One of My Jobs on a Horse&Rider Photo Shoot...
...is to get horses' ears up for the photographer. So here I am, doing the deal, at the shoot we just conducted in southern California.
"Ears up, please!" This is one aspect of my nag-mag work that usually stays behind (or in front of) the scenes. Photo by Cappy Jackson.Horses are different in what they'll react to, so we have quite the ears-up arsenal in our little bag of tricks. Some, but not all, will prick their ears when they hear grain rattling in a bucket. Others can be teased into the ears-up position with a handful of grass, or from the rattle of horse-treat cellophane. (You can always tell which horses are used to getting hand-fed treats when you bring out the horse candy.)
Other stuff we'll try:
* An empty plastic water bottle, which makes a funny sound when you squeeze it repeatedly.
* A stick horse that whinnies when you squeeze the sound box in its ear.
* A mirror, held beneath the horse's nose so he can see "the other horse."
* Leading another horse in front of the photo-subject horse.
* Mylar tassles at the end of a stick, shaken and fluttered for the horse to see.
* Any kind of kid toy that makes odd noises.
* Recorded sounds of a stallion teasing a mare (works great on most breeding stallions). We call this device the "ear-o-matic."
* A broom, used to sweep the dirt right under the horse's nose.
Just a little behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to bring you our favorite horse mag!
posted by Juli Thorson @ 1:40 PM
12 comments
12 Comments:
That's too funny! The bucket, cellophane, or food in the hand wouldn't work for my horses, though- all you'd have is an empty frame in the photo, as they'd be grovelling at your feet begging for the food/treat :-)
PS- I loved the puppy photo! Too cute.
Wow, What a cool job! I would love to do that!
I left out the part about lifting and setting each foot into position (which wears you out after you've done it about 50 times for each of 15 or 20 horses--because of course, they move before the picture gets taken), and the part about helping the frustrated owners stay calm.
But, there's no denying that it's a fun part of my job.
If you can even call it a job to be around horses all day.
Do you ever have "models" that need to be replaced because you just can't get a decent photo? Or tricks that just don't work out well?
Some of those ideas would probably get my horse's ears up, and quite an action shot as well! :)
My biggest photo challenge is my mare. She's a TB and I'm starting to think she's just NOT photogenic! Her face always looks 3 times as long in a photo as it does in real life. :(
Ha! Mine perks his ears up at dang near anything.
When its photo time at the shows its always a challange to get him to act "not quite so animated" for the shot. His head is way up and ears are forward and neck is arched - he's terrible. As big of a ham as me!
You guys would have it in the bag if you had a live quail you could whip out and sit on the ground. Stretch Loves Birds!
PS - I tagged you need something to blog about - you're it!
What's 6 things we don't know about you?
CDN--
We try not to work with horses that just aren't broke well enough to stand still for at least a split second! Some are more challenging than others in that regard, but we can almost always get it done.
The biggest challenge is weather. You can control a lot of things on a photo shoot, but rain, wind, and lack of sunlight aren't among them.
If one trick doesn't work, we go on the next one. That's why we have so many.
PS to CDN:
When a horse's head looks unnaturally long in a photo, it's usually because you took the shot from the wrong angle, and/or were using a lens with a too-short focal length. A wide-angle lens is the worst (unless you're using a fish-eye lens, which I doubt anyone would even try).
Generally speaking, the longer the lens, the better. Your basic point-and-shoot digital camera isn't going to get the job done. Fine for taking snapshots of the Grand Canyon when you're on vacation, but not adequate for flattering horse photography.
Julie: thanks for the tips! I've tried many different angles, but I hadn't considered the lense.
Sorry, I wanted to add:
Then funny thing is that I seem to be able to get pretty good shots of everyone else's horse!
(not of the quality of Cappy or other pros, but still nice)
Stephanie,
If you look again at the photo with this post, you'll see that I'm holding the grain bucket in a way that encourages the horse to lower his head and neck. That's part of the equine-photography game--it takes an assistant, working with the photographer, to bring the head down into a flattering position.
When you see conformation shots where the horse has his head and neck lowered to a level position, there is almost always an assistant, out of camera range, working to make that happen.
Another trick of the trade!
I hate staging shots. I would much rather catch them at liberty in their natural environment, or while someone is riding.
Funny story: The other day I was trying to get our two's heads off the grass and up so I could get some nice pictures. I threw a rock over the fence into the woods. Usually they just perk up their head, but the rock hit a tree, and then proceeded to hit some thick brush, and made a large racket. The two babies ran straight back at me for safety! Luckily our mare then started walking towards the fence and I got a pretty picture of her so it turned out ok.
Something else to try, but you may want to experiment at a distance first. I have this ultrasonic dog repel device I ordered off the Internet called a Dazer. I noticed when I used it anywhere near where the horses are they perked their ears up. So I tried it in the barn a few times, starting at a long distance as I was unsure of if it would be loud for them. Our mare looks up every time and puts her ears forward trying to figure out what it is. I've always used it about 20' or more away from them.
Thanks for the tips Juli! Keep those good shots coming!
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