Meet Karen and her 24 year old gelding, Dee. Karen has owned Dee for 11 years and decided it was a perfect opportunity to have a shoot to capture their partnership to treasure in years to come. Dee is now semi-retired but enjoyed competing in dressage.
As I drove through the common down to the stables, I knew we would be spoilt for beautiful scenery! The little lane took you through the canopies of orange, the sunlight shining through - perfect! I do love Autumn! Karen showed me around the yard to begin with so I had an idea of where would be best to shoot. First, the shoot began with some black background images on the yard. Dee seemed a little confused as to why we were all waving treats, cloths and polos at him, Karen did warn me he might be a little problematic to get his ears forward, for too long, but as you'll see from these photographs, we managed it!
The three of us, along with Karen's partner, Gary who was chief jacket and scarf holder as well as trying to get Dee's ears forward, headed down to one of the paddocks. (Thank you Gary!) Karen had a list of shots in mind that she had seen on some of my previous blog posts. One of which, involved her leaning over a gate with Dee behind her. Whilst working through a variety of different positions and poses, I also kept in mind the shots Karen was after too. Next, after a quick jacket change, we headed up behind the stables on to the common.
Whilst there isn't always enough time during a shoot to continually change outfits, (I normally recommend three) I'm more than happy for you to swap jackets and even accessories such as scarves - it helps bring some variety, especially if you plan to display them around your home.
Dee was foot perfect up on the common, he looked like he was really enjoying himself having a look around! The Autumn colours looked magnificent against his glossy bay coat. The sunlight shining through the trees gave us an almost perfect filtered light.
One of the photographs that Karen had in mind was her leaning against a tree, with Dee in front of her. They came out very well! Which I'm extra glad about, as Dee accidentally bumped Karen's nose but we got some lovely shots before that with his ears forward.
We headed back towards the yard, stopping on the way to make use of the logs in front of the stables for Karen to sit on. Whilst we were taking these shots, Dee spotted something in the distance - out popped two very curious deer who stayed for a short time to watch!
Back on the yard, Karen tacked Dee up ready for some ridden shots. Whilst Dee is retired, Karen wanted a few shots sat on his back as a keepsake. He grew a couple of inches taller and looked really proud marching through the common.
The shoot concluded with some photographs of Karen and Gary alongside Dee before we headed back to the yard again. Our final couple of shots were of Dee in the stable. The white of the numnah helped to break up the black background and really brought out the markings on his face.
Thank you so much Karen, I hope you enjoyed your shoot! I had a lovely couple of hours with you all and I hope you can treasure these images. Dee looks magnificent and I wish you many more happy memories with him!