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Do you find yourself scrolling through horse Instagram feeds, impressed by the beautiful and artistic shots? Maybe you feel inspired but also frustrated you don’t have the camera to take those quality shots. It might not be as challenging as you thought! Check out these tips for taking photos of your horse with your phone.
Learn Your Phone’s Camera Features
Before taking photos of your horse, you must learn what features your phone offers. Do some research on the brand and model of the phone you have. Once you have a general idea, start playing with the features on your phone camera.
Does your phone have a portrait mode? This feature will allow the focus to lock onto a person (or horse!). Or maybe your phone has more specific features, such as the grid tool. No matter the phone, you must learn the camera to use it to its total capacity.
Consider the Lighting
Lighting can make or break a photo. For action shots, an outdoor setting with natural light is ideal. With this in mind, don't wait until the sun sets to start a photoshoot. Early morning or mid-afternoon lighting is best in most cases. Remember, a well-lit environment is more forgiving while still learning the ropes. Great lighting also helps bring the detailed features of your horse to life.
Another thing to consider with lighting is the placement of yourself and your horse relative to the sun. If you can, you want to position yourself with your back to the sun so your horse is in the best natural light and you don’t have a shadow or glare ruining your shot.
Think About Composition
Another important factor to consider is the composition. A great guideline is following “the rule of thirds.” To use this rule, open up your grid overlay tool to see the lines as you compose your shot. From there, you can see three sections vertically and three sections horizontally.
As you compose your photo, ensure your horse isn’t directly in the middle. Instead, you want it to be off to one side. This will help make the image more attractive to viewers.
Go Easy on the Filters
We know filters can be fun, but while filters can offer many ways to enhance your photo, they can also ruin it. It can easily make the photo look heavily edited and will cause it to lose originality.
You want your shot to look natural so try to keep photo editing to a minimum whenever possible. To make your Instagram feed look consistent, try to choose three filters and stick with them.
Get Out and Practice
The age-old saying is true: if you want to get better at something, you must practice and then practice some more. This applies to horse photography, too. Get out to the barn and take some photos with your phone. Don’t be afraid to play around and have fun with it. Making mistakes and taking less-than-perfect photos is a great way to learn and experiment.
