Photo Guidelines

Good photographs will enhance the value, and sale-ability, of your horse. Make the most of your advertisement by using photographs that show your horses at their best.

Prepare your horse thoroughly beforehand - wash, groom and plait
Teach it to stand properly.
Choose a clear, bright day to take photos.
Do not photograph into the sun.
Notice where the shadows will fall in the photo

Be aware of objects behind that may appear to be sprouting out of the horse (such as telegraph poles)
Stand the horse on clean, firm and level or slightly rising ground – never stand it facing downhill.
For a horse that is standing ensure there are no legs resting and each is clearly visible, the ears are pricked, with its head out in front and the eye is in a level plain with the withers.

For a horse that is jumping use clean freshly painted poles. Add some floral decoration.
Take the photograph at right angles to the girth of the horse
Choose a plain clean background free from distractions.
Try to choose a neutral coloured background. If this is not possible - photograph a light coloured horse against a dark background and a dark coloured horse against a light background (be aware that this may bleach light colours, or make dark colours almost silhouette)
Make sure the horse is well within the picture frame - try to fill the frame with the animal, however any excess can be trimmed later.

Remember that professional photographers will exhaust many rolls of film to get a few excellent photos - take as many pictures as you can, and choose the best ones.
If you are using a digital camera, use the highest quality settings (often referred to as 'Fine')
If you are scanning photographs onto your computer, use the highest resolution settings that your scanner will accept - and if possible, save as JPG. files

This time and effort will be rewarded. It may be these photographs that sells your horse.

Sending Your Photographs via e-mail
Send as an attachment to a mail message, ideally in JPG (jpeg) format. (This will transmit quicker than most other formats.)
If you are sending a selection of photos - use a zipping utility (such as WinZip) if you are familiar with it's use. Once again, this will speed up your transmit time.

Last Updated Monday, September 24 2007 @ 08:44 PM BST; 1,097 Hits