horse studio lighting

[chloewindle1]

Hi everyone,
I have been researching a few photographers that use studio lighting for horse portraits (and even ridden!!) I love love love the idea but it sounds like its very complex. What lighting do you suggest? 400w halogen lamps or higher? Would also be looking for a backdrop but how big? This is Mark Beaumont's work and he has really inspired me. Also, what setting would the camera have to be on. I mainly shoot in M or P. Thanks in advance. Here's the link to some examples - Horse » Mark Beaumont | Equine and Horse Photographer

 

[runnah]

I think you could get away with not having a backdrop if you used the right setting and settings.

Do you have a specific example that you can post the LINK to?

Also be careful. Horses are dangerous and deadly creatures.

 

[chloewindle1]

I've edited post above with a couple of examples.
Trust me, i have my own who's an ex racer and i know how dangerous they'd be. Time would tell, and if the horse wasn't comfortable in the situation, it'll be a no no.

 

[runnah]

I've edited post above with a couple of examples.
Trust me, i have my own who's an ex racer and i know how dangerous they'd be. Time would tell, and if the horse wasn't comfortable in the situation, it'll be a no no.

I said post links, because posting other's photos ruffles tail feathers around here.

Anyways, those look fairly simple to pull off. You need a large soft box or two and nerves of steel. I would suggest using constant lighting as flash might send the horse into a frenzy.

 

[tirediron]

That's big light and more importantly BIG modifiers. I've done some work wth animals, and never found them to be especially bothered by a strobe inside an umbrella or soft-box; continuous light is NOT going to be suitable for that sort of work because the shutter-speeds you would require would be long enough that you would see movement blur. 2 250 w/s monolights and 2 48" soft-boxes would be a good starting point. 400 watt halogens aren't even going to touch this, and they're going to be VERY, VERY hot by the time you're done.

I seem to recall reading something about this fellow's set-up (or another photographer very similar) and IIRC, their backdrop was something huge; 20x40ish or thereabouts. Just that piece of fabric alone would probably run you a couple of thousand pounds by the time it was all rigged up, BUT, there's no reason you can't use the interior of a barn, and if you've got enough space between Dobbin and the background it doesn't matter as you won't see it.

Settings for this would be very simple: Manual flash, camera to 'X' and probably f11, light to match.

 

[KmH]

Would also be looking for a backdrop but how big?

For 1 horse side on to the camera, about 3 horses wide, because the horse will need to be 10 feet to 15 feet or more in front of the background.

If you want to be able to shoot 2 horses side on to the camera in the same shot the backdrop will need to be even wider because the camera will be further from the horses.

By using strobe lighting (flash) and carefully controlling light spill from your light modifiers, you can make the ambient light exposure so dark that you don't need a backdrop at all.
When flash is used, with a single shutter release you can control the ambient light exposure separately from the strobe light exposure. Shutter speed controls the ambient light exposure and lens aperture controls the strobe light exposure.

 

[Gavjenks]

Yeah unless they rear up and kill somebody whenever you use flash, flash is the way to go.

Monolights with the modeling lamps turned on might be more tolerable than, say, a speedlight. At least if they have a modeling light, they can grow accustomed to that big white boxy thing being a light source, and then when it gets brighter, it's not as surprising or alarming to them, I would imagine.

Not speaking from any experience with horses, but I am speaking from experience with failed attempts at using continuous lighting for low key portraits with any sort of reasonable budget compared to flash, and that was with a much smaller subject.


If you're getting PAID a decent amount to take horse portraits, though, then continuous lighting may ultimately be a better solution, by allowing you to work with happier and probably less nervous animals along with the added bonus of "what you see is precisely what you get" in setting up shots. They're just going to be very expensive. And they are also not really a viable option if you want to get photos of the horse DOING anything like rearing.

 

[Derrel]

I think large light modifiers are what you'd want. Scrims are the easiest to work with...they are basically frames, made of wood, or PVC pipe, or lightweight metal with support struts, and the frames are covered with a thin, white fabric material, often a rip-stop nylon material. Scrims are sometimes called "panels".

large lighting scrims - Google Search

I went to a State Fair horse show even a couple years ago....the official photographer was a lady with a Canon d-slr and 70-200 and a big speedlight on top of the camera...she photographed every horse and competitor that won a ribbon over multiple competition classes, typically 3 winners and 10 to 15 horses in each class...not one,single horse even so much as flinched or twitched when she shot her multiple flash pictures...I'm not convinced that flash is even "noticed" by horses. (Evolutionarily, I do not think "fear of 1/1800 second electronic flash pops" is a horse trait...now, fear of snakes OTOH...)

Anyway, large scrims or panels can be held aloft by pairs of light stands, ladders, step ladders, PVC "leg sets", and also by ropes or cordage. They can be used to reflect light, or as light modifiers/diffusers for flash or daylight/sunlight. In terms of COST, scrims are a fantastic deal for LARGE light sources.

 

[Gavjenks]

Evolutionarily, I do not think "fear of 1/1800 second electronic flash pops" is a horse trait...

Erm, lightning?

Not saying you're wrong. Maybe none of them care anyway. But then again, maybe it's only the meticulously bred and trained show horses that don't care. By comparison, it would be shocking if a show dog even so much as flinched its ears back at a stranger, whereas a random street dog in somebody's lawn might want to rip your throat out given half a chance. The difference can be huuuuge. I wouldn't want to trust my health and well being to a sample of only the behavior of show horses, unless show horses were the only thing I was going to photograph in my studio (OP doesn't specify).

 

[Derrel]

Evolutionarily, I do not think "fear of 1/1800 second electronic flash pops" is a horse trait...

Erm, lightning?

Not saying you're wrong. Maybe none of them care anyway. But then again, maybe it's only the meticulously bred and trained show horses that don't care. By comparison, it would be shocking if a show dog even so much as flinched its ears back at a stranger, whereas a random street dog in somebody's lawn might want to rip your throat out given half a chance. The difference can be huuuuge. I wouldn't want to trust my health and well being to a sample of only the behavior of show horses, unless show horses were the only thing I was going to photograph in my studio (OP doesn't specify).

Don't you mean, erm THUNDER??????????????????????????????????????

 

[Gavjenks]

No, I meant lightning... My flash units don't really make much of a sound at all. If yours do, you might want to get a service technician to take a look at them before you get shocked to death or something. I'm concerned about your safety, Derrel! :meh:

 

[runnah]

Evolutionarily, I do not think "fear of 1/1800 second electronic flash pops" is a horse trait...now, fear of snakes OTOH...)

Neither is murdering people but they seem to do that well enough.

 

[Derrel]

Do some web searching...people who actually photograph horses FREQUENTLY note that most horses do not even recognize flash, but that their riders and owners are nervous about it. Typical... loads of internet B.S..

As I stated, the Oregon State Fair's official horse photographer, shooting hundreds of random horses in an arena, with dozens and dozens of little boys and girls, teen boys and girls, adult men and women, and senior citizens, in an arena filled with 10 to 15 horses and handlers at the same time, is firing a Canon speedlight at horses of ALL breeds and types, many just regular "farm-bred horses"....and imagine this...the horses are not alarmed by 1/2000 second flash pops...Imagine an official photographer, shooting flash pictures of horses he's never even SEEN before, over and over and over, all day long, all week long. "Show horses"...I'm laughing...are they specially bred to be genetically different from the horses people have bred for centuries? Are these Genetically Modified horses we have in Oregon? Are the farm and ranch kids from Eastern Oregon possessed of special horse-whispering skills?

Huh...I got a big kick out of Gavjenks confusing THUNDER with lightning....I suppose Gav would tell you that the horses on my brother's farm should bolt in fear when lightning storms 50 miles to the east light up the night skies every summer in August... lol...

See, THUNDER is the sound thing that horses and dogs and cats find scary...they're not afraid of photons...

 

[Gavjenks]

As I explicitly said in my first post, I don't have much actual experience with what horses do.

I'm just pointing out two basic facts:
1) Lightning is the obvious equivalent to a flash unit, not thunder.
2) Lightning is a cue that horses are fully capable of seeing, and which MIGHT in a logical evolutionary sense be a useful signal of potential danger.

Both of the above statements are true.
Whether or not horses actually give a crap about lightning by itself, I have no idea, because I don't work with horses, like I said. But the two above facts imply that unless you happen to know for sure that they don't care, it would be something that might be wise to look into before popping a bunch of flash units at them in a confined space.

The OP--if they don't already know the answer--is welcome to do all of that web searching you speak of to find the actual practical answer. I don't really care enough myself, because I'm not planning to do any horse photography.

 

[tirediron]

Can we try and keep it at least quasi-relevant to what the OP has asked?

Thanks!