Pastel Horse Portraits By Nicholas Beall

pet portraits by professional horse pet portraits artist nicholas beall

Horse and Pet Portrait Photography Common Problems Solved!

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Distorted Horses Nose

Horses noses can very easily become distorted in your photographs if you get too close, or zoom in too much. These aren't then suitable for a portrait as it accentuates this area.

To remedy this, we just need to be at the horses eye level, fill the frame with the horses head, but try not to be zoomed fully with the camera to do this. Take a couple of steps forward and zoom a little if needed.

Don't forget if you don't want the bridal in the portrait take it off during your photography session.

This photo is taken too far below the horse and the camera is too close to the horse. This in turn distorts the nose. if you stand back a pace and zoom in a little then your photo will turn out better.

This photo is much better, we are on the horses level and the horse has his head at the correct angle. None of the horses features are distorted. If you don't want the bridal on in the portrait, remove it before photographing.

Back lighting

Back lighting is light that comes from behind your subject. The camera reads the brightness behind the main subject and in turn makes your subject into a silhouette.

As you can see in the photo of the horse on the on the right, it has created very flat black areas in the horses coat and these will be very difficult to paint due to the lack of detail.

You can see the difference between the two photos as the daylight photo has much more depth and detail. Try to take photos in the daylight, midday is better then early morning or late evening.

Backlit photos can turn your subject into a silhouette. This creates very flat areas of dark tone which is difficult to paint from. Try not to take photos at very early monring or late evening. Try to take your photos with the sun behind the camera.

Take your photos in midday sun to avoid backlit photos and silhouettes. As you can see from this photo we can see the detail in the coat and mane very clearly. This enables me to add more detail into your portrait. Take photos with the sun behind the camera.