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I spent last weekend shooting an equestrian clinic my girlfriends family were involved in. I had a lot of fun doing it despite having NFI about horses.
The tricky thing is the "horsey people" like to have the horse in a certain position through it's stride, the head, ears and mouth all have to be a certain way, so there was some shots that I thought were good, but in fact they weren't from their perspective.

One thing I learnt realised after a couple of hours shooting was that pleasing expressions on the riders were few and far between. They had a top level coach there instructing them, so they were so deep in concentration most of the time that they look rather blank. I guess the guy with the camera is the least of their concerns at that point.

Anyway, I had to enlist my girlfriend to work through the images to find the good ones from the "horsey" frame of mind. Here's a few...

one and two, i reckon its either the classic 3/4 possie or straight on so show the posture, but i also have no clue about horses..

#2 is my sister in law, so she's approved that one as a good shot.

They seem very focused on the horses form, so I tried to capture some of the shots that they wouldn't see very often in the moments between the rider and horse. That's what the last shot is. It's a pity she doesn't look a bit happier, but I've since removed the gate and given her a slight smile in PS.

#1& 2 are classic with #2 being typically dressage. I'd straighten up the horizon in #2 using the fence post as the guide and crop less at the bottom if you have room to give the horse some ground to step on. I'd also shoot from a lower perspective to show off the height of the horse and rider. In the same way as shooting a full a head to toe shot of a women from am upright position can make her look look short legged and more stout, the same applies to horses.

I also use fill flash to lessen the cap shadow hiding the eyes, but that's just my personal preference.

So you've been challenged with horses, nice to know you can still be challenged!! lol I swear its a rarity, as all your shots seem to look amazing!! I like #1 the most, I like the angle of the horse and I don't mind the old blokes face, it kinda shows the serious side of what they do. # 2 also is a great shot too, well done hope you had fun and challenge yourself to do it again someday!!

Thanks guys.

#2 is as straight as I can get it. I just shot too tight, so there's no room left to rotate it around without losing the head or feet.
I'll be sure to try shooting from a lower perspective next time. Thanks for the tip.
The thought of fill flash had crossed my mind, but I thought it may be frowned upon as it could distract the riders or horses. One lady had issues with me standing besides the fence because she said her horse was spooked by me. I can only imagine what would've happened if there was a flash firing at the same time.

Wink wrote:. It's a pity she doesn't look a bit happier, but I've since removed the gate and given her a slight smile in PS.

lol... nothing like tweaking the outlaws! feels kinda OK

biggerry wrote:lol... nothing like tweaking the outlaws! feels kinda OK

Classic! you get to manipulate the in-laws!

Do you have manipulated shots to compare. I'd like to know how the smile turned out.

Oh, the woman in the last shot isn't my sister in-law. She's in the 3rd shot.

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