How are my black background equine portraits created?
Generally, most people in the horse world have seen a black background portrait before. And that reason is, a LOT of equine photographers offer them! I have always loved theses classic portraits and years ago dreamed of getting some taken of my own horse. But I always wondered, how in the world are they creating these photographs? I would look at all these photos taken by the pros and wonder what magic they worked to create such beautiful portraits. After years and MANY hours in front of a computer later, I have discovered how! Sometimes it can look like magic, but to be candid, it’s all in the location, lighting, and editing!
Throughout my personal journey to figure out how to make my own black background portraits I followed talented photographers online and studied their work. The first thing my mind jumped to was a studio. You know, the ones with the huge backdrops, big strobe lights, cords, and flash bulbs? Then I thought, that sounds like a VERY spooky situation for a horse! My own horse, Reggie, probably wouldn’t come within 100 feet of a setup like that. And if he did, one spook could turn into a disaster! Yes, some “bombproof horses” may be able to handle it, but I don’t think its practical to assume every horse can be photographed in a studio setup. And if there’s one thing I want, its for no client to think that its not possible for their horse to be photographed! Now that being said, some photographers DO take these equine portraits with backdrops and strobes. It is possible and is a great setup for those who are experienced and know how to keep everyone safe and comfortable. They use a special setup that is designed for horses and I have seen many of these photos turn out gorgeously! I personally am a natural light portrait photographer and am not well versed in studio setups. So I highly respect the photographers who have the skill to be able to capture equine portraits in a studio fashion.
After discovering the studio method, I wanted to pursue the other methods. Specifically, ones that were attainable to me at the time, a teenager with nothing but a camera and a horse! The technique I finally got to try made much more sense to me; there were no big lighting or backdrop setups involved. What it did involve, though, was a very good understanding of lighting and how to take photos in manual mode on a camera. Luckily, that was more my area of expertise. I will spare the complicated camera settings jargon and explain it down to the basic premise. The first step was sticking the subject in a doorway of some sort. Half in- half outside. Preferably a barn door since the subject is a horse! This makes it so that the horse is lit up by daylight, and the rest of the barn is dark. So dark, if you set the camera to the right settings, it will look black! Do you see where I’m going with this? I originally liked this method a lot. It was simple and not too time-consuming. But I was still running into problems and questions.
My first frustration was, how are these other photographers getting a beautiful, flat, and clean floor underneath their subject? Not every barn has a smooth concrete floor that can be swept away. My next question was: How are other photographers able to get a TRUE black background? Not just “dark.” Yes, to the naked eye on a computer monitor, my photos could be “black.” But if they were to be printed as large fine art pieces, any remaining tones from the “black background” (which in reality, is just the barn aisleway in very underexposed lighting) would be very obvious. It just didn’t add up to me, and related to my last question. HOW in the world are photographers creating a white or textured background without a backdrop? There’s absolutely no way those backgrounds could be created by lighting and a barn aisleway alone. That question led me to discover the method that I currently use today, and I don’t plan on changing from it.
After that long-winded backstory, I’m sure you’re eager to hear the answer to how my black background portraits are created. I’ll break it down into steps!
Step One - Shooting Location!
Similar to the process mentioned above, I photograph my subjects in a barn door (or something with similar lighting, i.e. a garage door, shed, etc.) This is how we get the correct lighting on the horse itself, the right shadows to make the black background effect. The position of the sun in relation to the doorway is also very important. Harsh sunlight won’t give the correct “studio” effect. So, time of day and location are very important. A flat surface for the subject horse is also important. But, it doesn’t need to be pretty or even very clean (the fancy floor will come in later). I then take all the photos within a 15-30 minute window (depending on which investment package you have chosen).
Step Two - The Posing
Another thing I always wondered before doing these photos myself: How do photographers get their horses into such beautiful poses? Well, unfortunately, the answer to that was given to me only very recently. The truth is, it’s all about the ASSISTANT! Horses are prey animals with very specific behaviors. And, there’s a reason that horse trainers spend many years learning about these behaviors and how horses view the world. That said, getting horses into poses like the bow requires an assistant with experience in horse behavior and knowledge of what makes a horse do what!
We’ve all had those moments of trying to do a funny dance, jumping up and down, or making a funny noise to get our horses’ ears up for photos. At least, that was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about having an assistant pose the subject horse. Fortunately, (unfortunately?) my assistant won’t be doing a silly dance during the session. Because we are asking your horse to get into poses that are more complicated than just “ears up,” it also takes a more complicated direction. That is exactly the reason I learned that having an assistant who is knowledgeable in horse training is absolutely imperative.
Aside from my assistant, I, too, am knowledgeable in horse behavior and training. I’ve always been involved with horses for the majority of my life, whether it was gentling my old mustang or tuning up my current horse for the show ring. This gives us the knowledge to be able to guide your horse into the poses that flatter them the most. And more importantly, understand what poses your horse willingly wants to participate in.
While my assistant guides the horses into different poses, I am ready with my camera to shoot the split second when we get the horse in the ideal position! We have a small arsenal of different toys that might be of interest to different horses. A lot of people probably also wonder how the more “complicated” poses are directed. Well, a little secret is sometimes they aren’t. This is where the Photoshop magic comes in!
Step Three- The Editing
Once all the photos are taken, I import them all into my computer. They typically look pretty messy and make you wonder, “How is she going to make that into the finished product?” After all, they really aren’t anything special. Just some photos taken in a busy barn aisleway. Well, I can tell you there’s method to the madness!
Firstly, I sort through all the photos that could be potential final pieces. This usually looks like sorting my photos into different folders, telling me what is usable to edit. As mentioned above, sometimes we aren’t able to fully capture a pose, whether your horse is a little wiggly in front of the camera, or not too motivated using our tools and tricks. But sometimes we can get the pose in two parts, then combine them! For instance, if we can get the headset in one picture, I’ll take another shot of the legs in the position we want! It’s just all about being able to visualize the final product and piecing together images.
Once I’ve picked the photo (or photo pieces) I want to do an edit on, I will load them into the “Camera RAW” window on Photoshop. This is where I’ll clean up the horse’s image itself. Correcting the exposure, color, contrast, etc. Sometimes it’s not obvious, but
