Horse Photography

Why photograph horses?

Because, in the words of author Carol Walker, they fill our hearts and capturing them on film or in digital images expresses that relationship. We want to catch and hold and show their spirit, their tremendous joy in living, their unique personalities, and of course, their incomparable beauty. And we want the quality of our images to honor our glorious subjects.

Photographing horses presents a double challenge. The first being the technical aspects, the lenses, the setting, the light and speed, and how all those relate to the subject.

The second element is more elusive; it is horse knowledge‚ the educated ability to see how a horse moves, sense its moods, and understand its psychology as a prey animal.

Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers presents the tools to master both technique and subject matter. More than that, the book will stir your creativity and inspire you to spend more time focusing on these animals you admire.

Carol Walker has traveled the world photographing animals for almost 30 years, and since 2000 has concentrated on horses, including the object of her greatest passion, America’s wild horses. Carol’s stunning images illuminate the relationship between horses and their people, as well as showcase the beauty of horses at liberty. She teaches equine photography workshops for amateurs, and her commercial work includes fine art, magazine covers, and calendars. Her first book, Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses, is in its second printing and has won numerous awards for design, the quality of images and evocative writing.

Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers will be the reference of choice for any photographer aspiring to do justice to that most appealing of animals, the horse.

112 pages, hard cover 7×10 format with over 150 stunning photos by Carol.
Second Edition. Only $24.95 US plus s&h

Below you will find reviews of Carol Walker’s book titled: “Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers”.

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Review by About.com

The Bottom Line
Carol J. Walker has been around horses pretty much her whole life and spent years photographing them as well. In her new book, “Horse Photography,” Carol takes you through the ins and outs of photographing horses as only one with this level of knowledge can do.

Lots of detailed information on horse behavior and situations
Plenty of example photographs
Written in easy to understand terms

Cons

Currently in hardback only

Description

Published by: Painted Hills Publishing – Longmont, CO 80503
© 2010 Carol Walker
ISBN: 9780981793627

Guide Review – Review of Horse Photography by Carol Walker
Horse Photography by Carol J. Walker is one of those rare books that actually tells you how to photograph the subject instead of rehashing basic photography. This book isn’t about explaining what aperture is, it is about how to capture horses on film the best way possible. When equipment or settings are discussed it directly relates to horse photography, not general photography.

Packed with lots of well-done example photos, Carol Walker shares her years of experience with horses and in horse photography. From how different points in a horse’s stride look in a photo to details like getting the ears perked up, Carol takes you through show horses to wild horses in this well organized book. Poses, lighting, and even where to stand are covered so that by the end of the book you’ll feel confident in photographing horses.

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Nuzzling Muzzles Review

Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide
Read the Original Horse Photography Book Review Here

I have had a backlog of items on my To Do List, so I vowed to not accept any more book review assignments, however when I was presented with the opportunity to review Horse Photography – The Dynamic Guide For Horse Lovers by Carol J. Walker, I knew I had to make an exception.

How could I pass up a book about my two great loves – horses and photography? In fact, just recently I was thinking that we need new books that are specific to horse photography. There are plenty of books on horses in general and plenty of books on photography in general, but for those of us who photograph horses, whether it be for a living or as a hobby, we know there is an art to the entire process of photographing horses.

After just finishing another book that took me four months to read, because each time I picked it up I either got easily distracted or fell asleep, I really appreciated having a book like Horse Photography that was engaging, to the point, and a fast read. One of the topics that author and photographer Walker goes into in great depth is timing — both the timing of capturing a horse’s legs in the best positions as well as the length of a horse’s attention span, and how to prepare for the best shots in advance so that you don’t waste time experimenting and lose the horse’s freshness. She obviously took the reader’s attention span into consideration when writing this book, because she selectively hit on the most important points of horse photography in plain language without repeating herself. She’s an author after my own heart.

Walker brings us knowledge about the different horse breeds and encourages us to study their desired conformation and gaits. I remember the first time I mentioned to an Arabian horse breeder that I planned to practice horse photography. She said, “Oh, you wouldn’t even know how to position an Arab. It takes years of showing to understand that.”

Of course, I felt insulted, as I have owned Arabian horses for over 10 years of my life, and I attend Arabian horse shows on a regular basis. I even entered one of my horses in halter classes, so I wasn’t completely clueless. But she had a point. What about all the other breeds I don’t know about? If I were asked to photograph an unfamiliar breed, I would have to study up beforehand, and ask the owner a lot of questions. Fortunately, the owners usually know how to best position and move the horses.

I’ve studied both studio and outdoor lighting for photography and didn’t think I could learn anything new in that area, but I did. Walker discussed the quality of light in different seasons, locations, times of the day, and weather conditions, bringing up points I had never considered before. She also encourages photographers to go out in the rain and snow with proper covering or even a plastic bag to protect your equipment. Part of the reason why I haven’t practiced photography much over the past eight months is because it’s been snowing and/or raining non-stop and I’ve been afraid I would ruin my equipment. Also, the author does address that age old problem of attempting to photograph moving horses within an indoor arena. Remember all those dark, blurry pictures we complain about?

Walker photographs and teaches workshops on photographing wild mustangs. She has another book called Wild Hoofbeats – America’s Vanishing Wild Horses. She offers tips on how to locate them and discusses the best way to approach them as well as how to look out for your own safety. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stumbled upon wild mustangs when I wasn’t even looking for them and when I didn’t have my camera. She inspired me to go off-roading with my equipment to intentionally find them for a photo shoot.

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American Herds Review

Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide
Read the Original Horse Photography Book Review Here

Carol Walker of Living Images and the author of the multi-award winning “Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses” recently handed me her newest book, “Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers” and asked me what I thought.

Well, to be honest, the only real talent I’ve discovered I have with respect to photography is an uncanny knack of taking great shots of my thumb! So, as you might imagine, a world-class photographer like Carol asking me for MY feedback about her new book came as a bit of a shock.

It got worse too – but let me not jump ahead of the story here…

So as always, the first thing that reaches out and riveted me was Carol’s unbelievably gorgeous photos. Stunning show horses, overflowing manes and tales, glistening coats, big, beautiful eyes, arching necks, gaits, stances, running, rearing, domestic horses, wild horses, you name it, she made sure to cover it all.

But unlike your average coffee table book, which may or may not capture the magnificence and spirit Carol’s horse photography is renown for, there’s actually a purpose behind these photos and suddenly, I realized why I WAS the perfect person to get feedback from about this book – but I’ll get back to that shortly as well.

The second thing that stirred me, once I could take my eyes off the photos, was the way she introduced the book. It was immediately apparent that she just absolutely loved horses, all horses, any kind of horse and this love had grown out of a working knowledge and understanding of these unique and special beings who are so inspirational to so many.

It was the following quote that touched me deepest and in my opinion, epitomized the essence of the book:

“Why photograph horses? Because they fill my heart. Capturing them on film or digital allows me a way to express that relationship. It also gives me a way to show their spirit, their joy in life, and their beauty so that others can see it too.”

To simplify it even further, it was her explanation of how photography is a tool to express: The Relationship Between….

Anyone who has developed a relationship with an animal knows exactly what she is saying here. As you spend time together, you learn about all their little quirks (and they, yours!), their likes and dislikes, crazy antics and definitive character. They make you laugh, uplift your heart, cause you to melt like butter when they strike that certain pose that is uniquely them and yes, even teach you a lot about yourself and the world around you. Let me also add as testimony to the power of the horse, those who have chosen equine companions and spent the time to develop a loving relationship with them are some of the most profoundly affected people I know!

Simply put, that is the purpose behind Carol’s book; to show and share her relationship with equines and by extension, to help all of us formally condemned to a world of thumb shots to grasp the art and basic techniques for immortalizing the best of our companions and our relationships with them.

“Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Lovers” is amazingly simple, helpful, easy to understand, not overly technical and covered a wide range of topics. Through comparison photos, she shows what to do and what not to do, what to look for and how to adapt to situations such as unflattering environments, proper angles, lighting, backgrounds, horse color, how to bring out the best and what to avoid to prevent highlighting the worst.

Which leads me to how things got worse from my thumb blocked world.

I have to confess, twice I found myself looking at photos and thinking, “Wow, what a cool shot. I really like the way it…..” only to discover, it was a photo of what NOT to do! Oops!

After the initial embarrassment was over, I couldn’t help but think, “That was really clever.” Why? Because she included photos of what might qualify to the untrained eye as a “good photo”. Then she clearly and simply explains why it failed to bring out the best of the subject and suddenly, I could see! Imagine that!

That’s why I was the perfect person to have review this book and must say, it’s a great book. Not just because of the non-stop pages of vividly dynamic breath taking horse photos, but because it opened up a world of possibilities and offered easy to grasp tools that anybody can immediately use.

Truly, this is a gift given from Carol to us; a gift of a lifetime of expertise, experience and knowledge generously shared and simply given to those who love horses.

For those who just might find themselves wanting to learn how to capture their companions and inspirations through photographs that hone in on what the heart sees, I would highly recommend “Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers”, as you just can’t help but come away feeling inspired and confident that the world of framing “all things equine” is now within reach.

For those who might be interested, there’s also a variety of outstanding special packages now being offered on her previous multi-award winning book, “Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses” that include The Cloud Foundation’s new 2011 Wild Hoofbeats Calendar showcasing the McCullough Peak wild horses as well as Screensavers, DVDs, Slideshows and lots of other cool wild horse stuff.

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Midwest Book Reviews

Horse Photography
Carol J. Walker
Painted Hills Publishing
16500 Dakota Ridge Rd., Longmont, CO 80505
9780981793627, $19.95

Horses have attained a fantastical place in the imaginations of many. “Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers” is a guide to how to most complete capture the horse in photography. From creating majestic imagery to capturing the details that aren’t often seen, Carol Walker gives readers everything they need to know with technical details to capture truly magnificent and poignant photographs of horses. “Horse Photography” is a top pick for any horse lover with a photography hobby, highly recommended.
Original Review Here >>

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Review by Forword Reviews

If etchings on walls of ancient caves are any indication, humans have depicted horses in artwork for millennia, so it’s no surprise horses and photography have been linked since the modern camera was invented in the late 1800s. Whether one’s interest is in capturing horses on film or digitally, for business or pleasure, Carol J. Walker’s book, Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers, offers sound advice.

Walker, a lifelong nature photographer who has exclusively photographed horses professionally for a decade, uses 150 of her own photos to illustrate the breadth of excellent options for creating fine horse photos, as well as the potential for some not-so-great outcomes. Simple cures are offered for common mistakes, such as making the horse’s face appear miles long or placing dark-hued horses against murky backgrounds. Other strategies cover more nuanced artistic errors such as catching the most awkward part of a particular gait, not adjusting for weather conditions, and letting poor angles ruin a horse’s natural elegance.

Written with both film and digital photographers in mind, the text and illustrations cover the technical as well as technique, equipment along with aesthetics. Walker assumes readers have access to horses, or can easily arrange it, and that their purpose in photographing equines is more than casual, yet her pointers also work for the amateur who brings along something slightly more advanced than a point-and-shoot camera to the county fair or rural road trip.

Walker shares lesser-known tips about what to do before framing the horse in the lens—like planning when to shoot in order to capture different kinds of light at various times of day and season, recruiting a helper to keep the horse interested, and assessing the background. Her best advice, culled from her personal experience, centers around what to do when the shots are not turning out as planned.

“Ongoing adjustment is the hardest thing about photographing horses,” Walker writes, but also one of the most satisfying, as her examples show. An advocate for doing most adjustments before clicking the shutter (though she encourages deft use of Photoshop for annoyances like removing a cluttered background), Walker offers clear, precise, and practical pointers.

Occasionally laced with anecdotes from her professional assignments, and concluding with a short chapter on photographing wild horses (the subject of Walker’s previous book, Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses), this slim volume will inspire and guide most amateur horse photographers, without saddling them with too much information.

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Press Release: Photographer Carol Walker Shares Secrets of Successful Horse Images

Multiple-award winning photographer Carol Walker reveals the secrets to creating dramatic, exciting images of horses in her new book, Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers. Long recognized as a gifted artist herself, Walker generously opens the way for amateurs to raise the standard of their own work. Anyone with a camera and a desire to capture that elusive essence of the horse, whether in motion or at rest, will benefit from this authoritative book.

Catching a horse at exactly the right moment, in precisely the right environment, is a challenge, but Horse Photography offers the answers. Walker covers technical details such as camera and lens selection, background and lighting, and the book offers more: Walker’s own perspective as a horsewoman. Her explanation of the horse’s gaits, for example, will open every photographer’s eyes to the most beautiful moments of a horse in motion, and yield finer, more powerful results. Readers will also benefit from Walker’s insights into “horse psychology” and how the horse as a prey animal reacts to equipment, location, even separation from the herd. Outstanding example images by Walker offer inspiration while the clear text explains the technical details; together they create a resource any amateur photographer will come to rely on. The book is available now for purchase from www.horsephotographyworkshops.com.

Carol Walker is dedicated to helping the amateur photographer master both subject and technique. In addition to Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers, Walker offers weekly tips via her blog at www.horsephotographyworkshops.com . She also is available to teach a three-hour, hands-on horse photography workshop, covering basic techniques for getting consistent, positive results; the class works with equine models in halter, under saddle and liberty situations, with plenty of time for questions and plenty of useful answers.

Walker’s images open the viewer’s heart, reflecting her lifetime experience traveling the world photographing wild and domestic animals. Her first book, Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses, received numerous awards for its stunning images and evocative text. Her commercial work includes catalogue covers for leaders in the equine industry. She has had numerous calendars published featuring her work, and she markets her fine art prints from her website www.LivingImagesCJW.com as well as in several locations on the Front Range of Colorado. Now, in Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers, Walker teaches the amateur photographer her own secrets, to express the essential beauty and grace of that beloved creature, the horse.

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Reviewed by Karolina Blaha-Black

“My best teachers in learning to photograph horses have been the horses themselves.”

Seasoned photographer Carol Walker offers a stunning portrayal of tame and wild horses in her handbook on horse photography and teaches the wannabe shutterbug how to take the best equine pictures possible.

In six easy-to-understand chapters, a beginner horse photographer learns all that he or she needs to know to take good pictures of horses and how to get stunning results. In the first part of the book, Walker highlights whether to use a digital or film camera. The reader learns about using the light to their advantage, shutter speeds, and how to set the camera when your subjects walk, trot, canter, and move at liberty. The author explains how to shoot in variable weather conditions, such as rain and snow, and how to change the angle of your shot to highlight a desired part of the horse, like a head or an eye. A large part of shooting horses, Walker says, is that in the process of working with them, you get a better understanding of their nature.

Particularly interesting was the chapter on how to prepare the horse for the shoot, how to keep them entertained during it, and where to stand to be in a safe zone, since horses can spook sometimes and trample the photographer.

All throughout the book, which features the authors stunning images of gorgeous horses, the reader will find ready-to-use, handy information. The book is printed on a quality, glossy paper, which gives the horse images clarity and sharpness. The book is portable enough to carry to the photo shoot with you for an easy reference.

Particularly of note was the section on wild horses, which are vanishing at a rapid rate. Walker teaches the reader where to go to photograph them, how to approach them, and what equipment to use (a telephoto lens for long distances), for example. For those interested in conservation and how to help these symbols of the American West, she offers a resource list on wild horses at the end of the book.

This book cant be amiss in any horse lovers library.

The US Review of Books
PO Box 11, Titusville, NJ 08560
www.theUSreview.com

The US Review of Books
PO Box 11, Titusville, NJ 08560
www.theUSreview.com

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Book Review by Heartland reviews

You can visit the original book review here.

Title: Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers
Author: Carol Walker
Illustrator: Carol Walker
Publisher and/or Distributor:
Publisher Website: www.horsephotographyworkshops.com
Pages: 112
ISBN: 978-0-9817936-2-7
Price: $19.95
Publishing Date: 2010
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:5 hearts

This photography instruction book is beautiful enough to be an excellent coffee table book. The author demonstrates special photographic techniques and tips with wonderful example photos of her own. Her instructions are easy to follow and understand and the proof of their applications is right there in the book. The subject horses, people, and settings are always tasteful and oft times stunning. Even her “How not to do it” examples are lovely, considering they are not optimal. Her 30 years of experience definitely show through, making it all look so simple. As a teacher of the craft, she manages to give wise suggestions, yet leaves application leeway so her readers can develop their own style using her approaches.

This book has artistic value for its pictures and educational value for both beginners and pros. Horse people will adore this collection of outstanding horse pictures. We rated it a high five hearts.

Subject= 5
Organization= 6
Illustrations & Photos (if present or needed)= 6
Cultural/Historical (if applicable)= 6
Communicating= 6
Genre= 6
Mechanics= 6
Total= 41
41 / 42= 98%

Heart Scoring Percentages
1 heart= < 44%
2 hearts= 44%
3 hearts= 60%
4 hearts= 85%
5 hearts= 95%

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If you would like to review the book Horse Photography please fill out the contact form below:

Below you will find awards for Carol Walker’s book titled: “Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers”.

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Eric Hoffer Award
Honorable Mention in the Art Category
http://www.hofferaward.com/HAbookwinners.html

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Pinnacle Book Achievement Awards
Winner – Animals/Pets
http://www.bookmarketingprofits.com/PinnacleAwardsSpring2011.html

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Indie Excellence Awards
Winner – Book Interior Design
Winner – Animals/Pets
http://www.indieexcellence.com/indie-results-2011.htm

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CIPA Book Awards (EVVY)
Winner – Illustrations
2nd Place – How To
3rd Place – Layout and Design
http://www.cipacatalog.com/pages/CIPA-EVVY-Awards-2011.html

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International Book Awards
Winner – Photography: Instructional/How To
Finalist – Animals/Pets
http://www.internationalbookawards.com/2011awardannouncement.html

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The Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Best Book in the Category of ANIMALS AND PETS. See award here >>

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