Puddles of fun

I am the first to remind anyone who will listen, horseriding can be a dangerous sport and you need to stay frosty when in the saddle.This can, however lead to some tense and stifled images for the horse & rider photographer.

I like to reveal the fun of riding  and how it certainly releases the inner child.  This photo shoot was on a dull damp day. However together with my client we were able to turn the poor weather conditions to our advantage and have fun.  I hope you  agree I have captured the little girl in this photo, the fun and zest for life. Nothing better than jumping in puddles and doing it on your pony well, unbeatable joy!

Now go jump in a puddle!

Alison x
 

The best place to be

Ok so this is one of my all time favourites, usually I start taking photos as soon as possible. Alot of clients prefer to have a few photos taken before they put there hat on and I like this time to establish a rapport with client and horse, see how they are together and get them used to me and my lens. Something happens to people as they become what I call "horsified", they come from wherever, domestic chores, endless emails or general demands of their work or home life, to a place of harmony. Whether they bring the horse in themselves or just give them a stroke before getting on. Something universal happens as they handle and talk to the horse, a calm comes over them, their shoulders drop, the corners of their mouth come up and wrinkles disappear as their faces relax. I had finished taken a few photos of this client tacking up Deuce, a wonderfully big and beautiful horse. Then I was just walking slightly ahead down to the school when I turned to see where they were I saw this wonderful expression on my clients face. For me it sums up what being around horses does for the busy person, she is not away with the fairy's, she is in paradise with her steed.

Turning the corner

This is my friend and riding instructor who censors photographs of her riding very critically.Not surprisingly I am absolutely chuffed she likes this one of her.This moment came towards the end of our photo session together. Ever the Equine professional, she takes her riding very seriously, but is also a very warm and funny person. Easy to photograph as she glides round cutting shapes and practising dressage moves. But this brings to my mind a common challenge when photographing horse and rider, someones personality could easily be missed as they concentrate on their riding technique and photos can, perhaps, not really capture the real person. So whats going on here, lovely shape and even though its actually in colour the light of the day and the scenery in the school makes it look almost black and white. Given its a grey(or white) horse, and she is wearing black the contrasts are dramatic. What makes it special to me though is her smile just as she made the turn a friend arrived on the yard, she looked up towards her and was so glad to see her and I took the shot, lovely.

Why i-click photos

This photo is one of the first taken that gave me a hint of confidence to take more photos and actually say out loud i-click photos. The conditions were far from ideal a misty November morning, cold and dark. A purist would no doubt point out a host of faults with this photo, but you know what I like it and more importantly my client loved it for you see it tells a story. My client is riding the horse in the foreground, it is her new horse and she is riding sitting trot without stirrups all a bit tense and trying very hard to relax. This new horse is going to be a challenge for her, stretch her and that is exciting. Very different, from the comfort and safety of her old horse who is being ridden in the back ground, literally fading away out of sight, her first horse took my client to this point but now its time for her to move on and here she is moving on. Alison i-click photos