Before-And-After Feature of Lugre

Your votes clearly showed that the majority of you were most interested in seeing the edit of Lusitano stallion, Lugre. This shot was taken during my Discover The Lusitano Equine Photo Workshop in Portugal May 2018, at Quinta da Varzea, during a mid-day photo shoot! As most of you who are interested in photography probably know, the light in the middle of the day can be quite harsh. With the sun shining bright right above your head, it casts hard shadows and the light can turn our very flat.

In this photo I wanted to create the illusion of a softer light, or in other words - like it was shot closer to sundown. So to achieve that effect, I have toned the green hills in the background to a warmer, more orange color, giving the photo another dimension color-wise. To lighten the darker part of the horse, where the shadows cast, I have selectively brighten up the left part of the horse (from our point of view).

Last but not least I have removed the fence to have less disturbances in the photo and to give the horse more attention. Before removing the fence I have used it as an indicator for the horizon and straightened the photo a little bit. And that's it! During a workshop I prefer to teach practically rather than theoretically and that means we sometimes have to shoot in the middle of the day. This is good practice but it can be quite challenging. My tip is to try and find some shade to place the horse in. Pay attention so the background so it doesn't get too bright from the sun shining. This has to be adjusted to match the color of the horses coat of course. Aaand, it's easier with a brightly coated horse :)

If you want to learn more about photographing horses in all light/weather conditions you can join me on a one-day-workshop which is held twice a year here in Norway. We start out by photographing portraits in the morning, heading on to a more challenging session mid-day and then we end our day with the most beautiful conditions - the sunset! Check out the "Workshops & Coaching" tab here on my website.