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Equestrian portraits for High School seniors has become very popular. With my experience as a lifetime equestrian and as an equestrian photographer, I know how to work with the horses and their riders. Planning and preparation make the sessions flow more effortlessly.

  1. Make sure the horse is fed and well groomed. Do attend to those ears and whiskers.
  2. I like have several outfit changes so bring along a variety from very casual to more formal attire.
  3. Have a groom to help manage the horse and keep him or her calm between clothing changes. Horses do like to take advantage of beautiful green grass and eat it any chance they get.
  4. Another helper can get the horses attention when needed.
  5. Choose a location that has a variety of settings.
  6. Start in the late afternoon to end with golden light.
  7. Bring peppermints!!

 Having had a successful show career with this horse and many others, saying good-bye to a “best friend” is never easy. Feeling the weight of responsibility to create an enjoyable session and lasting memories for Amber, I was helped by her grace, beauty and connection with her horse.

Horse Portraits

 
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It is an exciting time of year with the winter Olympics in full swing. I empathize and appreciate all the hard work of the athletes. Working as a sports photographer, every competitor exhibits the characteristics of preparation, execution and release. All of these areas give the sports photographer opportunities to capture the emotions of the athlete. While I am only able to view the Olympic coverage on television, I am currently in Wellington, Florida surrounded by the best equestrians in the world at The Winter Equestrian Festival. Saturday night was the $375,000 FEI Grand Prix. It was an exciting class with forty five competitors, six being called back for the jump-off over a shortened course. It gave me lots of opportunity to photograph the preparation, execution and release.

1. Preparation

Photographing Athletes: In Pursuit Of Excellence

Anticipation for Nice De Prissey with Brianne Goutal, Balance and concentration for Ursula XII and Scott Brash.

2. Execution

Photographing Athletes: In Pursuit Of Excellence

Special Lux with Jonathan McCrea, With Wings and Karen Polle, Mic Mac Du Tillard with David Will.

For equestrians, the rider and the horse are skilled athletes. They must work as a team. I love the different expressions of concentration of the horse and rider as they approach and jump these huge fences.

Photographing Athletes: In Pursuit Of Excellence

Kent Farrington and Willow

The course must be completed in a certain amount of time. The rider must move along. When it’s a jump off, the rider needs to gallop as fast as safely possible. In the end, the jumps have to stay up.

Photographing Athletes: In Pursuit Of Excellence

Jessicia Springstein and Vindicat W, Charlie Jayne and Chill R Z

The course designer builds problems into the course testing the horse and rider’s versatility. Sometimes it’s the number of possible strides between jumps. It may be the size and shape of the jump. The horse and rider have to answer every question with a clean jump.

Photographing Athletes: In Pursuit Of Excellence

Tim Gredley and Unex Chamberlain Z, Scott Brash and Ursula XII

The determination in horse and rider is inspiring!

 

3. Release

Photographing Athletes: In Pursuit Of ExcellencePhotographing Athletes: In Pursuit Of ExcellenceBen Maher on Cella winners of the $375,000 Grand Prix

As these athletes pursue excellence, I to strive to photograph their stories to the best of my abilities!! I hope you enjoy these photographs.

 

 

 
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This winter, I had the pleasure to visit Grenada an island country located in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. It is known as the “Island of Spice” because of its production and exportation of nutmeg and mace. The capital is St. George located at the water’s edge with boats of all shapes and sizes engaged in a variety of activities. Although working primarily as a family portrait photographer I had the opportunity to focus my lenses on different subject matter. It’s refreshing to study how the light falls whether it’s a storm coming through, a group of children playing or houses on a hillside.

Travel To Grenada
A Storm Moves in off the Grenadian Island of Carriacou

Travel to GrenadaThe view from my hotel, The Flamboyant.

Travel To GrenadaThe capital city, St. George with harbor boats and hillside homes.

Travel To GrenadaA Colorful Life in Grenada

Travel To GrenadaString Fishing

Travel To GrenadaMy Travel Companions

Travel To GrenadaThe Nutmeg Factory in the little town of Gouyave.

Travel To GrenadaSailing Regatta on the island of Carriacou

Travel To GrenadaThe snack shack on Paradise Beach, Carriacou.

Travel To GrenadaRum from the rum factory. Food at the deli with EC [eastern Caribbean] pricing.

$1 US Dollar : $2.70 EC

Travel To GrenadaStorms, Cruise Ships and Yachts come and go.

 I hope you enjoyed the photographs! If you get a chance, go visit Grenada!