There is something different about photographing a young rider with a horse.
It’s not simply a portrait session with a horse standing beside someone. For riders who spend countless hours training, caring for their horses, taking lessons, competing, and simply being around the barn, horses can become an enormous part of their lives.
That’s exactly the kind of story I want to capture through PhotoArtGraphy’s horse and equestrian photography.
I recently had the opportunity to photograph a teenage rider during one of her riding lessons at a nearby horse farm. Rather than creating a highly staged portrait session, I spent the morning documenting something much more authentic: the rider working with her horse, preparing to ride, moving around the farm, riding in the arena, and eventually taking the horse over a series of jumps.
And then it started raining.
Quite a lot, actually.
As it turned out, the rain became part of the story too.
More Than a Portrait with a Horse
When people think about horse photography, the first image that comes to mind may be a beautifully posed photograph of a rider standing beside a horse.
Those photographs can certainly be wonderful, and they’re something we can incorporate into a PhotoArtGraphy equestrian session.
But I think there’s an opportunity to capture much more.
The relationship between a rider and a horse reveals itself in all sorts of smaller moments: adjusting tack, walking together, preparing to ride, communicating through subtle movements, taking a quiet break, or simply spending time together.
For this particular session, I photographed the rider as she prepared her horse and then followed along as her lesson progressed.
That documentary approach allowed me to photograph not only what the rider and horse looked like together, but also something of what they actually do together.
For a young person who has devoted years to riding, those photographs may eventually mean considerably more than a perfectly posed portrait.
Capturing Equestrian Action
Once the lesson moved into the riding arena, the photography changed dramatically.
Horse photography suddenly became sports photography.
Instead of anticipating a smile or adjusting a portrait pose, I was watching the rider, the horse, the instructor, and the course. I needed to anticipate where the horse would be, follow the movement through the camera, and capture fractions of a second when both horse and rider were in the right position.
Jumping provided some particularly exciting opportunities.
A horse approaching an obstacle, leaving the ground, clearing the jump, and landing again happens very quickly. Photographing it requires the same skills I use when photographing other sports: anticipation, positioning, fast shutter speeds, appropriate autofocus settings, and the ability to follow unpredictable movement.
The resulting photographs show a side of the rider-and-horse relationship that a traditional portrait simply can’t.
There is movement. Concentration. Athleticism. Trust.
And sometimes four hooves completely off the ground.
When the Rain Became Part of the Photo Shoot
Outdoor photography always comes with one variable that nobody controls: the weather.
About halfway through this particular session, it began to rain.
Then it began to rain harder.
Fortunately, I had brought along a very large umbrella. That resulted in the somewhat interesting challenge of holding an umbrella with one hand while photographing with a fairly large camera and heavy telephoto lens with the other.
It wasn’t exactly the technique you’ll find illustrated in a photography textbook.
But we kept shooting.
And I’m glad we did.
The falling rain became increasingly visible in the photographs. Against the darker trees and backgrounds, individual drops caught the light. The horse’s coat became wet. Water appeared on the rider’s helmet. At moments, the rain itself became one of the dominant visual elements in the photograph.
Instead of looking like photographs from a session where the weather had gone wrong, some of the images began to feel atmospheric and almost cinematic.
That’s one of the things I enjoy most about photography on location. Conditions don’t always cooperate with the photograph you imagined beforehand.
Sometimes they give you a different photograph instead.
Photographing the Real Experience of Riding
This particular session took place during a riding lesson, which meant the goal wasn’t to continually interrupt what was happening to manufacture photographs.
The instructor was there to teach. The rider was there to ride. The horse had a job to do.
My job was to observe, anticipate, and photograph.
That created a different kind of session from one built entirely around posing. Much of the resulting imagery is candid and documentary in nature because I was photographing the experience as it unfolded.
For families with children or teenagers who ride, I think that can be particularly valuable.
Consider how much of a young rider’s life can happen around horses: weekly lessons, early mornings at the barn, grooming, training, competitions, friendships, victories, frustrations, favorite horses and countless ordinary moments that eventually become memories.
Those years don’t last forever.
Photography can preserve them.
Horse Photography for Teens, Young Adults & Families
PhotoArtGraphy is expanding opportunities for horse and equestrian photography throughout our service area.
Sessions can be designed around the individual rider, horse, location, and type of imagery a family wants to create.
Some families may primarily want beautiful portraits of their son or daughter with a beloved horse. Others may want photographs of actual riding or training. For someone who competes, action photographs may be particularly important. And some sessions may combine all of these approaches.
A horse photography session could potentially include portraits with the horse, candid interactions, grooming and preparation, details of tack and equipment, walking together, mounted portraits, riding photographs, training, jumping or other appropriate equestrian activities.
The result doesn’t need to look like everyone else’s photo session.
The goal is to photograph your relationship with your horse and the part that riding plays in your life.
Creating Senior Portraits with Horses
There’s another opportunity that I think is particularly exciting: incorporating horses into senior portrait photography.
If riding has been an important part of a teenager’s life, why leave that part of their personality out of their senior portraits?
A horse farm can provide an incredible environment for a senior portrait session. We can create traditional portraits, photograph the senior with their horse, incorporate riding attire, capture more casual interactions around the barn, and potentially create action photographs as well.
The finished collection can combine the polished feel of senior portraits with photographs that actually say something meaningful about who that person is.
And for a teenager who practically grew up at the barn, that can make the photographs much more personal.
Every Horse-and-Rider Session Can Be Different
One reason I’m particularly interested in expanding this area of PhotoArtGraphy is the creative variety it offers.
No two horses are exactly alike. Neither are two riders.
Neither are two farms.
A session could be quiet and intimate, centered around the connection between horse and rider. Another could emphasize riding and athleticism. Another might be built around dramatic senior portraits at sunset. Another could document a lesson or training session much like this recent shoot.
And, apparently, another might involve photographing jumps in pouring rain while attempting to keep a camera dry underneath an enormous umbrella.
I’m open to seeing what happens.
Horse Photography in York County, Harford County & Baltimore County
PhotoArtGraphy is based in New Freedom, Pennsylvania, making us conveniently located for equestrian photography throughout York County, Pennsylvania and Harford County and Baltimore County, Maryland.
Our mobile, on-location approach is particularly well suited to horse photography because the session comes to the environment where the horse and rider are already comfortable.
Depending upon the session and appropriate property permissions, photography may take place at a privately owned farm, boarding facility, riding stable, training facility, arena, pasture, or another suitable equestrian location.
Because horses are large animals and every facility has its own rules, safety and the normal operation of the property always come first. When a lesson or training session is being photographed, the instructor or other responsible equestrian professional remains in charge of the riding activity.
I’m there to photograph it – not interfere with it.
Preserving a Chapter of a Rider’s Life
For some people, horses are a hobby.
For others, they’re an enormous part of childhood and adolescence.
There may come a day when the teenager who spends seemingly endless hours at the barn is away at college, beginning a career, or simply living a very different life. The horse they once rode every week may no longer be there.
That’s part of what makes these photographs valuable.
A photograph of a rider clearing a jump can preserve an achievement.
A photograph of someone adjusting a bridle can preserve an ordinary routine.
A portrait beside a favorite horse can preserve a relationship.
And a photograph taken in the pouring rain can preserve a morning that didn’t go exactly according to plan – but became memorable because of it.
Interested in a Horse or Equestrian Photo Shoot?
PhotoArtGraphy offers creative, on-location photography for individuals and families throughout Southern Pennsylvania and Northern Maryland.
If you or your child rides, owns a horse, takes lessons, competes, or simply has a special relationship with a horse you’d like professionally photographed, I’d love to hear what you have in mind.
Sessions can potentially incorporate portraits, candid photographs, riding and action photography, senior portraits, or a combination customized around the rider and horse.
You don’t necessarily need a complicated concept or elaborate plan.
Sometimes the best place to begin is simply:
Tell me about your horse.
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