Meet Carrie, her lovely family and her very cheeky horse, Rupert! A friend of mine Chloe came along to lend a hand during the shoot to make sure both human and horse alike were looking in the right direction!
We began the shoot with just Carrie and Rupert. He's retired now, although definitely shows no signs of wanting to calm down! Carrie told us about his cheeky exploits, on many occasions running off and throwing her off! He demonstrated the running off part on several occasions in front of Chloe and I! (Much to our amusement!)
"He's got so much personality. A true cheeky Welshie. He drives me to despair at times but he does love a brush and a cuddle really." Our shoot began, using the field shelter to create the black background effect. Rupert is very handsome, and the greying around his face makes him look very wise - and that, he was!
Rupert was very excited when we headed out in to the long grass, that he was sectioned off from. The other horse in the field at this point, hadn't realized the gate was open. We briefly managed to get Rupert's attention long enough from the grass to get some really lovely portrait shots of the pair of them. It didn't take Rupert long to demonstrate one of his disappearing acts - the other horse noticed the open gate and took the opportunity to make a quick bid of the long grass - with Rupert in tow!
There was a lot of laughter as Carrie tried to catch Rupert, we then decided it'd be best if we all headed back on to the shorter grass. Carrie had found a few examples to show me as to what shots she'd like taken. One of which involved her sitting in the grass with Rupert looking down at her. The main focus of the shoot was some really relaxed photographs. Whilst photographs taken at events are lovely to have and capture the horse at it's best, I don't think they really capture the special relationship between horse and rider, which is why I offer these portrait sessions. Having owned Rupert for such a long time, it was super important that we took these photographs for Carrie to treasure for years to come.
Carrie often finds herself behind the camera taking shots of her family, so it was nice to be able to get some photographs with her in too! Paul, her husband turned up with her two children, Sammy and Seb for us to take some group shots. There were plenty of bribes in place which is always handy - I did ask who were they really for, the husband, Rupert or the children!
I'm sure most of you will remember the images of Plum, the spotty pony that I took a few years ago? It's the shoot that everyone always remembers - not only were Luca and Jacob bursting with character, Plum's personality was very evident in the images! It was through Naomi (Plum's owner) that Carrie found me and made her want to have a family shoot done too! Carrie has this lovely image printed large on her living room wall:
Thank you so much Carrie for having Chloe and I, it was lovely to meet you all, and of course, thank you for the pastries!