# 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


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## 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.


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## 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.


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## runnah

chloewindle1 said:


> 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.


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## 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.


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## KmH

chloewindle1 said:


> 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.


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## 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.


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## 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.


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## 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).


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## Derrel

Gavjenks said:


> 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).
Click to expand...


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


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## 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:


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## runnah

Derrel said:


> 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.


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## 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...


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## 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.


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## tirediron

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

Thanks!


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## Overread

No two animals are always alike, some will spook and others won't care. Consultation with the owner/rider is key as is testing things in a safe and sound environment. I'd strongly advise talking to other equine photographers and riders to get more input on this matter as it is going to be key - how you conduct yourself  and how you allow the horse to be brought to the lights etc... is going to be very important. 

Note - these days most horses are likely photographed with a point and shoot with the flash on within around 1 second of being born. Cameras are not a rare item and whilst a DSLR and lighting setup IS different, flash itself is likely something horses are more used to today in general than in the past

Also be aware that in life there are many situations where bright light sources/flashes happen in nature without the BOOM of thunder. Reflections off water of the sun being a key example.


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## runnah

tirediron said:


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



We are giving them sage advice on how to avoid falling victim to these beasts from the depths of hell.


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## tirediron

runnah said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> 
> Can we try and keep it at least quasi-relevant to what the OP has asked?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We are giving them sage advice on how to avoid falling victim to these beasts from the depths of hell.
Click to expand...

The only thing I'm seeing here from the depths of hell is your avatar!!


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## runnah

tirediron said:


> runnah said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> 
> Can we try and keep it at least quasi-relevant to what the OP has asked?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We are giving them sage advice on how to avoid falling victim to these beasts from the depths of hell.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> The only thing I'm seeing here from the depths of hell is your avatar!!
Click to expand...


There is a reason it's called the four* HORSE*men of the apocalypse. 

But yeah, I wouldn't waste time/money on a giant backdrop. Most barns/stables/gates of hell have good textures that will make for good backgrounds.


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## chloewindle1

thanks everyone, asked a local photographer also today and he recommended R1 Flash Light for Nikon D800 D3000 D3100 D3200 D5000 D5100 D5200 D7000 D7100 UK 0018208048045 | eBay and a white reflector 5 in 1 folding photography reflector Studio outdoor disc light Multi 80cm | eBay *PLEASE STATE IF THIS IS WRONG, ONLY GOING ON ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS OPINION! *


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## griffin86

I've taken horse pictures with flash.  I used 2 brx500 and 66 cm soft boxes. I will have to go through my hard drive to find them when I'm home. The softboxes were on the small side, aimed one at his head and used the other to fill on his body.

Anyways, flash doesn't bother them.  White objects spook them, especially plastic bags. Bring something shiny/reflector for them to look at, they point their ears forward then. That's what horse owners want.

They are very picky on how their horse stands.

I take photos of rodeos and some horse shows.


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## Nixalba

I'm certainly no professional photographer but I love, ride and own horses and I love photographing them.

I've gotten away with using SB-600 and SB-900 with umbrellas and bare to light my subjects. I do wish I had more power but I've been satisfied with my results for what I have.




Ryder III by Nix Alba, on Flickr




Ryder II by Nix Alba, on Flickr




Rori II by Nix Alba, on Flickr

I've only come across ONE horse who jumped at camera flashes. Horses are not as violent as some would make them out to be. Yes they can be jumpy and unpredictable sometimes but read up on equine behaviour, speak with the owner and do test shots from a safe distance to assess how the horse responds to the equipment.


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## David

Hi there,

I know this thread has not been posted too for a while, but thought I'd comment on the original OPs theme.

With regard to power, 400WS is enough to take shots of horses outside, although it can prove interesting in the middle of the summer on a bright sunny day. In my experience, cloudy skies (those with some texture) make for a much better backdrop anyway, and if you don't have too much power to play with then use large beauty dishes with grids so that you can concentrate the light.

This image was taken using two 400WS lights and beauty dishes in the middle of spring afternoon.



If you do want to use a backdrop then a 3x6 metre would be my initial starting point, although because they're designed to hang along the shortest edge you'd need to sew along the long side to create a channel to hang it along the longest side if you're going to use a stand system. You could of course hang it off a barn, wall or elsewhere, but make sure you weight the bottom and fasten the edges. Flapping backdrops are likely to spook a horse! On that note, windy days are not your friend as the horses will already be unsettled.

I've photographed ponies, thoroughbreds including working racehorses, warmbloods (as above) and many more, and found that almost all get used to the lights and backdrops quite readily. Knowing horses, as much as knowing photography is the key. Make sure you set up in sight of your subject, introduce them to the flash early on, and initially at a reasonable distance. A good supply of polos or carrots can help too, as you need to get to know the horse as much as the owner.

It's not so much the flash as the 'pop' that can spook them, but as mentioned most settle to this pretty quickly. I've found that a lot of horses will be wary around umbrellas and soft boxes, and so tend to use the latter at a good distance with powerful lights, or more usually use beauty dishes with or without grids as they're dark in colour and the grids disguise the bright innards.

The only exception I've had to this were three Welsh Section Ds, who would not go near the background and never settled to the lights. Even in these circumstances you can get your shots, however (and I don't think I can over emphasise this) you need to have both a good understanding of horses and good insurance! If you or the owner are on edge, the horses are likely to be too, and knowing the kit is insured helps you not to be on edge! All horses are different, but confidence and calmness as the photographer make everything so much easier.

Here's some of the images I got of the Section Ds despite their rearing, bucking and spinning!

  

I think I can safely say that photographing horses is the most rewarding (I'm not talking financially) photography I have ever done, so good luck if you have or do try this. 

David


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## dennybeall

Having owned and worked with horses for over 20 years and owned and operated an Equestrian Center for 4 years I will council unequivocally that a horse may do just about anything at any time AND YOU CANNOT STOP THE HORSE FROM DOING IT!!
I've seen the calmest old mare explode when a door opened and I've seen a hoof fly by the side of my head from a horse that had loaded perfectly on that same trailer 20 times before.
There is a very good reason most horse photos are taken outside in natural light other than the simple fact they look better. You always want to have a place for the horse and you to go 100% of the time and hopefully it's not the same place.
More specific to the post is that you can use flash or lightboxes or reflectors (kinda look like umbrellas and horses hate umbrellas sometimes) or anything else on some horses at some times but be always prepared that this is not the time!!


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