MARKETING YOUR HORSE IN HERITAGE PLACE SALES
A good conformation photo allows buyers to evaluate build and suitability, an educated eye can predict pretty accurately how a horse in
will perform. It’s an attention grabber, in a large sale listing you want the photo to stop someone’s eye and say “look at me”.
When looking for the perfect photo we offer a few tips taken from the American Quarter Horse Association.
- The best time of day to take a photo of your horse.
- The best time of day to take pictures is late afternoon about two or three hours before sunset. The sun is at a lower angle then and the light will be much more flattering. Avoid harsh midday light, it will make your horse’s top line look bad and cast ugly shadows on the neck. Morning light is also very nice but tends to change more quickly. Keep the sun at your back. You want the light falling on the side of the horse. If the skies are dark and gray and you can’t see your own shadow at all, it is not a good day for photos. Partly cloudy or lightly overcast days, when you can still see your shadow, are great for photos, too.
- Grooming your horse for sale photos.
- Giving the horse a good grooming makes a world of difference. Make sure you take the time to brush out mane, tail and forelock. You don’t have to go for show-ring clean but there should be no mud or tangles.
- Horses look best shot with long focal lengths.
- Wide-angle lenses distort things by making objects nearest to the camera look bigger and objects farther from the camera look smaller. If you take a picture of a horse from the front with a wide-angle lens, he will have a great big nose and tiny hindquarters. Most point-and-shoot cameras are not going to work for shooting a horse from the front. You can take a good photo from the side of the horse but you will have to be careful to stay perpendicular to the horse to avoid distortion. If you have a telephoto zoom lens, use the long end of the range: 200-300 mm is great, if you have it. This means you should physically back up and then zoom in with your lens.
- Use the right camera settings.
- Set your shutter speed to 1/1000 and your ISO to 400. You will be amazed how much this one simple thing will improve your photos. Using a fast shutter speed will give you nice sharp action pictures and eliminate camera shake and motion blur problems. These settings will work great for the bright afternoon light.
- Fill the frame with your horse.
- Your horse should be taking up at least 50 percent of the photo. You can always fine-tune your photos with a little cropping but you don’t want your subject to be a small percentage of the picture. You might have to walk closer to fill the frame if you have already zoomed to the long end of your telephoto lens.
- Conformation Photos
- You can take your conformation shots in a show halter (make sure the show halter is fitted correctly). Don’t use your everyday stable halter.
- Find a flat spot in front of an uncluttered background. Sometimes the driveway in front of the barn can work well. Stand the horse about 30 feet or more in front of the background. Try to find a background that compliments your horse. A dark-colored horse will disappear against a dark background. For Quarter Horses, you want the horse to stand in what is called an open stance. That means the two legs closest to the camera are slightly more open than the two on the opposite side. This stance gives the buyer a view of all four legs. You want the horse to look slightly toward the camera so have a second helper stand on your side of the horse to get the horse’s attention.
- Always shoot from the horse’s level.
- For a conformation shot from the side, your camera should be at mid-barrel height. You might have to crouch, bend or kneel to get to the right height. Shooting from a higher angle will make your horse look small and short legged. When you are shooting a head shot or portrait, you should shoot from the horse’s eye level. You will want to focus on the nearest eye for a portrait. Don’t forget to keep the sun shining over your shoulder.
Be intentional. A candid photo of your horse in a pasture won’t work. You want your horse to looks it’s best.
Reminder to submit a Single Photo or Video Slide Show by Email to Yanet by August 1st
Create a Vimeo or YouTube Slide Show of all Four Sides (FOUR PHOTOS) or Submit a Single Photo (ONE PHOTO)