Horse Photography - tips collected from experts


Photo of gorgeous stallion *Rush River Slash, taken by owner, Sue Weaver, Wolf Moon Curlies


Common Do's & Dont's:

Here is probably the most common error committed when photographing a horse for sale. Don't photograph a horse from the 3/4 fore view... that is, don't photograph a horse with its shoulder closest to the camera... it is almost always unflattering even to very nice conformation horses. It tends to distort proportions the opposite way you want to. You will create a photo that makes the shoulder & head look larger (coarser) and reduces the size of the handsome hindquarters. Also don't stand above a horse - get down where the camera height is about level with the horse's mid body.

Whenever you take a 3/4 view photograph, position yourself where the camera is closer to a hind leg than a front leg. This way, any potential distortion will be flattering to the horse's conformation rather than unflattering. The hip will not appear shrunken in size, and the head and neck will be shown well, but not enlarged.

  • Get a handler to help
  • Take photos on a sunny day
  • Avoid cluttered, busy or confusing backgrounds
  • Shoot from the direct side of a horse, or from slightly to the rear
  • Shoot from a height consistent with the horse's mid-body
  • Shoot with the horizon below the topline of the horse's back
  • Shoot AM or PM when the sun is somewhat low in the sky
  • Shoot with the sun behind you
  • Watch out for shade & shadows
  • Have a horse's position so that he is standing directly over his near fore & hind legs, and have the off legs slightly under him
  • Always have a horse's head up to show its neck & shoulder conformation
  • Pricked alert ears are a plus
  • While you are at it, take LOTS of photos, expect only a very few will be good enough to use
  • Take direct fore & hind shots to show the legs & complete conformation

Here are some photos borrowed from actual horse sale photo ads on the internet,
that display some common Do's & Don'ts:
This photo fails to be informative enough to help the sale of a horse (you cannot discern any conformation). It is blurry, shadowy, the angle is taken from high, the mare & foal's proportions are distorted; and legs are cut off.
This photo is is a cute moment, and is great for a scrapbook... but would not help the sale of this foal, unless for sentimental reasons. :)
This photo has a fence in the foreground, which can & should always be avoided. The horse is not groomed, and while in action is not really showing its conformation in any informative way.
This baby was photographed from high - the photographer should get down to a lower level. The photo is faded, improper light. Again, the shoulder is the closest part of its anatomy to the camera.
Another photo with the shoulder closest to the camera, and with poor lighting. With a person holding the horse in a halter, a better position and angle can easily be achieved.
Another photo with the horse's shoulder closer to the camera than the hip... creating a downhill looking photo, out of perspective, also impossible to gain a sense of the horse's true conformation looking at this photo.
This is another photo with poor lighting (taken in the shade) & the shoulder shot. But a handler is used here, and the horse is posed very well, and a better sense of the horse's conformation is apparent.
This photo has the handler right behind the horse's head, and the foal is in front of the mare... so really you can't see much of this mare's conformation. The photographer could have gotten closer to the horses too (there is too much background). The lighting is bright enough but the angle should have positioned the sun directly behind the photographer for less harsh shadowing.
A poor quality photo in several respects, the lighting is so poor you can hardly see the horse... the angle is again not flattering.
Here is a photo where only part of the horse was captured, and without any information about the conformation of this horse. How could a prospective buyer make any decision about this?
Another photo problem on the internet we sometimes see is the webkeeping mistake of stretching or squeezing a photo. Impossible to judge a horse's conformation when this happens.
Another common problem is not having a handler present to hold the horse, and help pose them. A horse with its head down does not show a potential buyer its neck and shoulder angle & conformation, which is important to see when buying a horse.
Another photo of a horse without a handler to help pose it. A horse without a handler will usually be grazing. This photo does have good lighting, and the camera angle is good. And the photographer caught the correct leg placement to best show a horse.
Here is photo with practically no information to offer a prospective buyer. The lighting is poor, the black horse is mostly just a silhouette, it is in an odd position and caught while moving & turning.
This photo shows a problem easy to miss while taking a picture: interfering shadows. This foal is caught in a nice pose here however, with its head up. It is easy to judge its shoulder & neck & head looking at this photo.
This photo (left) is another horse arbitrarily cut off and out of perspective. If a photo is cropped, it should still display some information about conformation & proportions, like the photo to the right.
Another shoulder photo, with the horse pictured as though slanted downhill or standing with its front legs in a hole. A photographer can learn to avoid this common mistake by positioning himself more to the mid or rear of a horse when taking a photo. A poor quality camera may be the culprit for consistently low resolution photographs.
This photo shows a horse photographed closer to the shoulder than the hindquarter, yet here, the photographer was far enough away from the horse that no discernable distortion resulted. The head, neck & shoulder is not out of perspective with the rest of the body. However, note that a photo taken from the exact side of the horse still gives more information about conformation. Plus, the feet are cut off.
Photo on left captures a mare looking slightly downhill. If you haven't lost persective, you can compensate sometimes, by editing & tilting the photo like the one on the right, to balance it up.
This photo is again taken from an unflattering and uninformative angle. Also, the sun was high, & not arranged behind the cameraman, resulting in too much contrast.
Here we have good sunshine, the sun is behind the cameraman here, but still for some reason the photo appears faded & dull, plus the photographers shadow was cast right on the horse. And this is again, another unflattering shoulder shot, managing to give the optical illusion that the horse is falling forward.
Good lighting, but, poor position, the photographer is in the horse's face, and the legs are cut off.
Here is a mistake we often don't notice until we see the photo later... the horizon is exactly along the horse's topline. This horse is standing in correct leg position, with good lighting - if he hadn't been grazing, and the photographer positioned himself w/ the sun more to his back, (and had a handler) it could have been a nice photo.
Bad position, with the shadows ruining the photo. For better results, a photographer should position himself more between the sun & the horse.
Successful photo in most respects - a busy background, and, strangly, the mare was caught while chewing, (lips stuck out) thus making her muzzle look elongated & unflattering. Legs are in correct position for best conformation information, but she is ungroomed, with mud all over her legs.
A photo with a wonderfully positioned horse, thanks to the rider. The cameraman forgot to position the sun behind him, to capture it shining on the horse. So, shadows cover up detail, missing a great opportunity.
A very nicely done photo. The hind leg is somewhat out behind him, and it is best to have the 2 closest legs directly under the horse to allow a prospective buyer to best judge its conformation and angles.
Most photo ads include only one photo. However to properly present a horse for sale, (or to register him) you will need to photograph a minimum of all 4 sides clearly, to show all leg angles, and markings. These side photos are taken just slightly behind the center of the horse.
When you are photographing a horse, you will notice that the horizon will align where you put the camera; that is, the lower you go, the lower the horizon goes. Here, the photographer is knelt down to where the camera is aligned with the upper or center of the horse's barrel. The sun is placed behind, and yet taking care to prevent the cameraman's shadow from falling across the horse. An experienced handler is a huge help!
These 2 fore & rear photos are taken from the direct front & rear of the horse. These kind of photos are necessary to properly show the legs & conformation for a prospective buyer. However, these direct angles do NOT show all 4 leg markings at the same time, which is necessary for registration. So, for registration, the photographer would also grab a few photos taken slightly to the left or right while photographing the rear & fore shots, to show all 4 legs markings at once, from the front view and from the rear view.




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