Imagine being behind the lens, capturing photos of the majestic Icelandic Horses in the mystical and breathtaking scenery of Iceland.

Take a visual journey through the land of fire and ice, where I spent 10 days photographing the stunning beauty of the Icelandic Horse in its natural habitat.

As soon as I arrived in Iceland, I knew this was going to be a trip unlike any other. The landscape was covered in colorful lupine flowers, and I saw ocean, waterfalls, mountains, and glaciers everywhere. For the next 10 days, I would photograph one of the country’s most iconic animals: Icelandic Horses.

This experience was organized and lead by photographer Phyllis Burchett. Almost exactly a year before I boarded the plane to Iceland, and on the heels of turning 50 during the pandemic lockdown, I found out about this opportunity and couldn’t pass it up.

Phyllis organized six different equine photo shoot setups that ranged from waterfalls and river crossings to horses in meadows of lupine flowers.

A team of four talented horsewomen moved the herds or individual horses to the locations and into the specific spots where we wanted to photograph them. They endured rain, rivers, and early mornings, as well as being dive-bombed by nesting sterns, just so we could get our shots!

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The joy of capturing this experience through my lens is one I will remember for the rest of my life. Through capturing the beauty, grace, and sheer majesty of these magnificent creatures against some of the most breathtaking backdrops that nature has to offer, Iceland left an indelible mark on my heart.

The post A Journey Through Photos: Icelandic Horses appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Today, the traditional sport continues, but not without controversy. Animal welfare activists feel it is cruel to encourage the hounds to hunt and kill a fox. Others would argue that other means of controlling the fox population (i.e.. traps, poison) are equally or more cruel than a quick kill by a hound.

Because of the controversy surrounding the tradition of live fox hunting, many clubs have shifted to a drag hunt, where hounds and horses follow a scent dragged across the countryside minutes before the start of the “hunt.”

The dragsman lays a scent using a bag pulled along the ground in 1- to 3-mile sections across the countryside, with stops for the horses and hounds to catch their breath (called the “check”).

One of the benefits of a drag hunt is the predictability of the path the riders will take through fields and forests. Drag hunts are also more efficient, and last just a few hours instead of all day, because the hounds aren’t as likely to lose track of the scent as they would with a live animal.

Also read – Fox Hunting with George Washington

Reimagining fox hunting in this way allows club riders to enjoy their timeless equestrian sport; there are currently over 160 registered drag hunt clubs in the U.S.

I had the pleasure of photographing a drag hunt with Minnesota’s Long Lake Hounds at the peak of fall color in 2020. Established in 1959, this club has a rich history of hosting drag hunts and hunter pace events in the summer in fall.

Hunter pace events award the group of horses and riders that cover a route closest to the optimum time, which nobody knows in advance. Hunter paces have a variety of jumps and are meant to mimic the pace and terrain of a fox hunt, which can be another great way to experience the thrill and camaraderie of “hunting” without all of the formalities.

As many of our horse sports come under increasing scrutiny, it is good to see some rethinking of the traditions to the benefit of our horses as well as other species.

This article about a new approach to fox hunting amid controversy appeared in the October 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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Here are a few simple tips for taking pet photos that will elevate your results. These tools can be used by all levels of photographers with any type of equipment, from phone cameras to mirrorless or professional DSLR cameras.

Reviewing Your Pet Photos

Modern cameras, both digital and phone, have many advantages over the old film equipment of the past, the most useful being the ability to instantly view your results—no more waiting several days to see if you captured your friend on her horse at the last show without cropping her head off.

You can now study your composition, timing, and focus in the camera before continuing to snap away. This tool can be the key between creating an ordinary photo or an inspiring image that excites the viewer and perhaps wins a photo contest!

By looking at the image in the camera and asking yourself, “How does it look, and how can I make it better?” you can check for proper focus as well as distractions in the background, and then recompose your image to improve its overall appeal.

Here a few key things to think about when taking pet photos, as well as shooting and reviewing the images in your camera.

Selecting a Subject

Good photos start with good subjects. Dirty spots on a horse, tangled and matted hair on a dog, or bold logos on clothing can be distracting and will take the attention away from your subjects. Take the time to prepare your models, if possible, before taking pet photos.

◆ Horse/Dog: Should be well turned out and clean.

◆ Tack/Equipment: Should be well fitting, clean and in good repair.

◆ Rider/Handler: Safe, simple and neat clothing is best; avoid logos and words on shirts. Shirts should be tucked and buttoned.

Background

Avoid busy backgrounds that take the viewer’s attention away from your subjects when taking pet photos.

Choose a simple and clean background and place your subjects a decent distance in front of your backdrop to draw more attention to them.

◆ Blurred Background: Blurred backgrounds can be achieved by adjusting your camera aperture (the opening where light enters the camera) to around f/2 to f/5.6—the smaller the number the bigger the opening, which allows more light in. This is good if you’re in a darker lighting situation or if you want to blur the background. Or you can use portrait mode on a point-and-shoot or phone camera. This decreases the depth of field and will give more detail to your subject, blurring out what is behind it. The farther away your background is from your subject, the more blurred it will be.

◆ Black Background: A black background can easily be achieved by placing your subject in front of an open barn or indoor arena doorway with the sun shining directly into the door. Place your subject just in front of the shadow where the light will hit them, and make sure any lights in the arena or barn are turned off.

◆ Framing: Take pet photos to the next level by using something to frame your subject, such as a doorway, window, or trees. This can add to your image and attract the viewers’ attention even more towards your subject.

◆ Distractions: Watch for things such as fence lines or trees poking out from the top or side of the subject. We’ve all seen plenty of images of a tree unfortunately growing out of someone’s head.

Composition

◆ Heroes, Friends and Villains: When taking pet photos, think of your subject as the Hero and everything else as ether Friends or Villains. Friends support the hero and villains distract from it.

Villains should be removed either physically, such as relocating a blue bucket or pile of manure, or by zooming in and/or recomposing your image to take it out of the frame. To recompose your image, try moving a few feet in one direction or another to shoot a different angle so you can avoid things you don’t want in the background.

◆ Rule of Thirds: If you break an image into thirds both vertically and horizontally, the human eye is naturally drawn toward the intersection of those lines. The rule states that something of interest should fall on one of those intersections, as opposed to smack-dab in the center of the photo.

Overall Appeal

◆ Mood and Interaction: Mood and/or interaction can bring an emotional feeling to an image and tell a story. By setting up your shot, reviewing it on the camera, and adjusting anything that needs to be adjusted, you will be ready for that special moment.

◆ Action: Stopping motion is more technical and difficult. Point-and-shoot cameras have a sports mode, which tells the camera that you want to stop a moving target, allowing the camera to automatically set a higher shutter speed.

On more sophisticated cameras, you have shutter priority. This means you select the shutter speed, and the camera will alter the aperture depending on your lighting conditions. Shutter speed is calculated in fractions of a second, and the minimum shutter speed needed to stop a horse or dog in motion is a 500th of a second or higher.

Many higher-end cameras also have continuous focus or continuous tracking, which allows you to track the subject in motion, keeping it in focus at all times. The faster the speed you use, the more light is required, so it’s best to shoot action on a bright sunny day.
Happy shooting!

The post Ears up! Tips for Taking Pet Photos appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

In this fourth episode of The Horse Illustrated Episode of Horses in the Morning, sponsored by Title Sponsor Straight Arrow Products, hosts Glenn the Geek and Sarah Evers Conrad talk to Greg Otteson from Tex Sutton Equine Air Transport about flying horses domestically. We also talk to international eventing superstar Buck Davidson. And author and attorney Milt Toby talks about copyright law and the use of equine photography within the horse industry.

Hosts: Sarah Conrad, Digital Content Editor of Horse Illustrated & Young Rider and Glenn the Geek, host of Horses in the Morning

Title Sponsor: Straight Arrow Ultimate Gloss

There’s an App for that!  Check out the new Horse Radio Network app for iPhone and Android. Follow Horse Radio Network on Twitter or follow Horses In The Morning on Facebook.

Flying Horses, Buck Davidson on Eventing, and Equine Photography Copyright with Milt Toby

Greg Otteson is the Sales Manager at Tex Sutton Equine Air Transport. Tex Sutton is a leader in North America in the field of safe, efficient and timely travel of both race and show horses to all major venues. Before he got in the field of flying horses, Greg got his start in the horse industry in the Quarter Horse racing industry in Colorado as a youth and then after college in California. Later, he shifted his attention to Thoroughbred racing. He worked as an assistant trainer to several local trainers as well as training a string of horses himself. He has since been sales manager for a well-known transportation company as well as being the North American representative for the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Greg started with Tex Sutton in 2003 and quickly worked his way up to the position of sales manager, where he helps people fly horses safely wherever they need to go.

Links:

• Official Website: www.texsutton.com

Bruce “Buck” Davidson, Jr. has focused on following in the footsteps of his father, Bruce, an Olympic medalist and the only person to ever win back-to-back World Championships. Buck won the Markham Trophy as the highest-placed young rider in a U.S. Equestrian Team Championship three times, and was the 1996 Young Rider of the Year. In 1999, he made his U.S. team debut at the Pan American Games with Pajama Game. And in 2011, aboard Absolute Liberty, he won Pan American team gold and individual bronze medals. With Ballynoe Castle, he competed in the 2010 and 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. He is also a three-time USEF CCI5* Eventing National Champion with Mystic Mike in 2003, My Boy Bobby in 2009, and Ballynoe Castle in 2013. In recent years, Buck and Carlevo finished 4th in 2019 at Bromont and 9th at Tryon at the 4-star level. Buck placed 3rd and 5th in the 2021 Stable View CCI4* short format with Erroll Gobey and Jak My Style, respectively. Buck and his wife, Andrea, run BDJ Equestrian and have two daughters, Aubrey and Ellie.

Links:

• Official Website: www.bdjequestrian.com

Milt Toby is an attorney, photographer, and award-winning author who has been writing about Thoroughbred racing since 1972. His nine books include Dancer’s Image: The Forgotten Story of the 1968 Kentucky Derby, which won the Dr. Tony Ryan Award and an editorial award from American Horse Publications; Noor: A Champion Thoroughbred’s Unlikely Journey from California to Kentucky, a second American Horse Publications book award winner; and EQUUS Film & Arts Fest book award winner Taking Shergar: Thoroughbred Racing’s Most Famous Cold Case. Milt has also photographed more than 125 covers for Blood-Horse magazine. Based in Central Kentucky, Milt is past president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

Links:

• Official Website: www.miltonctoby.com

Title Sponsor

We want to thank our Title Sponsor, the Straight Arrow Family of Brands, makers of Mane ‘n Tail, Cowboy Magic & Exhibitor’s, with over 100 years of grooming excellence. For more information about your favorite products, please visit www.straightarrowinc.com and www.ultimategloss.com and find Straight Arrow Products at a tack shop near you!

The post Podcast Episode #4: Flying Horses Domestically, Buck Davidson, and Use of Equine Photography appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

At small horse shows without professional photographers on site, it’s usually up to friends and family members to take all the photos and record the classes on video. These photos and videos preserve wonderful memories for the future, but they’re also useful in the present for riders wishing to analyze their classes and strive for improvement. For anyone whose camera skills are a little rusty, here are some tips for taking better horse show photos and videos.

Photo Tips

1. USE THE RIGHT CAMERA FOR THE RIGHT JOB

Your phone can perform nicely for certain situations, like portraits after the class or overviews of the show scene. But for the best results, a DSLR camera is faster and generally does a much better job on action and equine portraits.

2. USE THE RIGHT LENS

If you take a DSLR, which has removable lenses, to the show, you can choose the right lens for the task. Generally, horses look their best when photographed with longer lenses, such as 150mm. A long lens will also help you get closer to the action during the class. The zoom features on mobile devices aren’t nearly as sharp as a long DSLR lens, and the results from mobile devices are often more pixelated.

3. SHOOT OUTSIDE IF YOU CAN

Outdoor arenas are ideal for photography. Things are a little more challenging if the class takes place in an indoor arena. Your camera might have trouble focusing and freezing the motion indoors. But you can always compromise and take some photos of your rider warming up outside in better light.

4. USE A HIGH SHUTTER SPEED

Do a little research ahead of time to learn how to adjust the shutter speed of your particular camera. Try to use at least 1/500th of a second to keep the action sharp!

5. DON’T FLASH

Flashes are best disabled at a horse show, just in case the light spooks any horses. Flashes can be useful outdoors for filling in shadows, but it’s not typically worth the risk. Indoors, raise the camera’s light sensitivity (“ISO”) to a higher level to compensate for the dim light.

Video Tips

6. SHOOT HORIZONTAL VIDEO

Your phone may be easier to hold in a vertical orientation, but that doesn’t mean you should shoot horse show videos that way! Videos in general look better and are easier to watch when they’re shot horizontally, and the setting and action of a horse show is much more suited to that orientation.

7. PAY ATTENTION

Sometimes people attempt to shoot show videos without really paying attention to the camera. They have the camera on and are recording, but they’re watching the class and not the camera. The shaky results are often worse than nothing. Stay focused and don’t multitask. If you’re going to shoot video, give it your full attention. Ideally, you would use a video tripod to keep things very steady; you can even find tripods for mobile devices or get a mobile phone attachment for a standard tripod.

8. KEEP THE CLIPS SHORT

Try not to film video clips that are too long; it will be almost impossible to find the part you want later. Filming short clips keeps things much more manageable.

LIGHTING TIPS

9. BEAT THE LIGHT

Sunny midsummer days are a real challenge for taking photos and shooting videos, especially at a horse show. High mid-day sun makes a strong contrast between the light and shadows, and the shadows usually end up very dark and unappealing in the photo. But the next tips offer solutions for this issue.

10. SHOOT WITH THE SUN BEHIND YOU

This is called “front lighting.” It usually isn’t the best for human portraits (too much squinting, along with shadows under the eyes and nose), but it works pretty well for horses. Front lighting also works well for photos of the class itself.

11. OR, SHOOT INTO THE SUN

This is called “back lighting.” Depending on the conditions, this can be a very nice way to beat the shadows, but you have to watch out for lens flares from the sun. Also, you might run into trouble with very low contrast on dark horses.

12. DON’T SHOOT SIDE-LIGHTING

Between front lighting and back lighting is side-lighting, where half the subject is lit and half is in shadow. This is challenging to do well at midday, so try to avoid it.

13. EMBRACE THE CLOUDS

If you’re lucky enough to get some clouds, use them! Clouds reduce or eliminate the tough shadows, making your photos automatically come out more appealing. Clouds also boost the saturation of your colors. Obviously, you can’t control the weather, but you can be ready to shoot even more on the cloudy days.

General Tips

14. UNDERSTAND THE CLASS

Know what you’re recording. Take a minute to learn the course/pattern to better anticipate the action.

15. FIND A GOOD BACKGROUND

Watch what is happening behind your subject. There is probably a lot of visual chaos: tents, barns, trucks, tractors … and the dreaded porta potties. Try to find a place where you can shoot at least part of the class with a clean background. For after-the-class portraits, you can choose a nice location to photograph the horse and competitor.

16. TRY DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS

Don’t always photograph or shoot video from a standing position. Try getting down lower and shooting from a sitting position or look for a higher (yet safe) vantage point if possible. Variety keeps your work interesting.

17. SHOOT MOMENTS

Everyone is looking at the arena. Take a few moments to look the other way—at the grandparents setting up the shade tent, the pony being groomed for the next class, and the husband holding the dog’s leash plus his wife’s other horse. You’ll find a million tiny moments just waiting to become treasured photos.

These tips on taking better photos and videos at a horse show appeared in the June 2020 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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It seems you can’t watch a TV show or movie these days without seeing scenes filmed with a drone. This unique perspective is able to spark our imagination and give us a view of the world normally reserved for birds and frequent flyers. Aerial photography from a drone can be extra challenging because you are not only taking photos, but you are also flying a small aircraft. Getting the right exposure, accurate focus and an interesting composition while trying not to crash your drone is harder than it looks! I will admit that while trying to do drone photography of horses, my drone has gotten cozy at the top of a tall pine tree and on the side of a hill and lived to tell the tale with photos that have made my efforts pay off.

Drones and Horse Safety Drones can cause a horse to have a negative reaction. Follow these simple tips to keep horses safe around a drone. ◆ Know and follow the FAA rules for flying a drone. If you plan to fly a drone for profit, you need to obtain a Part 107 license from the FAA. ◆ Make sure every rider knows you will be flying a drone near their horse and has given you permission to fly near them. ◆ Take off and land the drone away from horses. This is the part of flight that generally causes the biggest reaction. ◆ Start with the drone high and away from the horses and bring it gradually closer to gauge their reaction to it. ◆ If your drone is airborne and a horse spooks or gets nervous, fly away as quickly as possible. My personal experience has been that if you take your time and follow these tips, most horses will acclimate to the drone fairly quickly and some may not react at all.

This article on drone photography of horses appeared in the January 2020 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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A newly discovered love of horses inspired photographer Tracey Buyce to apply her skill as a wedding photojournalist to the equestrian world. Her years of experience have taught her how to seek out the unforgettable moments that tell a story.

“Great moments are fleeting, and you need to be ready to anticipate, react, and document,” says Buyce. “Being being able to read and anticipate emotion and movement are all skills that are essential in photographing horses.”

As the devoted owner of a Morgan horse, Buyce went on a mission to celebrate the the breed by photographing the foals at several prominent Morgan farms last spring.

“Being able to capture the newness, the innocence, and the guilelessness of foals in this world was one of my most inspiring projects as a photographer,” says Buyce.

Even at only a few days old, she notes, the youngsters’ curiosity is a mix of innocence and alertness, sending them bounding and leaping as they explore their new environment.

Photo by Jeffrey Mosier

Meet the Photographer

Tracey Buyce has been a professional photographer for over a decade, capturing weddings, families and animals. She turned her lens to horses in 2012, when she finally realized her lifelong passion and began taking riding lessons. Soon after, she became the owner of a Morgan gelding, RBF Marksman, affectionately known as Moose. Buyce’s goal is to connect viewers to the unique beauty and personality of horses.

“I want them to feel a strong emotional pull to the photograph,” she says. “That emotion may be a sense of peace, joy, laughter or beauty. It’s my hope that this feeling lingers with them for much longer than just the moments they view it.”

To browse Buyce’s fine art horse prints or to commission her to photograph your own horse or stable, visit www.traceybuycehorsephotography.com.

This article originally appeared in the March 2017 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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It’s always nice to have portraits of your family members, and your pets, too! A good face portrait of your horse can be a great keepsake, wall decoration, or workspace inspiration. But achieving good headshots of equines can be a little tricky, so here are a few pointers to help you snag the perfect snap.

Also Read: How to Take Better Selfies with Your Horse?

Get Some Help

A real key to animal photography is to have help. For posed horse portraits (as opposed to pasture shots), I prefer to have two people helping out—one holding the horse, and one behind me or next to me getting the horse’s attention and ears up. Sometimes I can get a horse’s attention and photograph it at the same time by making an interesting noise, but most of the time it’s better to have a second person helping. Simple things like waving a hat or bag or shaking a small bucket of grain can often cause a horse to put on an attractive expression. (Be careful not to go too far and spook your model!)

Choose a Good Background

One of the quickest ways to improve a photo is to utilize what we call a “clean” background. Take a quick look around the edges of your photo before you snap. Is there a horse trailer back there? A corner of the barn? Some fencing that appears to run right through your horse’s ears? Making small adjustments to your position (or your horse’s position) may be all it takes to change a mediocre photo into a good one.

Back Up and Zoom In

One problem I see over and over is that people stand way too close when they photograph their horse’s face. The mistake they make is to use very wide-angle lens (often their phone’s camera) and place it only a couple of feet away from their horse’s face—essentially making the equivalent of an equine “selfie.” The problem is that doing this can introduce quite a bit of distortion into the photo, making the horse’s head seem longer, the ears bigger, and the whole photo rather unflattering (the same thing can actually happen to people with they take selfies!).

So what’s the remedy? Back yourself up a good distance from your horse—ten or fifteen feet or more. Compensate for the distance by zooming in your camera’s lens until your horse’s head fills the frame. If you’re using a DSLR camera for this, try using a focal length of at least 135mm or more; I’ll often try to use 150mm or even 200mm. If you’re using a phone camera or other smaller camera, zoom in as much as you can. This technique will make your horse look much better and much closer to the way he really does. A side benefit is that it makes the background less noticeable.

Avoid the Midday Sun

Photographs of all types benefit from the use of early morning or late afternoon light, as midday sun can cause deep shadows that sometimes aren’t too attractive. This is especially true for horses. A horse’s neck can easily become shadowed by its own head if the sun is high in the sky, so try to avoid lighting like that. Bright overcast days also work well because shadows are eliminated altogether.

How to Take Great Sales Photos of Your Horse >>

Daniel Johnson is a freelance writer and professional photographer.
He’s the author of several books, including How to Raise Horses:
Everything You Need to Know, (Voyageur Press, 2014).See more of Dan’s
horse photography at www.foxhillphoto.com or like his Facebook page: www.facebook.com/foxhillphoto.

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