Various Shoots 2022

We love our horses, and my latest equestrian photo shoots had some very bitter sweet moments which I felt blessed to be able to capture. All these shoots were of Mares, who are notoriously difficult to photograph, however all of these horses were fantastic models who I thoroughly enjoyed working with. I wanted to share these stories with you, and talk through the shoots and the photos that came from them.

 Ella & Lola

Lola is the sweetest pony, and Ella had her on loan for a long time and came a long way with her. She had gotten this little pony jumping huge and was competing successfully xc. Lola gave Ella heaps of confidence and she loved her pony to bits. Unfortunately, Lola’s owner decided that she wanted to sell Lola on, which meant that poor Ella had to give her fantastic mare back to her owner. After a few fantastic years, Ella was heartbroken to lose her pony. After Ella’s mum approached me to take some photos, I knew exactly how I wanted to capture this pair and their amazing relationship. We met at golden hour at their yard and took Lola for a walk around the fields surrounding. I got some incredible shots of this pair under the setting sun, and I really feel I captured their relationship and the bond that they share. I couldn’t wait to edit these photos, and Ella was over the moon with them and I got this reply as soon as she saw them:

“Just looked through them, they are incredible!! Thank you so much”

Cydney & Peaches

I had the privilege of taking some photos for Cydney of her beautiful horse, Peaches. Cydney had owned Peaches for some time, but unfortunately the relationship wasn’t working and Peaches was to be sold. Despite their relationship not being right, Cydney loved this horse and she was sad to have to sell her on. To ensure that she always has some memories of her, Cydney approached me to take some photos of the pair. I already knew how beautiful Peaches was, and I knew I wanted to capture some of her with a black background. After some trial and error, I got some fantastic shots of her that are actually some of my favourite photos. Once we got these ‘wow’ photos, we took Peaches for a walk around the surrounding fields and got some lovely photos of this pair. The fields were in full bloom, and we got some stunning photos, which I couldn’t wait to edit. After I sent Cydney the photos, I received this reply as soon as she saw them:

“OMG, I love them, thank you so so much!!”

Polly & Isla (and two very sweet dogs too!)

Claire contacted me as she wanted to get some special photos of her home bred foal with her lovely mare. The foal, Isla, was being sent away to mature away from her mum, which is why these photos were so special. I knew this shoot would be difficult as getting a mare and foal to stand together calmly was going to be a challenge! Claire wanted some photos of the pair running around the field, so we headed out to the field and they definitely performed for us! I love the photos of these two galloping around and enjoying themselves. We then knew we wanted to try to get some black background shots, so we headed back to the yard and found a place where this would work. This pair was a bit fidgety, but in the end, I got some fantastic photos which came out beautifully. The colours of these mares complimented the black background, making for some stunning photos. Just before finishing the shoot, I had to snap some photos of her two gorgeous dogs, Reggie and Louis. When I sent all the final photos to Claire, she was overjoyed with the photos. She told me she was going to have them printed and display them all through her house. I received this reply after she saw the photos:

“Wow!!!!! Thank you so much!! Love love them! Oh Sophie, they are amazing! I love them all. Very clever you! Thank you again! I can’t even choose a favourite!”