Equine Photographers Podcast

Carol Walker Returns: 10 Years of Growth Carol Walker returns to share what changed in her fine art equine photography business over the last decade—what she’d do differently, how her creative focus evolved, and why wild horse conservation remains at the heart of her work. SUBSCRIBE  IN THIS EPISODE: Carol Walker of Living Images by Carol Walker returns to The Equine Photographer’s Podcast for a candid “10 years later” conversation about what changed—creatively and professionally—since her last appearance. We talk about how her fine art equine photography approach evolved, what she would do differently if she were building her business again today, and the practical shifts that helped her stay aligned with her long-term vision. We also dive into photography as visual advocacy and why wild horse conservation continues to shape the stories she chooses to tell. If you’re an equine photographer who wants to refine your artistic voice, build a body of work with meaning, and grow in a way that feels sustainable, this episode will help you think more clearly about the next decade—not just the next booking.     KEY TAKEAWAYS What changed in Carol’s business—and what stayed the same—over 10 years How to evaluate your work as a fine art body of work What Carol would do differently if starting today Using photography as a voice for conservation Building a recognizable artistic style over time Balancing creative integrity with business growth About the Guest: Carol Walker Carol Walker is the artist behind Living Images by Carol Walker. Her fine art equine photography and wild horse work focus on storytelling, conservation, and creating imagery that lasts beyond a single moment in time. Connect with Carol: Website: Living Images by Carol Walker Instagram: @wild_hoofbeats Facebook: Living Images by Carol Walker SUBSCRIBE Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you never miss a conversation—and share this one with an equine photographer building meaningful work for the long term. We invite you to subscribe on iTunes so you never miss a new episode of the Equine Photographers Podcast. Subscribing, rating, and leaving a review helps other photographers discover the show and supports the continued growth of the podcast. If you found this episode valuable, we’d appreciate you taking a moment to leave a rating or review. Subscribe on iTunes → The post 26: Fine Art Equine Photography & Wild Horse Conservation With Carol Walker appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

Lori McIntosh: How She Built Her Equine Photography Passion from Childhood to Career In this episode, Lori McIntosh shares how a childhood surrounded by photography and horses became the foundation for her equine photography journey — from early studio experiences to endurance riding and professional work today. Whether you’re building your own equine business or exploring your creative roots, Lori’s story shows how passion and persistence shape a meaningful career. SUBSCRIBE IN THIS EPISODE Lori McIntosh’s equine photography story begins long before she ever picked up a camera professionally. Growing up in a photography studio and spending summers at horse camp, Lori built a lifelong connection to both horses and imagery that shaped her creative path. In this episode, she recalls how early studio work taught her the craft, how endurance riding deepened her understanding of horses, and how those elements continue to influence her photographic vision today. Listeners will hear what it’s like to merge a passion for animals with artistic expression, lessons on building a sustainable photography career, and insights into staying connected to the things you love most. Whether you’re an aspiring equine photographer or a long-time creative professional, Lori’s experiences offer both inspiration and practical takeaways for your own journey.   KEY TAKE AWAYS: How Lori’s early life around photography shaped her artistic voice The role equestrian experiences played in her career focus Lessons on building skill through real-world involvement Why balancing passion and professionalism matters What endurance riding taught her about perseverance and creativity About Our Guest: Lori McIntosh Lori McIntosh is an equine photographer based in Auburn, California, whose passion for photography grew up inside her family’s studio and alongside her love of horses. Her work combines technical skill with an unmistakable understanding of the horse–human connection. Connect with Lori: Website: lorimcintoshphotography.com Facebook: facebook.com/LoriMcIntoshPhotography Pinterest: pinterest.com/lorimc26 Email: Lori@Lorimcphoto.com SUBSCRIBE Ready to deepen your own artistic voice? Follow the podcast and explore related episodes below. We invite you to subscribe on iTunes so you never miss a new episode of the Equine Photographers Podcast. Subscribing, rating, and leaving a review helps other photographers discover the show and supports the continued growth of the podcast. If you found this episode valuable, we’d appreciate you taking a moment to leave a rating or review. Subscribe on iTunes → The post 25: Lori McIntosh: Equine Photography Journey from Childhood Passion appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

From Horse Passion to Photography: Exploring Pam Gabriel’s Creative Journey In this episode, Pam Gabriel shares how a lifelong love of horses turned into a path of wrangling, teaching, and building an equine photography practice rooted in creativity, connection, and community. SUBSCRIBE IN THIS EPISODE: In this conversation with Pam Gabriel, we explore how a love of horses shaped her life and creative pursuits — from wrangling and teaching to discovering the power of photography to connect with equine lovers. Pam reflects on her early experiences with horses, how photography found its way into her work, the joy of capturing horses and their people, and how she continues to grow her craft while supporting her community. Whether you’re an aspiring equine photographer or someone building your own creative path from lifelong passions, this episode reveals how heart, experience, and dedication can guide your career.     KEY TAKE AWAYS How horses have influenced Pam’s life choices from childhood onward Why she pursued both teaching and photography How she uses equine photography to connect with community Creative lessons that shaped her photographic eye Seasonal marketing strategies for slow months About Our Guest: Pam Gabriel Pam Gabriel is a lifelong horse lover, teacher, and equine photographer based in Minnesota. With a passion for keeping horses at the center of her life, Pam has blended her teaching, wrangling, and artistic instincts into a creative path that celebrates the equine bond and community. Her photography captures the spirit of horses and the people who love them, reflecting both her technical skill and her deep connection to the equine world. Connect with Pam: Website: pamgabrielphotography.com Facebook Page: Pam Gabriel Photography Instagram: Pam Gabriel Photography Email: pam@pamgabrielphotography.com  SUBSCRIBE Ready to deepen your own artistic voice? Follow the podcast and explore related episodes below. We invite you to subscribe on iTunes so you never miss a new episode of the Equine Photographers Podcast. Subscribing, rating, and leaving a review helps other photographers discover the show and supports the continued growth of the podcast. If you found this episode valuable, we’d appreciate you taking a moment to leave a rating or review. Subscribe on iTunes → The post 24 : Equine Life, Photography & Teaching with Pam Gabriel appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

Thanks Kirstie Marie for a great introduction for Matt Cohen. Matt Cohen Rodeo Photography Website: http://www.mattcohenphoto.com Blog: http://www.mattcohenphoto.com/blog/ Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/1115/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattcohenphoto Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattcohenphoto/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jmatthewcohen Cody Snow, Red Bluff 2016 SHOW NOTES: Matt describes himself as a city boy. He didn’t really have any exposure to horses at all until he was sent by a local paper to cover a rodeo for one evening. He started his career as a photographer shooting high school sports for several local papers. On that first night at the rodeo, he decided to come back for all three days of the event and was hooked. With high school sports you are just shooting one thing. For example with football, you have about 10 minutes of shooting time spread out over an hour. But, with rodeo you have constant action and there are 4-5 completely different events to shoot. Each event although it involves horses is completely different from the other. This is how Matt describes what intrigued him with rodeo shooting. Bobby Marriott / 926 Sundown of Flying U, Reno 2016 The other thing that makes it a whole lot more fun is that you can get right in there. Between events you can chat with the riders and you have access. With other professional sports you are nowhere near the participants. Even when you are on the side lines, you are 10 to 20 feet from the players. You certainly are not allowed on the field. Everything has horses. Even with the bull riding there are the pick up riders that go in to rope the bulls and get them back in the pens. Social media Matt is on pretty much everything. When he started, he just figured he would put the best pictures out there and figure out how to make some money with it. Facebook seemed to be the key to that as riders were tagged, then their sponsors would see the images and I would make connections with them for additional work. He has 56,000 followers on Instagram, but it does not lead to a lot of business for him. He tends to spend more time on Instagram because he likes the format better. You see more images on Instagram and less “other stuff”. But, Facebook has been the social media that has performed in terms of helping him make the connections. Making money in Rodeo Photography He does not use the old model of shooting with the hopes of the riders wanting images of their rides. He works directly with the rider sponsors and only does a very little bit of selling to riders. Sponsors are looking for outstanding images for promotional purposes. Autograph prints, trailer wraps, bill boards, and other promotional materials. He does nothing on spec. He won’t travel great distances to a rodeo unless he knows that he has several sponsored riders at that event and the pictures are already spoken for. He questions whether the old model is very workable any more. The better riders have been there and done that already and they don’t buy 8 x 10s. It took him a long time to get to where he is today. As editorial diminished, he moved more and more of his business to commercial. It used to be that Sport Illustrated, a cover for example or a two page spread, was a real payday. Now instead of a couple thousand dollars, you are looking at a couple hundred bucks. Now they have laid off all their photographers and they get whatever pictures they can find. Matt said he has seen covers that were out of focus. It’s sad, he said, when he first started there was more in editorial. Blake Hirdes, Marysville 2016 Why a great shot is important Matt explains that in editorial, you are a cost to them. They look for the cheapest solution to their need that they can find. Advertisers, however, need the best possible images and are willing to pay to get those. Getting as close to the end-user, the people who are selling products, is where the you can make a living. JR Vezain / 631 Lil Josey of Flying U, Reno 2016 A sponsor might have 15 guys that ride for them. Another might have three. Each contract is tailored to their needs. He is basically on a retainer with these sponsors and this is what funds his income, his travels, his equipment, hotels and so on. NO FREE PICTURES warning on his website Before someone can click on the contact photographer form, they have to agree that they are NOT GOING TO CALL FOR A FREE IMAGE. This is a waste of time and spending 20 minutes explaining that he is a professional photographer and he gets paid for his work. If someone still calls him and asks for FREE IMAGES for their small publication or whatever they want it for, Matt will tweet out that such and such publication asked for free image and embarrass them. He has a bit of a reputation. He explains that getting a tag line for free images does nothing for you as a photographer. Negotiating from FREE is very difficult to do. Sarah Rose McDonald, Clovis 2016 He shoots rodeo March through September. In the winter he shoots other sports. He spends more time working on his rodeo image sales than he does on the other sports. There is much more action to shoot in rodeo so he spends more time on the images as well. Big Lens Fast Shutter Podcast Him and a partner help people learn sports photography. He has been working on that for about 5 years. He enjoys helping others to improve their work which is gratifying and there is some income stream from it. SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE Also, please use the SHARE buttons at the bottom of the page to share The Equine Photographers Podcast with other equine photographers that you may know. The post 23 : Matt Cohen: West Coast Rodeo and Sports Photography Behind the Scenes appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

In a changing market with changes in photography and changes in the economy their have been publications that have ceased to exist and others have cut back on photography budgets. Stock photography has also changed over the years. Throughout all this change, Shawn Hamilton has been able to run a successful editorial, commercial and stock photography business focused exclusively on equine photography. My wife an I have been to the Rolex Three Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington Kentucky for the cross-country jumping portion of the event many times over the past many years. One year I had the pleasure of introducing myself to Shawn as she photographed at the water jumps. She had a very large lens which I think was a 300mm prime lens. I’m not sure where this picture  (below) was taken, but this is pretty much how I remember her on that day 4 or 5 years ago. For me it is just a 2 hour drive from Dayton, Ohio, however Shawn comes from Canada to shoot the event each year rain or shine. But, as the interview progresses, you’ll hear from Shawn how she morphs her business to meet the needs of the day and now may also create some offerings that give her a chance to “give back”. Website: http://clixphoto.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CLiXphotocom Email: clixphoto7@gmail.com        SHOW NOTES: As with every episode we start out talking about the origins of interest in both photography and especially horses. She got her first 35mm camera from a rich ante when she was about 10 years old. She started riding lessons when her mom traded fabric for riding lessons. She started her business in the mid 80s. She picked up The Photographers Market and entered all the magazines she had an interest in into a data base. She was working with a data base management company at the time. After a pregnancy leave of several months when she came back to work she realized that she wanted to go full-time with photography, so she quite her job and dove in. It took about a year of shooting horse shows and three-day events before she would say that she was actually making money as a business. She started out as a show photographer. In order to make it as an editorial and commercial equine photographer in Canada, you must have clients in the USA. With the down turn in the economy she went back to school to learn more about writing and she has refocused on travel photography and writing, but still focused on equine vacation opportunities. National Geographic Traveller Magazine UK version Her recent accolade was her photography in National Geographic Traveller Magazine UK version. Shawn had taken a 7 day trip crossing the Andes Mountains from Chile to Argentina. A National Geographic writer had taken the same trip, but the photographer she had did not work out for whatever reason and they were able to use Shawn’s photography instead. It’s been in the works for some time and was just published recently. She is still looking for a copy of the magazine. 30 years photographing the Rolex Three Day Event She has only missed two over those thirty years. Once because she was pregnant and another because she was living overseas. It used to be as an assignment photographer for several publications, but now she does the photography there for stock. She still shoots for several clients, but not like she used to. There are so many photographers at the event these days so the competition and the availability of good images is much greater. In any case Canada is still gray from winter and coming down to the Rolex where it is already spring, inspires her and gets her stock photography Fine Art Equine Photography Fine art is something that she has been working on for a year or so. We discussed pricing a little bit. How to Photograph Your Horse She was invited to do a presentation at an event. She presented about how to photography your horse. Afterwards, she had people coming up to her booth with lots of questions and asking if she would do a workshop. She scheduled a teaching workshop about how to photograph three day events. That is happening in mid June 2016. She is ready to give back and feels that this will be a great opportunity to do so. A Book About Horse Back Riding Vacations If she writes a book, the name will be “From the Saddle” because she does a lot of her travel photography from the saddle of the horse. We discuss how to have cameras while riding a horse. She has Lowe Pro bags and belt attachments for the cameras and lenses. The HOW-to of Editorial and stock photography Find magazines that resonate with you as a photographer. Send emails to the photo editors or call them on the phone to get an idea of what new types of work they are looking for. Go to the media center of the events. Don’t be afraid of the phone. Don’t be afraid to talk at the events with publications and show them some of what you have. She works with “want lists” and sends out emails with links to her images. She discusses where her income comes from today. It comes from stock, editorial, fine art, travel photography, and now perhaps workshops. The below photo is from her website and the list goes on and on. SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE Also, please use the SHARE buttons at the bottom of the page to share The Equine Photographers Podcast with other equine photographers that you may know.   The post 22 : Shawn Hamilton: Editorial and Stock Equine Photography Behind the Work appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

Where to Find Christina: Instagram: http://instagram.com/christinascalera Twitter: http://twitter.com/creativeatlaw Facebook: http://facebook.com/christinascalera Website: http://christinascalera.com Email: hello@christinascalera.com Periscope: @cscalera You can ask Christina questions here: http://www.christinascalera.com/contact1 Photo by Shelby Rae Photographs Christina is an attorney based in Atlanta GA. NEW? START HERE TRADEMARK REGISTRATION BLOG STORE AFFILIATES SPEAKING CONTACT If you’ve ever complained that you love what you do but HATE the business side of things, you’re in the right spot. Christina’s mission as a lawyer for creative entrepreneurs is to help them fulfill their life’s work by creating beautiful businesses from the inside out. She provides the creative world with accessible, affordable legal solutions. Whether you need a last-minute contract template that covers your butt, a painless trademark registration or want to learn more to empower yourself to run your business well, legally speaking, Christina has you covered. SHOW NOTES: Christina has been a show rider for many years. She loves horses and horse people since she has competed with her arab horse for 19 years. Disclaimer: This is general information and does not constitute legal advice. Here is her official disclaimer from her website: THE CONTENT ON THIS WEBSITE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS INFORMATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE AND DOES NOT ESTABLISH AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. CHRISTINA IS LICENSED TO PRACTICE LAW IN GEORGIA AND FILE FEDERAL TRADEMARK AND COPYRIGHT REGISTRATIONS FOR CREATIVES ANYWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES. SHOULD YOU NEED LEGAL ADVICE FOR MATTERS THAT DO NOT CONCERN GEORGIA LAW, PLEASE SEEK OUT A LICENSED ATTORNEY. SOME STATES MAY CONSIDER THIS CONTENT ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. How do you get legal advice? What does it mean to “retain” an attorney? What does it mean to “retain” an attorney? How do you get a consultation from an attorney? When calling attorneys look for an attorney that is a “good fit” for you and for your particular needs. For example, a family law attorney may not be helpful to you about setting up your business and registering your images or if you had problems with regard to intellectual property rights. Contracts – When and why do you need a contract? Whenever you are forming a relationship with a person or company, it is appropriate to have a contract describing your relationship. Christina explains that many people do not realize that when someone presents you with a contract, that it can be changed. In fact you need to make changes to make the contract agree with what your relationship will be before you sign it. Don’t think of it as something fixed and not changeable. If you don’t feel comfortable with something, you should change it. Then it is something to negotiate with the other person or company so that it correctly describes the relationship your are joining into. It can also help to define the give-and-take of your relationship with your client. Today contracts are moving toward more common language rather than complicated legalese that is difficult for everyone to understand. You want your agreements and customer education to be easy to understand so that everyone has the same expectation if something should go wrong. If you have it in plain English, then it becomes an effective educational and communication too for you and your client. If you cannot understand something, you should not sign it. Tort Law, indemnification clauses, waiver of liability, and release from liability clauses in agreements You cannot make people sign away their rights to take you to court. But, you can negate the risk of being sued for activities that involve “inherent risk”. You and your client need to be cognizant to the fact that a horse can be unpredictable. You should involve everyone present or participating with the horse/s, not just the horse owner. Everyone there should know that there are inherent risks in what they are doing and if something goes wrong, it is not your responsibility as a professional because they knew going in that there was risk involved. However, if you do things that are obviously negligent, you may invite legal action even if an liability clause is signed. “Statutory language”  or quoting of individual state laws can be added to your agreements. This may be different in each state and there are 36 states that have laws about farm animals and professionals regarding the inherent risks associated with being around horses. You cannot protect yourself from being sued for negligent behavior At this point we discuss what might be an example of negligent behavior and the importance of having good communication with your clients. As an equine photographer it would be wise to have knowledge of horse behaviors and cues that horses give before going out with horses in order to help prevent dangerous situations. What are the basics of horse behavior? You can be unique and creative with your photography without being dangerous. Around horses, you and your client are at your own risk in many states. Common language in your contracts and making it easy for your clients Putting your contracts online can make your paperwork less intimidating. So can the use of common language that is clear and precise. Clients can sign agreements online, they just scroll through the information so that it does not seem so long. Rather than the tedious process of sending a PDF of your contract and requiring your client to sign it, then scan it and send it back. Christina likes to use online document services to simplify client contract relationships. She points out that you will need use this type of technology going forward, especially with younger audiences (Millennials) age 30 or younger. They just won’t sign things if it requires too much effort. Streamlining through an online service also makes you look more professional and can be extremely helpful for both you and your client. Here are the two services that she mentions and recommends using. LINK: Honeybook.com LINK: Docusign.com She mentions separating client education from contracts. She recommends that you have educational materials for your clients, but some of this should not be in your contract. For example you would not want to be able to take someone to court because they brought two changes of clothing instead of three. Choice of clothing is more of an educational point than something that has to be legally binding. Stealing of images, Copyright law What to do when someone takes your images without your permission. Photographer credit does not clear you from taking someone’s image without permission. You can register your copyright for an image AFTER you discover that it was taken and published without your permission. You have 90 days from when you “should have known” it was being used. We have a discussion of registration in batches. If you find a possible infringement that you feel is worth pursuing, it can be helpful to register that specific image again with an individual registration. You own the copyright to your images at the point at which it is taken by you and fixed into a permanent form such as clicking your shutter button and recording the image on film or onto digital media. Only the courts can decide if there is an “actual infringement” of your image (this is a legal term that should not be used too loosely. As an attorney, she refers to “alleged infringements” as the judge has to make the final determination). I explain using a “license to use contract” and why this is correct terminology when people “buy” your images. Clarity is important and there can be many misunderstandings about what is being purchased if you are not clear with your licensing agreements. For example if a client want to buy an 8×10 what does that mean? Actually, they are purchasing the rights to one personal display of that image as an 8×10 print. They have not purchased the copyrights of the image to use however they choose unless you sell those to them. In most cases there should be limitations written into your agreements. One great thing to include for example is,” No license to use this image is granted until payment in full is received for the usage described.” What to do when someone steals from you Don’t send an email when you are flaming mad at someone. Christina discusses what you can do. What is the difference between infringement and willful infringement? When might it be worth retaining an attorney regarding stolen or images used without your permission? If you retain an attorney, generally you would want to be able to recapture to attorney costs in your recovery, so typically, if an individual steals your image and places it on their facebook page, it may not be worth involving an attorney. However there are other things that can happen. The Digital Millennial Copyright Act We discuss DMCA Take down and what that means. The Digital Millennial Copyright Act notice makes it so your can have your images removed from people’s websites and Facebook pages if the image is stolen from you or used without your permission. They sometimes will take down an entire Facebook account or website, or they may just take down a few images. But, you also want to suggest they make payment for the image because this is your business. Being calm and firm when talking with people is more effective generally speaking than coming down on someone with all your anger. But, even without an attorney, your request to either remove the image or pay for it can have teeth because of the DMCA. World wide issues – Work for hire – Intellectual Property This podcast is NOT focusing on international copyright law and this does not constitute legal advice. When to have a Model Release question is discussed here Be open and transparent with your clients. You would not want to trick someone into creating images to use in ways they might no

One big family It is interesting interviewing show photographers and finding that one thing they love about what they do is getting to know the riders as friends over time. Andrew and Stacy do this to the nth degree and hire people who will continue with their sales philosophy and the feeling of family in their business. It sounds like they have a blast shooting and selling their photography at these shows. I would love to spend the day with them and just watch how the customer experience works. The camera came first for Andrew Andrew grew up around professional and avid amateur photographers so for him photography came first before the horse. He was very active with photography through college but lost interest for a while as he learned his new career after college.  For several years he worked at Disney World, a perfect place to learn about customer experience and customer satisfaction. For Stacy the horse came first as long as she can remember Stacy grew up with horses and in competition and still competes with her own horse. She knows the joy of owning her horse and the excitement of hunter/jumper competition first hand. She participates in upper level competition in the sport and has connections both as a participant for many years and now as a part of Andrew Ryback Photography. For Andrew, dating a young lady with a horse (Stacy, that is) led to photographing her in her hunter/jumper activities. As her boyfriend and then as her husband Andrew followed her to her shows and brought his digital camera to fill the time and photograph her events. Continuing to photograph his wife and sometimes other friends at the shows Andrew was invited to take some pictures by show managers. He did two shows for two years before things started to grow quite quickly. He started as a weekend part-time business in show photography, but it soon became apparent that he could go full-time with this. Both Andrew and Stacy find this entrepreneurial adventure to be fun as a couple. Now he is full-time photography and is doing about 50-60 shows each year. Understanding customer experience and customer service Stacy’s family background included some entrepreneurs so she understands customer experience and she does a lot at the sales end of the business. She maintains her corporate job and helps out with management of the business and the employees as well as running the sales office at the shows when she can. Her vacation time is spent either participating in hunter/jumper competition and/or making the sales end of the business run smooth as silk. Join me now in my interview with Andrew and Stacy of Andrew Ryback Photography SHOW NOTES Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewrybackphotography Website: http://www.andrewryback.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Andrew-Ryback-Photography-158188154858/ We started out asking about which came first, as I do with each of these podcasts. Andrew shared his story and Stacy shared her’s. He started with the camera from way back and Stacy started with horses from way back. As we start talking about the business they discussed finding the right kids to hire who love photography and horses. Andrew has a team of photographers that make it possible to take on the shows that have multiple arenas. His wife, his dad and other teens and college students make up their team. It sounds like perhaps it is a lot of work to keep things organized for each show. Camera Settings and exposure Click on video button on this photo: A little close up slo-mo Grand Prix action! #andrewrybackphotography #horseshowphotography #horsesofinstagram #horse #theridge #theridgeatwellington #lovethetail A video posted by Andrew Ryback Photography (@andrewrybackphotography) on Mar 19, 2016 at 8:32am PDT Andrew and his staff of photographers use only available light for both indoor and outdoor venues. They don’t want to chance causing a fall because of a spooked horse at a show. If the light is very bad for an indoor venue, Andrew sometimes shoots RAW. He likes f4 as a general rule, and a minimum shutter speed of 1/500th. Depending on the venue he has to push the ISO very high in some situations. His newest camera (he thanks Stacy for letting him invest in this particular new gear) has great ISO capability. He has experimented with 25,000 ISO with surprisingly good results. Although 6400 ISO can usually work. His newest camera can do far higher with NO NOISE. The outdoor venues are where he needs additional photographers. At outdoor events there are many times multiple rings going at one time. Andrew has 70-200MM f2.8 lenses on his cameras and communicates with his photographers, who are mostly college aged or even High School aged, by text messaging on cell phones during shows. If the lighting suddenly changes, he might text everyone to bump up the shutter speed a notch or what ever might be needed. The card runner makes sure that the photographers have what they need throughout the day. Getting to know your clients makes them have a nice warm wonderful experience and both Andrew and Stacy have backgrounds that make this just what they do At the shows, he has some directional signage, but really word of mouth gets people in to check on their images. They recently purchased and renovated an old Airstream mobile home trailer. With the unusual shiny aluminum trailer it becomes very easy for people find them and see and purchase their competition images. Word of the shinny trailer and the great images moves quickly through the participants at the events. No online images from the shows “We prefer for them to have the in-the-moment experience with the images.” Andrew and Stacy do not put show pictures online. “We prefer for them to have the in-the-moment experience with the images.” It started out that Stacy was the only one in the trailer or hut and running cards to get images onto the computers, but now they have more help. To keep good customer experience they have employed people who are horse owners who understand the joy of competitive showing and others who love photography. They hire people with talent and the right attitude about why they are there. It sounds like quite adventure and great job for the people who work for them. What does a typical hunter/jumper show look like? Stacy explains that at a show series they do can have from 800-1000 horses and riders participating in a week. For the smaller local shows, they might be dealing with 80-100 horses for a much shorter period of time. Stacy describes the trailer and what the riders see when they walk into the trailer. The laptops set up for the participants have folders ready for them with all the pictures from their rides. They walk them through selecting images and explain various options and the popular all inclusive whole week digital package at a price point. They mention a Go PRO product, but we forgot to follow-up on it in the interview. Go to the PS below to read more about this product that is becoming quite popular with riders. Andrew explains that he wants his images to be seen and enjoyed Most popular is the full digital package for riders which is a USB drive of ALL the digital images of that rider during that event or that week of rides. For multi-week shows, they have to buy a USB for each distinct week. They set the pricing up so that if you want to buy two or three or four digital files, that it just makes sense to buy the digital package. Andrew explains that he wants the pictures to be seen and enjoyed by the participants, but they also sell individual prints and other photographic products as well. Lately, they have sold more canvas prints, as well as cute model horse jumps where a print fits into the stand and other unique products. They like to switch things up from time to time so that the riders always have something new to look at and consider when they come to look at their images. The USB prices are mentioned in the podcast. Pricing for individual digital files is high enough that after purchasing 2-3-4 digital files, it just makes sense to purchase the entire “All images USB” package for the week. When not shooting shows, Andrew also does senior portraits, horse portraits, pets, barn calls etc. A popular item lately is something they call mini-sessions “black-out portraits” of horses, which can be done both at the shows and at barn calls. Oftentimes, these mini-sessions can be scheduled at shows in between events to take advantage of the horse already being braided. These mini sessions, unlike full portrait sessions, include a beautiful “black-out” barn door session fee and a canvas image as the final product. They bundle the session fee with a canvas for these making it well worth the extra effort to work into the schedule of the day. The USB drives are culled for bad timed images, but they make sure that the exposure and color are good on everything from the camera. Fun new products Stacy explains that she introduced custom pillow pictures which are becoming very popular. Andrew thought there would be no pillows sold, but Stacy knew it would be a hit and it is. Every little girl (or girl at heart) needs a pillow with their favorite horse to cuddle up to at home. What makes this a great business for both of them? Why do they LOVE doing this business? Andrew and Stacy talk about the joys of this business. He talks about being an artist, a photographer and a friend to his customers. He thanked his wife Stacy for bringing him into this business. Stacy explains what she enjoys. It is extremely rewarding to see little girls grow up and working their way up to grand prix events. Our customers are always so excited to see us. The joy we get to have with this very large extension of our family with both our customers and our employees as well is wonderful, says Stacy. P.S. What is the new GoPro product that is becoming very popular? Andrew explains: Hi Peter – the gopro images are stills that are fired off with a remote. I deci

I contacted Jon because I saw some of his farm call images. As I explored his website, I found out that his main gig is Saddle Horse Shows from all over the country. I’ve been wanting to have some interviews with show photographers, so I was delighted when Jon was willing to come on the podcast and tell us about his history with horses and his equine photography business. What makes a great horse show photographer? How do you learn to run a horse show business? These are some of the questions that we answered in today’s podcast with Jon McCarthy of Jon McCarthy Photography. SHOW NOTES: Website: www.jonmccarthyphoto.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Jon-McCarthy-Photography John started college as a pre-med major, then discovered horses. Shortly he transferred to William Woods University for an Equine education. It was there that he started to experiment with photography. Jon got the photography bug in College after getting the horse bug He had lots of subject available to photography. Then he started shooting some of the lessons, people working with their horses, etc. This started him on the path toward horse show photography. Learning what was expected from various breeds and disciplines is important This is also when he was able to learn about various breeds and what was needed and expected for “best images” for the breed or discipline. He graduated with a degree in equestrian science with the intention of being a trainer. He got a job at a large Morgan operation. Finding a mentor in the show world He went to show and introduced himself to the top name in Morgan horse show photography. In talking to him, it became clear that this is the direction that he wanted to go in. He was invited to help out with an upcoming show. He was able to work for him on some shows and still to this day he is Jon’s go to person for learning and building his business. Jon started booking some larger shows that were coming in from this mentor when he was unable to take them due to prior bookings etc.,  he would pass them along to Jon. Jon does about 26 shows a year at this time. Ideal shows are 100 head or more. Shows used to be huge, but now many shows are multi-breed formats in order to bring in enough horses. Where before there might be hundreds of Morgans, now there might be 60 head Morgans, 30 Saddlebred, and then additional horses of various other breeds. Reflecting back, his first year he didn’t feel the quality of his images (getting the right shots and timing) was very good. After working with his mentor and shooting at those shows and getting trained and feedback from this great mentor, he improved greatly and was able to get out on his own much better. He still has shows that he does with this mentor every year. They talk business and images and work together to get the best possible products (best images out there) for their show participants. Jon McCarthy Photography is set up for people to make selections at the shows, but he does not do actual printing at most of the shows he works. There is just too much work getting the images and preparing them so people can make selections. He does all the printing and culling and post production himself. His trailer has selection stations (computers) and he has someone there to help in the process of placing orders while he is out shooting. Between classes, they upload and prepare the images for viewing. Why does Jon LOVE doing horse show photography? What makes horse show photography a fun business for you , Jon?  He loves the relationships he develops with people all over the country. He loves traveling across the country and exploring. He gets to see so much of the country because of his business and they go on excursions to beautiful places when they have time. He discusses what it takes to make a living at horse show photography. We talk about his prices and what consumers are purchasing. We discussed publications and dealing with deadlines which is a major part of Saddle horse show photography. Recent changes with the popularity of Facebook were discussed along with meeting the needs and desires of his customers. Digital files for ad requests are uploaded directly to the advertising department of the publications in most cases. We are constantly battling the clock to get adjust and upload the images needed for promotional advertising from these shows, he explains. SALES Jon McCarthy Photography has print packages, digital uploads for advertising, and Facebook image digital low resolution web files which are very popular right now. He tries to maintain a 4 week turn around on print production and people who want the Facebook files, of course want them ASAP. Jon also works with his customers who have quick turn-around deadlines that have to be met to satisfy their urgent needs. He does not like to send things off for printing or sub things out and because he wants to see everything before it goes out and he likes having the control. He mentioned that in some cases he may print an image two or three times before it is perfect for his customer and it can be shipped out. The print packages include Facebook files, but many now just buy the Facebook prepped digital files because the love to SHARE from their recent show participation. Social media is substantial and is a significant part of his mix of services and products. We had a discussion about the people shooting over the rail and how it affects the OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER at shows these days. How do you tell a parent they cannot take pictures of their kid riding in a show? He explained that although he knows some show photographers who have been hit hard with lower sales and they attribute this to over the rail shooters, in his business with publication deadlines and other quick turn needs, he still does well with his shows. Prints account for 30% of what he sells at the shows. 45% of the sales are high res files for publications and commercial use and the rest are low resolution digital files for sharing on social media. Farm Call Sessions Jon tells us about his farm call sessions. He puts out his schedule and people will call and fill in his schedule from time to time with farm sessions in transit or between show commitments. He has a six-horse minimum, but if he is in the area there is no trip charge and travel expenses associated with the farm session. What would you tell someone who wants to do horse show photography? Jon recommends that you go out and find someone to who will allow you to work for them. Learn your timing and the ins and outs of the business from someone who is successfully doing the business. Learn the specifics of shooting various breeds and disciplines . It’s important to meet or beat your customer expectations and each breed and discipline has different expectations. SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE Also, please use the SHARE buttons at the bottom of the page to share The Equine Photographers Podcast with other equine photographers that you may know.   The post 19 : Jon McCarthy — Saddle Horse Show Photography & Learning From the Best appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

A Texas portrait equine photographer When I was exploring for new people to interview, I came across Kirstie Marie Photography in Texas. I put off calling her because I had just interviewed another photographer from Texas, so I signed up for the Kirstie Marie email list. Once or twice a week I have been getting samples of beautiful horse and rider portrait sessions she is having. The emails are very graphically interesting and personally inviting and you are left with wanting more. It was time to interview Kirstie of Kirstie Marie photography. Filling a void and knowing what you would want as a consumer I expected to be talking to someone who had been doing equine photography for a very long time, but I will call Kirstie a relatively new photographer on the scene since she picked up her first digital camera in 2012. Then as she was planning her wedding she decided that she would pick up a Contact 645 roll film camera and after a year of practice in an area felt a need to fill, portraits of riders with their horses, she created her price list and web site and launched. The importance of not launch when you are in “Beta” During that first year before she charged anyone for her services, she considered that her business was in “beta” and she developed her portfolio and abilities until she felt she was ready. In our interview she explains how and WHY she does things the way she does and why as photographers we should be clients of other photographers. I think you will find the interview very informative and inspiring. Kirstie is very business savvy which shows in all the choices she makes relative to her branding, website, and marketing that she does with her valued customers. http://kirstiemarie.com https://www.instagram.com/kirstieeemarie/ http://kmplearn.com She started with dressage lessons at 3. You can see her history with horses on her website. SHOW NOTES: Kirstie picked up a camera in 2012 while in college and planning her wedding. She started with digital, then picked up a Contact 645 film camera (shoots 120 and 200 roll film). Using her own money she practiced for a year shooting film and developing her product and portfolio before telling people she was going to charge them for her services. She was making sure she had something professional. She did not want to put something out there in “beta”. Medium format film images included in every shoot She still shoots film some on each session (not 35mm, but 120 and 220 roll film). She has nice digital gear now as well and edits the digital images to look like the film images that come back from her pro film lab. Now she has a Hasselblad as her film camera and is very pleased with its very fast and accurate automatic focus. Professional and part-time and the importance of outsourcing Kirstie has a full-time career and her photography business is part-time mostly on weekends. She loves both so she has no plan on changing the current mix any time soon. She likes two to 4 sessions per month, but is a softy and when people call with urgent requests she tries to work them into her schedule. She explained that one time she had a very over packed period of 6 weeks with 16 sessions. Yikes! About being a customer of photographers Kirstie is a customer of photographers to learn more about how they run their businesses and to explore how she feels about the experience with other photographers and determine how to improve the experience of her own clients. Kirstie feels strongly that you should put yourself in your client’s perspective as a customer of photography. I would have to agree with her and would encourage you to do the same. Spend some money and have some portraits made from time to time, see how the experience feels and learn. She booked several photographers who did not sell digital files. It was a great disappointment and very frustrating to her because all she wanted was the digital files, so now she builds her own business as “all-inclusive packages” with additional add-ons for those who want them. But, when we talk about packages, we are not speaking about $295.00 All inclusive packages and what that means All inclusive packages at Kirstie Marie Photography start at $1495.00. She talks about how she markets to a specific target audience and admits that she is in the heart of horse country. She explains more about what “all-inclusive” means. Here is a page from her website that explains in general terms what is included in her packages. She has this starting package and includes two more packages which focus on adding large prints, canvases or wall collections and custom albums to the list of included items. Mentor/Teaching website http://kmplearn.com Kirstie is very business savvy as I mentioned earlier and she also has a mentoring/teaching websites for photographers with a free email letter list as well. I would encourage you to join her list and consider purchasing some consulting from her if you are starting out or if you want to be top of your game in  portrait equine photography.    SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE Also, please use the SHARE buttons at the bottom of the page to share The Equine Photographers Podcast with other equine photographers that you may know.    Thanks from your host Peter DeMott.   The post 18 : Kirstie Marie — The Concept of Beta and Outsourcing appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

Where did Tony Stromberg come from to get to where he is now? This is from the About Tony on his website and I would encourage you to go over and read more as this is only the first couple of paragraphs describing his journey. After successfully spending over 20 years as a high-end advertising photographer in San Francisco, I found myself disenchanted, burned out, and ultimately receiving no nourishment from the work I was doing.  On the outside, I had everything anyone would want, but my inner landscape was barren and I began “searching” for my lost spirit. When horses came into my life in the mid-1990’s, I realized that I had found my teachers, and the connection that I have developed with horses has helped steer my life in a completely different direction. Horses have taught me so much in the time that I have spent with them. They have taught me about the power of authenticity, honestly, and integrity, and they have taught me the true meaning of leadership and relationship. They have also taught me about living in collaboration and community, rather than the model that our society embodies, which is about competition and “getting ahead of the rest”. In my interview with Tony we go from where he was to where he is now. Horses continue to take him to better places where he has rediscovered things that he had lost in the competitive rush of being everything to everybody as a commercial photographer. Finding horses probably saved him. I hope you will come and enjoy my interview with one of the top 10 equine photographers in the world. SHOW NOTES His website: http://tonystromberg.com His Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TonyStrombergPhotography When I talked with Tony he had 799,900 Likes on Facebook. In the last two weeks it is now well over 808,000 likes. By the time you hear this it may reach 1 million for all I know. People are captivated by his powerful images and want to see more. Listen to hear how this came to be along with the frustrations and benefits of social media. 60 degrees in February in New Mexico (We started with just a little small talk) Tony started in photography as a commercial advertising photographer in California For 20+ years Tony had a very successful advertising photography career starting in his 20s.  He describes the variety of work he did so successfully during that period. But, it took him down a path where he was losing himself and dealing with depression and despair. He could just about do any photography project for anyone, but there was something missing for him. At that point he didn’t know the difference between a horse and cow, he said. He was invited by a friend to visit some horses and he started shooting horses as a hobby. He would go and shoot and find a little piece of himself every time. How did he start into equine photography as a business? In commercial photography he was spending 20 percent of his time taking pictures and 80 percent was marketing, showing his portfolio and beating the pavement to get in front of important clients. In equine photography it was the other way around. 20 percent of the time is marketing and 80 percent is shooting. He decided to completely close up shop for his California commercial & advertising photography business and started up anew in New Mexico where he had lived for a time in the past. For a while he did some architectural photography for builders in the area, but soon focused only on horses. He describes how his first horse book came about. Someone was intrigued with his work and introduced him to her publisher. It was amazing that he walked in with his portfolio and walked out with a book deal. Sales continue with that book through the book distributer. After the book he started with a calendar company as well and has been doing those for about 10 year now. From there he got with a poster company and that produced some income for the business. All this was getting him noticed in the equine and photography world and people started asking him about doing equine photography workshops. His first low-key workshop was in Santa Fe. He got his feet wet and really enjoyed it so he has been expanding from there. Now he is doing workshops all over the world. This now represents 80 percent of his income from equine photography. He limits his workshops to 10-12 people and they are for 5 days to a week. He likes keeping them smaller and limits the size of the workshops to be able to offer a better experience to the participants. We breifly talk about the costs in general terms for the participants of his workshops both domestic and over seas . He has people of all ability levels from hobbyists to established pros attending his workshops. http://tonystromberg.com/workshops/        What does a workshop look like? We have a discussion of how the workshops go. He keeps them relaxed and low key so people are not burned out at the end of the week. He sets up one major shoot each day. They have breakfast together and work on their images in the afternoons. What about Stock photography? Tony ALMOST signed with a stock agency, but backed out of that deal and never pursued it after that. He had sent out a note to several photographers and found that it might have trapped his images for several years and then not worked out that well anyway. Many photographers have tied up their entire portfolios and been hurt by stock photography agencies. He has done some stock work, but very limited and nothing that would tie up his images in an agency. Art prints and galleries Tony has worked with various galleries over the years, but now he only has his work with one gallery. Right now he just had his website completely redesigned to sell fine art prints and his workshops. It is quite beautiful and very easy to navigate by my estimation. He has no idea how this is going to work out at this time. As we spoke he mentioned that he will be announcing the new website on his Facebook page in the next day or two. The website builder need just a couple more days to tweak a few things before he should put it out there. 799,900 LIKES Believe it or not Tony has only been on Facebook for about 3 years. He started with a paid ad, “LIKE Photography, Like Horses? Click here” or something like that he said. At one point he hired a group for a little while and things were moving along nicely so he stopped that.  Then it started to take off on its own.  At one point it was growing at almost 10,000 likes per week. He tries to share something on Facebook and social media every week. It might be a pictures from a recent workshop or it might even be a group shot of the photographers who participated. Sometimes he will post something for several days in a row. He water marks his images, but he knows that a lot of images are being stolen and used everywhere. His biggest complaint is artists who paint from his images without permission and then selling his intellectual property as if it was their own creativity. He gets 2-3 or more emails and calls DAILY from artists asking if they can paint from his images. He tells them that he does not do that, but he sees his images everywhere as paintings and drawings for sale. They are in too many place to be able to effectively do anything about it which of course is one of the major frustrations of the internet and social media for an artist today. Frustrations with social media and benefits He has mentioned his books around Christmas and he expected to see a big bump in sales, but it was surprising it did not increase as much as he would have expected. We discussed how Facebook has changed and how just a couple of years ago when he had far fewer LIKES, he would get exposure to much greater numbers of people. Now, even with over 800,000+ likes some posts get exposure to only 10,000 or 20,000 people. He gets a lot of his workshops booked and noted that through the Facebook page and he also gets lots of comments (200 or 300 comments with each photograph posted sometimes). It’s gratifying to him that so many people love his images and tell him so. A Little Facebook trick If you put a LINK in the post then the number of people who will see it cuts way down. It could be 1/10th what you might get from posting a pictures alone, but if he posts a picture then puts a link in the comments it reaches many more people. Facebook wants their money for you to post links. This is just one little trick he discovered recently. Being with horses has mirrored back to him and taught him and helped him grow as a person. In the advertising work, he had lost touch who he was, and horses have helped him to find himself. Tony owns 4 horses. He rides a very little bit. He wife also rides a little bit. He sees his horses as more like family members and likes to “hang out” with them. Thanks Tony for letting me interview you about your work. I much appreciate being able to talk with you and share this with the listeners here at the Equine Photographers Podcast. Top ten equine photographers in the world Oh Wait, I called him back to ask about being listed as one of the top ten equine photographers in the world. He was noted first in the list in the post on a website called Topteny and the congratulations started pouring in. It made his day when he found out about it and when the comments started rolling in on Facebook, in emails, and so on…. 300 or 400 comments in the first day or so. He really did not know much about how this selection of the top ten equine photographers in the world came to be and how he or the other photographers listed were judged, but it was fun none the less. http://www.topteny.com/top-10-best-equine-photographers-in-the-world/ Tony’s new book Because of the journey that horses have helped him with in his mind and soul, he has collaborated with people who work with horses as a therapy for people. Look for Tony’s new book, “Horse Medicine”. SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTun

Judy Bosco has been an equine photographer for a long time, however she has stayed part-time balancing a full-time job, family, husband and recently other life challenges to continue to pursue her love for photography and horses. Listen and hear about her story on The Equine Photographers Podcast. SHOW NOTES Judy’s website: http://www.judybosco.smugmug.com Judy’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PhotographybyJudithMBosco When did she start to love horses? Her parents knew that she was horse crazy so they gave her horseback riding lessons when she was 9 years old for a summer. After that a friend of hers who had horses stabled at the same barn and she helped clean stalls, and they rode a lot together. She did lease a horse for one summer, but has never owned her own horse. Where did the photography come in? She met her future husband at a new local camera store that had opened in the area. She bought a Yashica film 35mm camera and some lenses and started to take black and white pictures. She would study the horse magazines to determine if her images were any good and how she could improve them. Practice, practice, practice is how Judy learned back then. She shot in black and white and the “guy at the camera store helped her to process her first bunch of rolls of film.” She focused on hunter/jumper and english riding. He taught her to process her own black and white images. She also acquired a Bronco 645 which uses 120 and 220 roll film. From there she did lots of small shows on spec, but today shooting on spec does not work to well. She still does several hunter pace events and still enjoys those the most. In the film days, she would send her daughter to have film processed and bring them back to sell at the events. She used to do a lot of horse shows then, but things have changed quite a bit now. There are a lot fewer shows these days, but today everything is digital and there are lots of “photographers” shooting all the shows. At the same time she sometimes gets complaints that there was not a photographer at a show. However if the participants are unwilling to support the photographers when they do come, what would they expect to happen? After shooting a couple of shows with few sales photographers give up and move on to other types of events. Now, she does everything online using Smugmug. She still have several hunter pace events that she does. She puts up a booth with samples and business cards and there are information cards in the rider packets. Sign-up here and win an 8×10 from today’s event She gives away an 8×10 at each event or show she does. This is a way to gather up lots of email addresses where she can notify them when the event gallery is available for viewing and purchase. At the hunter pace events is that there are people who don’t do other types of shows and they may not have any pictures of themselves with their horses yet. This means lots of new sales at these events that can also lead to other business. Now she is trying to figure out how to sell digital files effectively and profitably. Many just want the digital files today. Sometimes she sells a bunch of files on a thumb drive for people who want a lot of files. Conformation pictures to sell or promote a horse Discussion of the cell phone pictures that people are using today to promote the sale of their horses. They wonder why there are no buyers or why they have to lower their price so much to sell their horse, however the horse does not look good with a large head a very tiny bottom and does not look good. EPnet workshops I’ve been to workshops in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, all the way through 2013 she explained. She loved what she learned from Betty Cooper’s workshop one year learning a lot about posing horses with their people. Hands on learning seems so much more effective to learn things about posing and getting horses to look great rather than just various online general photography learning opportunities. Learning how to turn the horse’s head or pose the person with the horse can be learned so much better when you are actually seeing it done before your eyes. Judy recommends going to equine photography workshops whenever possible. As you can see, she has attended a few. Family and health issues have slowed things down a bit lately She cared for her mom until she passed in 2014. Then she had a kidney stone and an infection. Then her heart was feeling odd. At a big show her blood pressure and pulse tanked and were very low. She ended up getting a pacemaker and feels great now. Now she has more energy and is looking to do more shooting in coming months. Taking care of yourself is important. Trying out Team Penning & cutting shows recently My D800 has been great for this indoor event of a different nature. It’s action like hunter pace and hunter/jumper, but it is something I have not done before with new challenges. It was lots of fun and she had some good sales. Trying something completely new and challenging can be a great way to learn and grow. SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE Also, please use the SHARE buttons at the bottom of the page to share The Equine Photographers Podcast with other equine photographers that you may know. Thanks from your host Peter DeMott. The post 15 : Judy Bosco: Balancing Equine Photography, Business, and Life Behind the Lens appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

Lynne is a California-based equine sport, ranch, portrait, pets and livestock photographer for both personal and commercial clients. Lynne is pictured third from the left in the above image. SHOW NOTES Website: http://www.photo.lynnesite.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lynne-Glazer-Imagery/42216687604 I’ve known Lynne for many years. She is a talented and very technically particular photographer. What I mean is that she never fudges getting the images right in the camera and on post processing to create the best possible image for her clients. Because of this she has done all sorts of both personal and commercial photography, but for today’s interview we spend a lot of time discussing her endurance ride photography including covering the internationally known Tevis endurance ride which is a point to point 100 mile trail event which occurs every year in California. Lynne has been horse crazy as long as she can remember, but she got her first horse at 31 years old. He was an older horse, but she was able to enjoy him for quite a few years. In 2003 started shooting endurance rides. She also had a desktop technology support business for media companies as a freelancer, so she knew how to run a business before getting into the business of photography. She also had a lot of knowledge about using technology proficiently for her photography business although later in the interview she explains that she hates to blog which she knows would increase her visibility as a photography business. Now she works with an aerospace engineering company in areas of technology that you and I would not have a clue about. She can work remotely and on the schedule she chooses which is usually at night. It’s just what she likes to do. That also leaves her time during the day for photography and enjoying her horse. How does Lynne describe her business today? She does events, farm and ranch photography along with her endurance ride photography and a smattering of other things. She says she does family photography with “critters”. She used to do a lot of editorial photography, but does a lot less now. She still shoots for Arabian Horse World. She also did stock photography profitably for many years, but doesn’t do much with that any more. How long did it take her to move into professional photography? She was able to bring herself to professional status almost instantly because of her understanding of running a business and her technology background. Knowing Lynne, she is one that I would never have to say, “read your camera manual”, since she does technical writing and also probably has it completely memorized. She has done a lot of things over the years like horse shows, kids rodeos, also 2nd camera for Cristy Cumbersworth for her contracted events. Second shooting can be nice because you just hand over the images and the lead photographer takes it from there. Lynne did a lot of work for Cavalia, the horse stage show performances for 10 years. This was a very difficult challenge due to low light. We discussed some of the challenges she faced. They would fly her to their show locations for shoots they needed. Back to endurance riding and endurance ride photography She is currently bringing along a 6-year-old horse for her own endurance riding. She is bowing out of endurance ride photography somewhat so she can ride endurance. She wants good images of herself riding endurance. She wants to encourage other photographers to come up and photograph these events and learn to do it well so she can buy images as keepsakes for rides where she is a participant. The challenge is trying to capture images that will both look great and at the same time identify the ride that they are participating in. This is what makes the images eminently buyable. Making the images interesting and memorable can be challenging in California high desert, so finding the right place with the right light is important. It’s not just taking pictures of everyone. We discuss some how to photograph trail events like this. Finding a place where the 25 mile and the 50 mile riders will both pass by is important, then moving to another point later in the event in order to get an additional opportunity to shoot all the riders. How does the business of endurance ride photography work out for her? The rides she photographs out in California are usually 100+ riders. The average orders for prints is $45.00 which is 3 4×6 prints at $15.00 each. With an 8×10 or larger she includes a digital file for Facebook sharing. Rather than run off and have the images made quickly, she post processes, crops, color corrects the images for very good keepsake image quality. Even though it seems that you can make more selling on site at the event, she likes being able to shoot longer and not having to run off to cull and quickly print out images for sale. People know they will have high quality prints from her business model. She uses Facebook endurance groups and pages to promote the availability of event albums to purchase from. Western States Trail Foundation (WSTF) is the sponsoring organization for the TEVIS endurance ride and she provides a lot of photography for them from this event. We again have a discussion of the TEVIS endurance ride. Vet checks protect the horses throughout the ride. At the end if the horse is not fit to continue, then the horse is pulled and does not complete. This protects horses from being overextended. It is about knowing and training your horse not just pushing performance. She travels around the USA shooting various equine clients, not just endurance. We have a discussion of using Facebook. Lynne uses her cell phone to create slice of life images and people seem to enjoy this. She has a much stronger following of her personal profile page vs. her business page. SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE       The post 14 : Lynne Glazer: Endurance Ride Photography and Storytelling Beyond the Finish Line appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

Richard Horst is a nature and equine photographer who manages a ranch where ranches are described in hundreds of acres and he has consciously chosen to bring his family and live where the pace of life is different and the love of horses and nature can be expressed in his heart and through photography which he can share with everyone. SHOW NOTES Website: http://www.richardhorstphotography.com Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/RichardHorstPhotography Pinterest Board: https://www.pinterest.com/richardhorst794/ Email Address: richardhorstphotography@gmail.com How did Richard get involved with horses? Grew up back East around Arabian horses. His grandfather had horses, and at his home with his sisters she had two horses, but Richard was not happy about having horses because he had to take care of them for his sister every morning. Not until Wyoming did he start to enjoy horses again. He appreciated that horses could take him to places nobody else could see. Then he and his wife and family moved to manage another ranch in Montana. He manages the largest herd of Rocky Mountain horses in the world. He learned to depend on horses when out in the wild. Working together and trusting each other was important. Where did his interest in photography start? Richard got into photography in high school. He took pictures and processed in the unused bathroom in the basement of his parents house. Peter explains that this is just how he started as well. While leading various horse packing trail adventures for the people coming to the Wyoming guest ranch Richard took lots of point and shoot images throughout the rides. Richard’s wife pushed him to do something with photography rekindling his passion for photography that was dormant for some time. After moving to Montana, he had a little more time and invested in better equipment. He would like to have harder criticism on Horse Photo Critique group on Facebook. People are too nice. I want to improve more. Has a nature photographers “look” to his work. Richard has won some international photo competition with a picture of this daughter in the middle of nowhere with 3-4 horses and expansive rolling hills in the background. We discussed and debated about being a 1/3 time photographer or full-time. Jumping in with both feet Richard announces that he is the OP “official photographer” for the Colorado Horse Expo. A discussion of on site sales and his need for second shooters. He also needs people to organize viewing and handle sales while he shoots all day long. Without on site sales it is likely that sales will be lacking. Needs price sheets, order forms, and promotion to get riders to come and see the images. We will email him with some event photographers to consult with. Which way will Richard go in his photography business as it comes together? What do I do next? Gigi explains that it is interesting to be talking to someone on the cusp of building into a business. You must take the right steps at the right time according to some people who Richard has spoken with in the area of nature photography. Will Richard migrate toward horse events or toward nature photography? SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE   The post 13 : Richard Horst: Building a Multi-Genre Photography Career Across Nature, Horses, and Landscape appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

Terri Cage is a portrait and equine photographer specializing in senior portraits, show promotion photography, and farm family portraits with animals. Please join us to listen as she explains her business and her life with horses. SHOW NOTES Website: http://www.terricage-photography.com Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TerriCagePhotography/ Horse crazy kid at 10 years old for my first horse. Her dad got her a camera and he was a photographer actually. She did some barrel racing as she got a little older. As she had children, then now are showing. Started photography business in 2009. Uses studio sometimes for some portraits, dogs, to promote and for selection sessions. Main clientele is horse people. She does weddings from time to time. Shows 5% (networking through the shows with a booth showing portrait work) Majority of work is seniors and promotion for shows, some studio, some lifestyle, but a lot of images for client horse or rider western show promotion. Equine Chronicle and others. The magazines are mailed free to all carded judges and they are free at the shows. Gigi looks at her website and comments about how beautiful it is. Temp was 105 degrees at time of interview and is planning some mini session in studio. The studio is only 8 months old. Plans to stick it out for a year or two to see how it turns out. She sees the studio as promotional also. She also has a retail storefront with framed art work, canvases, boxes and cups etc. Marketing – Advertising – Networking Marketing – What else do you do besides Facebook Page. She mails out some postcards several times per year. Sends to farms and sends to seniors in the area. They are small mailings of 200 to 400 at a time. Spends about a day a week on Facebook and schedules posts, but with Instagram you have to actual do it when you want it to post. Instasize App for sizing photos for Instagram. Shoots some dressage shows which have many different breeds represented. Took a workshop with Scott Trees for Arabians, to learn the breed better. Makes sure that whatever she sends out is appropriate for the breeds represented. Does some marketing through Instagram and this is where the kids are. You have to be there. With Instagram, you will be seen. It’s not that way any more on Facebook. Hashtags not like “senior portraits” because teens will not be looking for that. When I go to someone’s ranch, usually will be there for several hours to provide a variety of images for promotion. Pricing is discussed depending on if she is visiting a stable with 3-4 riders at one session time. Sells Facebook images, high res files for the promotional ads, and various other prints. Grand parents still want wallets. Age 14-18 competitive riders. Spring amateurs, fall stallion promotions. Sometimes travels long distances and stays in guest house or client pays hotel fees. Works with trainers in the ad development. “We have 4 people to do”. For these I have to please the trainer more than I have to please the client. The difficulty of draught and increased costs affects the small horse people. For a while, we were paying 3X for hay. Focus on Niche’ is important Keep a focus on equine to reach these clients. Most of her work is niche’ equine and sometimes she gets other work, but many of those jobs come through people who know her through her equine work. My senior work started with horses. Now I have all kinds of seniors… motorcycles, not just horses now. Big family portraits in fall for Christmas… that’s the only time I shoot families in general. General Shooting schedule for year Spring – shoot for summer World shows Amateurs – shoot in summer – age 19 and above – Fall shows Families – fall shooting Workshops is also something she does for her business. Two days for around $500. Show promotion photography Western lifestyle photography SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE The post 12 : Terri Cage: Equine Portraiture and Visual Storytelling in Texas Horse Country appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

Scott is one of those fortunate people who has done something they love their entire working career and that is be a photographer. Horses have been the primary subject of his efforts, and he has been able to travel the world capturing their beauty and essence. His style embodies an artists understanding of light and a tactile emotional portrayal of his subjects. While horses have been the primary subject, his work is not limited to just that area. He also does commercial work including architectural, fashion, portraiture and travel journals. His locations have been worldwide ranging from ghettos to palaces and everything in between! His services include promotional photography, videography, editorial, lectures and seminars. SHOW NOTES Website: http://www.treesmedia.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Scott-Trees-Photography-245113558834563/ Scott Trees is based in Texas The horse came first, quarter horses and Arabians growing up. Started with a Minolta SRT 101. Developed black and white in the bathroom. Started a party picture business for fraternities and Sororities and it paid for his college education. First foray into equine photography was an “A” Arabian show in Pueblo Colorado. Shooting black and white and processing in a rented trailer with a friend. Started doing some 16mm film work for a company working with horses. 1983 Did some work for a disbursement sale for a very large Arabian breeding farm. Did some of the first “at liberty” shooting. Then everything started coming to him as fast as he could handle it. There were only 3-4 photographers doing all the work. Shooting medium format cameras. For every job he accepted there were 3 he had to refuse. Today is very different. Went through the digital change over. At 65 he is in the last phase of his career. It used to be that he had the best gear at any shoot, but today, there will be several people with equipment better than him. Now people think good-enough is acceptable. Very competitive in a dwindling market as breed registries are seeing fewer and fewer horses. Does a lot of video now. It’s an area that new photographers need to become competent in. VHS  then DVDs  then Online Streaming. He has done all of these. Current project working with Arabian breed with video to tell different stories about this versatile and interesting breed. Telling the good story about Arabians. With video you have to consider how the story is being told. Scott has gone back and forth between video and still as each goes up and down in demand. There is a different art involved in motion. Snapshot of his business now 1/3 photography, 1/3 video, 1/3 teaching 80% Horse photography / When he was working in Dubai, it was only 40% horses. As a new photographer you had better be able to adjust to change over and over. Marketing is constantly changing as well. You must be able to perform on-demand and produce a quality product for your customers if you expect to be paid. Horses have been the engine that pulled the train of his photography business. Niche’ is very important. You have to KNOW the area that you photograph. Specialty brought me to other work. Example with a story from Dubai. Goes to horse shows to network. Does not do shows. Be careful that you don’t take on work that you are not prepared to perform well for. Taking on a national “A” horse show as your first project could ruin your entire career in the horse world if you don’t deliver. This includes meeting the expectations of the particular kind of event that you are photographing. Photography today can be a TIME monster. We used to send off our film and it would come back. Now we spend hours and hours on the computer being the lab for ourselves. Package online education in photography available at certain times of the year. Also does on-location teaching. Heads up the Sombrero Ranch Equine Photography workshops. Now he is trying out some classroom only teaching events. Two days: Fundamentals of still equine photography and Fundamentals of video for equine photography. Classroom can be as many as want to come. On-location workshops need to be limited in number to be more effective. Gigi: Workshops are very valuable for her. Hands-on is how she finds the most effective learning. Scott: THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING TO LEARN IN PHOTOGRAPHY. Last question: Tell us about how you are lighting horses these days. Most people are shooting horses are outdoors. Learn the color and direction of the light. Shoot morning or evening. Lighting and shadow give the picture depth and the look of 3 D look. Open shadow also has direction. Sometimes uses reflectors. Doesn’t use on camera fill flash which creates a flat image. Setting up lighting around horses is difficult because horse MOVE. SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE   The post 11 : Scott Trees: Lessons From a Long-Term Career in Equine Photography appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

I ran across Anette in the Facebook Group called “Horse Photo Critique” The group is for people wanting to improve their equine images, not a place to share the latest snapshot of your horse. Some people get it, but sometimes people put up images of their horse snapped on a cell phone and become upset when someone explains how the images could be improved. They will say, “why, it’s my horse and I love him and I think it is a great image.”  But, it’s not. The exposure is wrong, the horse has his head in the grass, there are broken fences and garbage piles in the background and so on. There are of course those who understand the purpose of the group and who follow the rules. They post their image with all the details about the image and ask, “How can I improve this image?”  If you want to improve your equine photography, find this Facebook Group and be teachable as Anette has been with outstanding and fast results. One day Anette Augestad posted an image. It was wonderful. A young lady with her horse. The light was just right and there was little that could be done to improve the image. Since then Anette has been doing more and IMPROVING FAST, so I invited her to come on the Equine Photographers Podcast to share about what she was doing and where she was heading with her work. Even now Interest in her images is expanding across the globe.   SHOW NOTES Website: http://www.hestefotograf.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Hestefotograf?fref=photo Equine photography is a hobby or side business, but she has a full-time career in another field. Anette explains that she determines the location of the shoot. Some she shoots with models and borrowed horses. Started with horses when she was 8 and everything in her life. Took riding lessons, dressage and show jumping. 2008 Landscape and nature photography 2012 started to build a portfolio of horses 2013 Started to build her portfolio of equine photography Her full-time job gives her the flexibility to do what she wants Hand picks the horses, hand picks the horses, without having the worry about the money. Learning photography was trial and error. Tried and failed and tried again. Understands all the concepts and learned most of it before starting with horses. Most of her activities come through her Facebook Page. 2013 first large article was published in a magazine called EquiLife. Also published late in Dressage a website in Norway. You have a really specific hobby, her friends tell her. Easier to create intimacy in the images with fewer subjects, the connection. Details about her typical sessions. Delivers about 15-20 images in low resolution. If they want prints, then they have to order through her. Most of this is through emails. Stories of some of her sessions. Loves to photograph the large and powerful breeds. Setting up model sessions with horses she chooses. A discussion of capturing the connection between the horse and rider. Discussion about her rates. SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE       The post 10 : Anette Augestad: Building an Equine Photography Career in Norway appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

Tracey Elliot-Reep has a truly unique and amazing business model that proves you can create a business that fits your spirit and personality in the equine world. How would you like to live on the edge of a reserve with wild ponies that everyone adores, then take equine trail treks across mountain trails for hundreds of miles in Spain or the Netherlands? How about riding horseback from Mexico to Canada? Then, when you get back share your adventures through books and motivational speaking opportunities throughout the world. Her story is truly inspirational and amazing. You will LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, listening to Tracy. SHOW NOTES Show notes are sentences and phrases and words that indicate what is being discussed in the interview along with any websites and links for your further exploration. How did you get involved with horses and photography? Lives at Dartmoor in England. Rode the ponies as a child. Tried to get into school for art, but did not qualify. Joined the traveling circus taking care of the horses. Somewhere along the line I picked up a camera and found that 2011 – across Greece and Italy over the Alps across norther Spain. 5 month trips. Began her business in photography photographing for several magazines. One went bust so she started selling postcards of Dartmoor ponies. Living off 5 pounds a week for a period of time. That was 23 years ago. Now my business of calendars, greeting cards, books funds my adventures then when I come back I give talks about LIVING YOUR DREAMS. I talk about overcoming obstacles. People are inspired to live their own dreams after hearing the struggles and overcoming which I talk about. In the spring she had 20 talks. Working on a children’s book about Rainbow, her pony. Sells greeting cards, novelettes, calendars, children’s books, horseback travel adventure books. Started one adventure with $100. Faith into action. Took on jobs to fund the adventure. Purchased the horses. Crossing the southern Alps. Flash floods. New Zealand. Raised money for disabled riding programs. Ride from Mexico to Canada. Drug smugglers, snakes, mountain lions, mountains. Her European adventure included tunnels, refugees, mountains, mountain goats, dangers of many kinds. http://www.traceyelliotreep.com Riding by Faith Across Southern Europe A gripping journey with two Greek ponies from the arid heat of Greece, across the Alps of southern Europe, to the ancient pilgrim trail of northwest Spain. Riding by Faith Across America A stunning photographic account of a dream becoming reality, as Tracey rode all the way from Mexico to Canada following the Rocky Mountains. An inspirational, informative and humorous taste of life in the American West, past and present. Riding by Faith Through New Zealand Tracey’s first big adventure started with faith, a friend and only a few pounds in her pocket. They travelled the length of the North and South Islands of New Zealand, across mountains and battled through cyclones, floods and droughts. SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE     The post 9: Tracey Elliot Reep: Equine Adventure Photography and Storytelling on the Move appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

Phyllis has been part owner and manager of Burchett Training Center for over 30 years so it was only natural for her to turn to equine photography. Her knowledge of horses helps her to fulfill her creative vision for the Equine Form as art.  Her passion for beautiful light and candid moments inspires and fuels her to make images that make the viewer want to come along on her journey. Join us now as we talk to Phyllis about her life and journey as an equine photographer and artist. SHOW NOTES Website: http://phyllisburchettphoto.net Workshops: http://phyllisburchettphoto.net/workshops/ Iceland photography tour: http://phyllisburchettphoto.net/iceland-tour-2016/ Winter horse photography tour: http://phyllisburchettphoto.net/winter-horse-photography-tour/ She has a blog which you can sign-up for email subscribe on her website. Show notes are just rough notes, phrases and sentences to give you some clues about what was discussed during the interview. She has been in the horse business since her teens. Late 1990s had 14 stations and did lots of stud service. 45 Acre farm. Had as many as ten people working for them. 2003 started getting burned out on horse breeding business. Went to a workshop and caught the bug. Bought a film camera. Back country Yellowstone tours. Was “possessed with photography”. Known for wildlife and bird photography. Polar bears in Canada. Now, it’s horses, bears, and birds. Sold the farm, but works at the farm part-time as part of the purchase agreement. Breeding crashed 2008 and has diminished a lot. Today in your photography business. She is in two galleries. She does instruction. Portrait work is word of mouth. 50% or more of her portraits are horse and rider or owner and pet portraits. Connects a lot with people through Facebook. Workshops and tours are mainly equine related. Workshops are one day from dawn to dusk. Poems Art and World Art represent about 15% of her income. Enjoys much of what she does. #1 Horses, #2 Nature, If I could do workshops every day, it’s what I love to do. Doing an Icelandic horse tour and workshop in Iceland. For new photographers, it’s good to be well rounded. She does architectural photography. Leading to a photographic riding tour with horse pictures. Has a waiting list. One day workshop around $179.00. Iceland tour is around $3500.00 excluding airfare. Riding and photography tour – beta test was too low. This year will be more. Gigi chimes in, “I could be your cook. I used to be a chef.” Gigi says, “Phyllis is a great teacher.” PPA, ASMP, NAMPA, LOCAL Affiliate Chapters, Equine photographers Network. Equipment: Nikon from fish eye to 600mm (birds). D4, D810, D7200,  70-200 is favorite lens for horse and a lot of portrait work. Small studio, not a store front studio, just a room at the farm. Will set up at the Gallery for holiday portraits to promote the gallery also. Sees herself as an artist. Encourage new photographers to get involved locally. 50% Equine photography – Includes horse and rider, tours, teaching, fine art equine sales, farm 15% Portraits including pet photography 15% Fine art nature photography 20% Teaching through the gallery and one-on-one mentor tutoring. Portrait clients will see 15-25 images completely post processed. Small town. Spends more time in post processing than in the actual session. Prices with other full-time professionals in the area. Do competitions. PPA judging. To learn. SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE The post 8 : Phyllis Burchett — Fine Art Equine Portraits and Nature Photography appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

When I saw his website and looked around it was reminiscent of the Norman Rockwell covers on the Saturday Evening Post. In our interview we discussed these images and more to discover how an old-time cowboy moved from large format cameras to digital and continues to come up with new ways to grow his business with outstanding personalized service and top quality output for his clients. From Ron’s website: Ron McGinnis was born and reared in the hills of the Missouri Ozarks, surrounded by wildlife and wild places. In these surroundings Ron developed an eye for the beauty of both rural and natural settings. He grew up hunting, fishing, and participating in rodeo events. The son of a professional photographer, he was introduced to a camera at a fairly early age. He was tutored by his father and his father’s cousin, a Kansas City crime photographer, who was a master of fine art, and black and white photography. Between the two of them, they managed to teach him a thing or two about light and shadow, aperture settings and composition.   A college professor once told Ron, “If you don’t make a living as an artist you will starve to death.” Art has been his livelihood for most of his life. Whether it was as a sculptor, or his main profession as an award-winning marine artist, Ron has made a living doing what he does best: art.   Now with the latest in state of the art digital photography equipment, Ron is sharing his artistic eye with the viewing public. Ron’s photographs can be seen in homes and businesses, and in galleries for resale. Several of his photos have won awards, including Cowboys & Indians Magazine contests, and are used in magazine articles and on book covers. SHOW NOTES Show notes are just rough notes, phrases and sentences to give you some clues about what was discussed during the interview. Website: http://www.ronmcginnis.com Ron’s Artist Website: http://ron-mcginnis.artistwebsites.com/index.html Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ronmcginnisphotography Ron’s email: ronsphotos2@gmail.com Started at 17 Father was a master photographer. Friend of Ansel Adams. Still shoots with a the zone system. Started with a 8×10 large format camera. Cameras are still a box and hole in it. Raised around horses and cowboys all of his life. Participated in rodeos. Also does reproductions of marine life as part of his living (3-d sculptures). For museums and other. 75% of his career is photography. Shooting kids growing up doing rodeo is rewarding. His wife does the selling at computer table at the events. He does not print on site. He is very particular about quality of print work. BLACK RIVER Imaging does great work for him. Knows his lab people personally. Does a lot of 40×60 canvas wraps. Like to shoot action events at low angles. Shoots from inside and outside of the arena depending on safety issues. Will sometimes use wider lenses and low angles to capture a more dramatic. Mostly shoots with 70-200 f2.8. Have to be able to shoot action and some in evenings. Uses up to 8 speed-lights. Can turn on and off as needed. Sometimes he can just use higher ISO in a good night rodeo arena. 1/500 is the slowest shutter speed that he would use if not using a flash. Faster for some events. Almost all rodeo events. Art sales 50%  Average purchase is a 30×40 canvas  and framed images through fine art america. Some art shows. Art dealers. Facebook. A new image might get shared 50 times on Facebook. Rodeos almost every weekend. Takes some shots from the events to create art images.  The contestants almost always purchase these images that he has created as a gallery wrap. His wife is showing the pictures from previous events which he has worked on during the previous week at the current show that he is shooting. Doesn’t usually sell online to keep people honest and keep them from stealing the images. Grew up being a fan of Norman Rockwell and is pleased that we saw that in his work. But, these shots are real life images of friends at a bunk house. Nick Filters collections. Every image is different. Plays with things until he gets what he wants. Pops details that he wants to see and pushes back other things. Rockwell looks. Likes back-lit images. Shoot to edit. Shoots only in manual mode. Lightroom and layers in Photoshop with textures are the things he likes to work with. Taking a mediocre shot and making it into something very good. Something I figured out is that women run the horse industry, decorate the home, and buy the horse magazines. Does quite a bit of teaching. Zen and the art of photography. Teaches the creativity aspects of photography (not the technical aspects of photography). People come from a 4-5 state region come in for a day or two. Doesn’t advertise it much. People call and ask. Portraits, senior portraits 25% of his business. Shoot and edit pricing. Post processing all in about 2 hours. I’m a pretty good photographer, but not that good of a business man. Teaching people how to SEE is the hardest part of teaching others. SUBSCRIBE, Rate and Review: The Equine Photographers Podcast We also encourage your to SUBSCRIBE on iTunes so you never miss an episode. This is also where you can leave a RATING or COMMENT about the episode or the podcast. More comments and ratings helps others find our podcast on iTunes. If you enjoyed the podcast consider leaving a rating and review: Subscribe on iTunes Click HERE   The post 7 : Ron McGinnis — Rodeo and Western Lifestyle Photography appeared first on Equine Photographers Podcast.

Charles Hilton and I got to know each other when he was still in Equine Photographers Network and the world was changing to digital cameras. He dove right in and went digital and started learning Photoshop to enhance his beautiful images of people and horses. Always improving his photography and business practices As I mentioned on Facebook, every time that I see an image that Charles shares on his Facebook feed, I think, “Wow, that is better than the ones from last week.” He continues to learn and grow and learn and grow each day in this advection of equine photography. We had a wonderful discussion with Charles about his passion of horses and people and photography. SHOW NOTES: Website : http://www.charleshilton.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Charles-Hilton-Photography Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/charles.hiltonca?fref=ts Podcast Link: Equine Photographers Podcast Took his daughter up to North Texas for her 16th birthday to explore the horse farms. Got run off many of the farms. One had a sign that said welcome and open any time. He took some pictures of a foal and took them some 11×14 prints with new backgrounds. Invited back to do more pictures. Traded photography for a 2-year-old appaloosa. 1992 took early retirement and took it. Debt free. Son killed in an accident. Built a 15 stall barn over a couple of years with his daughter. Daughter was going through John Lyons certification. Did all his shoots for “the Perfect Horse Magazine.” Went through a divorce. Clinton Anderson called and wanted him to do his pictures. Horse Magazine, Horse and Rider Magazine, and others. Lots of editorial work after 2002. More recently moving toward the more emotional captivating horse and rider portraiture. Feels that it is photography with more purpose to it. What horses mean to people. Facebook feed. Telling the story behind the people we are photographing. 15-year-old fighting cancer session. Helping sharing her story and maybe write a her book. My faith is a part of what I do. Work on my photography EVERY DAY!  We all have so much talent, and the effort we put in will determine how far that talent will take us. Wants to do more Photoshop mentoring and classes, but I’m a shooter. Wants to do some larger scale workshops. Day rate for editorial work. Work for individuals is very different. $250 minimum for any work for individuals. The $250 goes toward purchases from his price list. They almost always buy a lot more. Shows the client 30-40 images and does a selection session to make their purchases, then once they have purchased the $250 worth, then it is up to them to keep spending more if there are images they must have. Helps them to eliminate images, but the clients usually push back and say I must have this one and I must have that one. Usually $1000 to $2500 spent. If it’s $250 it’s okay, if it goes to $500 that’s better, if it goes to $1000 or $2000 that’s great. He brings LARGE PRINT canvases gallery wrap. If you show them an 8×10, that’s all they will buy. I bring a 24×36. Sue Bryce is someone Charles follows. http://www.inbedwithsue.com/blog/ Several other portrait photographers that he also follows. NOT a pressure type person. Does not like pressure sales. I talk with them throughout the session to give them what they want and what they are looking for. What is the pre consultation like. Dealing with the environment presented to him. Shoots with a 200 to 400mm zoom lens with wide aperture and blurs the background. Finding the light that is right. Not taking a landscape photo, shooting a client and their horse and letting the background just go very soft. 4×7 ft reflector sometimes. Wife Susan helps a lot. Now starting to use flash metering to balance with ambient light. Tries to darken the background by 3/4 or 1 stop and bring up the subject with the flash. All manual settings. Flash high on the stand. These are studio strobes with battery packs. Traveling. How does that work? Trainer client wanted a day shoot. Pay set fee plus travel. She said she had some clients that would want to also participate. Ended up do 20 sessions over a week or two with a $150 minimum for each. Did selection sessions online by sending a PDF file locked so it cannot be printed. It only can be opened on-screen. Order form on each page. They can see the images pretty large on-screen. 25 to 50 or 75 images. Some stealing, but not that much. If they don’t order, he called them up to follow-up. What are your questions? Before, when he sent small JPGs they would not order. Now they are ordering with hand holding over the phone and with emailing. Trying for over the phone orders looking $500 to less than $1000. Last time he went to that farm he photographed 47 sessions over almost 6 weeks in multiple locations. Uses a Facebook GROUP to invite people to join up for portraits. Tell them how many they need for him to come. Basic prices show. They decide if they want to participate. He collects a deposit of 50% of the base fee. Friends invite and join their friends to the Facebook Group. At the end there is a big part that someone throw and he puts together a big slide show of everyone at this event. Posts a few images on Facebook and the group keeps growing. This last time, he had to tell ten people he had to tell them he could not do them. Keeps the GROUP from year to year, deletes all the old images and starts again. Has THREE Groups that he is managing. Tries to do 3-4 people per day. Has done as many as 10 in one day. Might schedule a weekend at the beach photography sessions at an additional fee. Funny stories. Talks to people. Don’t try anything new for the first time. Best advice to the new person. Learn a foundation of good quality photography. In some Facebook groups. Was in EPnet for many years. 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