Golden Light and Pretty Dresses - An Equine Portrait Photoshoot

For this week's blog we are in Wineham, in the West Sussex countryside and just a stones throw away from the famous Hickstead Showground. I met with Morgan and her two horses, Nova and Captain, for a photoshoot filled with dresses and fabulous outfits.

I thought it was only fitting to start with this image of Morgan and Captain seeing as it is now also the main cover image on my website home page.

The first horse of the day was Nova, a beautiful dappled grey mare who behaved impeccably despite her young age. Morgan wore a beautiful long, red dress which provided a lovely contrast against Nova's grey coat.

We took this first set of images in one of the yard's fields using the surrounding huge green trees as the backdrop. With a dress that stands out so much, a simple backdrop was most effective here.

After we had finished taking our images in the first location, we put Nova back in her stable for a break and Morgan got changed into her next outfit. This was Morgan's second dress of the day, so it was now bay gelding Captain's turn to join the shoot.

Again we headed to one of the yard's enclosed fields, this ensured that Captain was happy and comfortable in the location, which especially important when having bareback photos.

Captain was pretty chilled and happy to be out, so after a quick break while Morgan changed into her third outfit, he came back out for the next set of photos.

For Morgan's third fabulous outfit we headed to the track that leads from the yard to the local bridleway. The track is lined with trees that overhang and therefore frame the images.

Next it was time for outfit number four, and Captain being the star that he is joined us again. This time Morgan had gone for a blazer style dress, with long boots and a hat. A hat is always a great addition on a shoot because we can mix up the photos even more by including it in some images and not in others, therefore giving you a wider range of images without having to get changed!

We took all of these images with Captain in hand on the long lane that leads up to the stable yard. Captain had also had an outfit change from his bridle into his smart black headcollar with matching rope.

For the fifth and final outfit, Morgan worse a smart high neck jumper top and dress combination, styled with her Fairfax & Favour tan Regina boots. She also had the fantastic addition of some blue tassels on the boots that add that little pop of colour to the outfit without being too in your face.

It was Nova's turn to come back out for this outfit, and the plan was to go straight to a different hilltop field which overlooks the countryside, however on the way there I noticed how beautiful the light in the school was so we stopped off there first. Although a sand school probably is not at the top of your list of places when you think of photoshoot locations, they can sometimes work really well with the bright flooring reflecting the light as I'm sure you can see in the images below.

Our final location was in the stable yard, never underestimate your stable when it comes to a location choice! We only need a small area surrounding you and your horse, and the dark surroundings that stables often provide gives us an excellent background.

As you can see, a range of outfits really gives you a huge variety of final images to choose from. It can make it look like you have had multiple photoshoots, when really you only had to pay for the one! I am always on hand in the leadup to a shoot to help you with outfit planning, and I also post to you a pre-shoot guide which contains lots of ideas and suggestions for when it comes to preparing your outfits and for the shoot in general.

My photoshoot experiences start at £195.00, which includes a 14" framed print of your choice. Further wall art and digital images are also available with prices starting at £55.00.

If you would like to find out more, or are interested in booking a photoshoot, please click to see my website www.lilliebellphotography.com.

Lillie x