Joe Lewis Graduation gathering photos - June 2013

I love doing destination shoots and this was no exception! Have passport, whip, props, will travel! You may see more of my images here



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Bernese Mountain Dog Photos by Riley - June 2013

Jason the Bernese Mountain Dog at the Summer Solstice dog show - June 2013. He is an import from Russia bred by Alla Morozenko owned by Kikue Shimizu and Masaaki and Sachiko Tamada. Photo by me -- you may see more images here

Photos from the Anoka-Cambridge Kennel Club Summer Solstice dog show held in June 2013 in Minnesota. Jeni West of Jenda Bernese Mountain Dogs is shown in a number of the images -- she is a professional dog show handler, groomer, and also a very nice person.




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5 tips to better horse photos

This weekend is the Minnesota Horse Expo and I am excited to head over and take some photos. If you are interested in learning how to take better horse photos, let me know and we can meet at the event.

Before you even get started taking photos of horses, you'll want to know how to be safe around them. If you are not experienced in this area, have someone help you -- better safe than sorry. 

1. Find a location to take your photos and clean up any "junk" that won't look good in your photo. While you are cleaning the area, clean your horse and tack too. Clean and polish anything that will be in the photos.
2. You'll get the most flattering light for your images if you shoot at the "Golden Hour"  the first and last hour of sunlight in the day. These times produce great photographs and make it easy on you too. Want to know when the times are in your area, check here: The Golden Hour Calculator / Sunrise and Sunset information for photographers
3. Get the ears up (pointing forward) so the horse looks good. Most horses like peppermints and I always have some along on a shoot as a reward and so I can crinkle the wrappers and get them to get their ears up.
4. Have horse-savvy helpers to let you know if something needs adjusting and to keep the horses looking their best. 
5. Study your subject and the disciplines you are shooting -- knowledge is power and it will help you get better images. Dressage horse photos will look different than stock horse photos and those are different than Saddlebred photos.  

Here are some samples of my images.

Thanks for stopping past, I really appreciate it.

Photo - Focal Point Tips

 

Photos should have a focal point -- this helps the viewer engage with the image. Having a focal point guides the viewer to what you want them to see and keeps them from looking all around the image with no real purpose.

When you look at an image, pay attention to where you are looking -- if you are in the USA, your pattern will most likely be like reading a book: top-to-bottom and left-to-right.

Most of us are probably conditioned to having focal points smack dab in the middle of an image -- while that is okay, it can be a bit boring. Practice putting the point of interest in different parts of the frame and see if you can make it more interesting.

Start playing around with framing your images -- especially if you are shooting a digital camera, you're really not out anything by trying some different things.

The flagpole is shot with my iPhone with it on the ground looking up. Are you able to "feel" how it pulls you up into the image? I like how the pole is anchored to the lower right corner too.

Let me know what you are trying with your images. As always, thanks for stopping past and please enjoy our music of the day, Skip Adams playing Sligo Creek.

Some of my recent favorites in a slide show

I've been doing trial and error on what I like on my photo sale site -- it is an ongoing process! I thought I would put together this slide show with some smooth tunes and the images. I always hope my smooth PBS-like tunes are okay for most ears... of course if they aren't who would really tell me? I would love to visit with you and do some photos -- and yes, I have a passport so I am able to come to you.

As I looked through these images, I thought about the how many people said "someday" and now are missing family members. If you are thinking about having images done, do it now. I don't mean that as a scare tactic, just have seen it happen too often.

So without further ado, here's the slide show.

Cat Show Photos - January 2013

First time taking photos at a cat show -- learned lots of things. More photos at RileyPhoto.Zenfolio.com