I was recently contacted by Charlotte asking when I could come over and photograph her with her horse, Algy. After askign other people at her yard, it then turned in to a whole day of photographing!
The day began with Hamish, Charlotte's son and their family pet, Lolly. Lolly was a very happy dalmation! Charlotte was after some photographs of Hamish with Lolly to use as a portrait to accompany the rest of the familys photos they had framed at home. Hamish showed us around the yard whilst we took his photos, suggesting locations of where we could take the horses which was very much appreciated!
The next session was for Charlotte and her rather handsome event horse, Algy! Charlotte had recently had a .. shall we say "incident" with a trotting pole and had a lovely bruised leg! So we kept largely to one field close to the stables. Tracey, the yard owner kindly put a large bale in the field to use as a prop. Most of the horses were far more interested in eating the bale than looking at my camera but it worked very well as a "bench" for everyone to sit on.
Next up was Sarah with her two greys: Frank and Badger. Badger was now retired from work but he was definately a poser! He thought all of the attention was for him! Both boys were very well behaved, I am particularly pleased with how well their black background shots came out! Greys look particularly striking against the background! To finish up the shoot, Sarah had a few ridden shots of Badger taken too!
The yard kindly put together a BBQ for Elena (my helper for the day - thank you!) and myself along with everyone else who was having their photos taken! It was very much appreciated and definately kept us going through the day!
Steph had two lovely ponies who she wanted some photos with. She also asked me if I could photograph her two childerent with the ponies too. Fudge, Steph has owned for many years was willing to put her ears forward when we were all rattling buckets or throwing various things up in the air; George on the other hand wasn't! I've never known a horse not to want to put his ears forward haha! In the end, it resorted to someone dragging a sack of feed towards him. I came prepared with various treats, squeaky dog toys, keys to throw up in the air. I'm so glad there were lots of other peole around to help but we did manage to get his ears forward in the end!
Next up was Benny a chestnut ex-racer. Ellie's partner joined us for some photographs too, it was so lovely to see the bond between all three of them. We spent the majority of our time in a field full of buttercups and long grass. Benny wasn't going to complain about standing in the field munching, that's for sure! Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy, Ellie, and I am up for the challenge of a newborn and equine shoot!
Last but no means least, we finished up the day with a lovely session with Suzan and Fluffy! You'll see where he gets his name from when you see the photos! Fluffy is the first Icelandic Pony I've ever met and Suzan showed of his tolt to us! He was a very patient boy and stood perfectly in every position we put him in!