I faced some new minor challenges on my shoot this past Sunday, but it was a great learning experience in overcoming them. Shooting a 17hh grey horse in tight spaces brings unique challenges. The initial thought that came to my mind when I first saw him was to showcase just how tall this boy is and to use the environment to emphasize that.
Then we introduced little Charlie into the picture and had some fun in the field just letting the three of them live in the moment.
Thank you to Kayla Duheme and her boys Lou and Charlie for being such great models. It was a lot of fun!
Moving forward, one adjustment that I've decided to make is that I will be shooting off-camera flash for now on (at least majority of the time). This will allow me to shoot more dramatic portraits.
I quickly learned that when taking portraits of a person AND a horse, because horses are so large, that it's best to shoot wide on my flash. Time is critically important during my portrait sessions and the sooner I can get my bread and butter down, the quicker I will be in setting up.
My next photo shoot is this Saturday and it will be Christmas themed. :) It will be a little different, not in the way that I shoot the subjects but I will be looking for and scripting unique moments.
One very important note that I would like to mention is that I do still plan on incorporating more environmental photos and I guess it's a bit tough with Canadian winters where we don't have the sunsets or luscious green pastures with lots of green grass and dandelions to capture. Afterall, you look at some of the best photos out there that really bring in the setting and 99 out of 100 times they're shot in gorgeous green fields with flowers everywhere and the sun is setting.
Unfortunately, we are still a few months away from Spring, so I will make the most of it until Spring arrives. Then that's when my ideas and vision will really start to open up as I will be taking full advantage of green pastures, flowers and sunsets.
Click HERE to view all the photos.
