forest pony.jpg

[Nathaniel]

Re: Portrait of a Horse!

Thanks Stan for the examples. It is their own horse- one that has been bought, and they would like a portrait of it i.e head and shoulders. If you have any examples, please post so that I can get an idea. I am only doing this assignment next week as I am busy this week. so there is a bit more time for me to get my own thinking right.

[Bhuna]

Re: Portrait of a Horse!

If the owner him/herself are photogenic, you could do one like this one here

:)

Good luck with it.

[jimsphotography]

Re: Portrait of a Horse!

Hi Nat,
Both Stan & Bhuna are offering great advice. My two penny worth is - horses have a good but limited range of facial expressions. It's worth having the owner call it and talk to it - you should get pricked up ears, flared nostrils etc.. By the way, I like the example Bhuna supplied - something like that could work well.
Best of luck
James

[Paulstw]

Re: Portrait of a Horse!

Approach it the same way you'd approach a wildlife shot. Most people are attracted by the face of their animals & pets. I'd likely go for head and shoulder portrait view in cracking light depending on the colour of the horse. Andy's example is great right enough if they are up for that.

[djguk47]

Re: Portrait of a Horse!

Nat,
Follow the advice above about a head and shoulders shot from about 45 degrees. Make sure you get one of the eyes pin sharp as a horse has a fabulous eye. Dark and mysterious but also kind and gentle.
There is fabulous muscle power in the front legs and across the chest which the owners will want as well.

Seriously I would look at horse photos on Google to give you some idea of what is wanted in a horse portrait.

Why not a main portrait shot with say two smaller shots of the horse standing and also trotting. If it is a jumper then a shot of it going over a jump and if a dressage horse then one of it doing a dressage "step".
Just make sure you "lose" the background as the horse is the subject and this is what they want.

Check out the colour and markings of the horse as this will also need to be taken into consideration. A bay horse in the sun will have a magical golden sheen.

Your choices of horse shots is unlimited.

[Nathaniel]

Re: Portrait of a Horse!

Thanks Andy,James,Paul and David for your excellent ideas. Yes, I can take several shots and that is no problem. I am only wondering whether to use my 70-200 or my 24-105 lens. I can of course use both lenses as I have now got two camera bodies- a crop & a full frame.
Nice series of pics Andy.

[Paulstw]

Re: Portrait of a Horse!

Have a play about with it with both lenses. Take loads of shots. Digital film is free. Never use shots from the first few mins. Always get into the groove. How would want pics if you had a horse :)

[djguk47]

Re: Portrait of a Horse!

Nat,
Don't forget your 50 mm as this will also give you some great shots.
Just remember NO flash...... unless you want some real action shots

[CountDavid]

Re: Portrait of a Horse!

If you have any examples....

Nat - another example or 2 (http://www.gr8pictures.co.uk/). The black background pix are taken with studio quality lights but on site. Flash is possible but you need to be certain about the horse's reaction.
Don't forget the sweet paper!

David

[Nathaniel]

Re: Portrait of a Horse!

Thanks David and Andy (Bhuna) again. I have just sent these links to the horse lovers for their consideration and to get back to me.