I arrived at Legends barn in Alto, Michigan, expecting to photograph black background portraits, but after discussing the love Nancy has for her horse, Annie, we changed our plans and headed out into the sunshine.

I typically don't photograph horse and rider sessions mid day in the harsh lighting, but the following day, Annie was being trailed to Florida to begin the next chapter of her life, and Nancy was officially retiring from her riding career. It was a now or never situation, and we made the best of it!

I walked the property to look for location that offered any shade, that would also tie into Nancy’s memories with Annie, and the importance of Nancy’s career as an equestrian. The options were slim for that day, requiring us to hack through tall brush or disturb the barn owners by working next to their house. The pastures were full of horses, so we couldn’t access pastures, and the fences all had electricity, so we wouldn’t have been able to use those locations anyways. As much as I didn’t want to shoot in full sun, without any shade, the importance of the story we wanted to tell, and quality of images was going to be best created in their outdoor arena. So we headed that way!

While photographing in full sun, the most important thing I pay attention to, is the lighting across Nancy’s face. I want to avoid lighting half of her face with sun, and half in shadow, or any raccoon shadows or squinting eyes. This means that her back has to be to the sun OR I need to use Annie’s neck and head to block out the sun from Nancy’s face, and every pose needs to then be set up with that in mind. I placed Nancy and Annie near the center of the arena, giving us distance and bokeh blur between them and the background of fences and pastures. This allows them to POP off from the background, and focuses the view on their Nancy and Annie’s emotions and movement.

While Nancy was changing her outfit half way through, I photographed natural background portraits of Annie. For these, I turned Annie around so that the sun would shimmer off from her shiny coat, giving a bit more definition to her muscles. We then took Annie inside and captured a few Equine Portraits against a black background as well.

Nancy was concerned she was going to cry through everything, but we made it fun, kept the mood light, and laughed together as Annie fell asleep in the sunshine. I know these photos are going to mean the world to Nancy, and whomever becomes Annie's next rider, is going to have one of the best mares out there!

“ I loved every moment of my photo shoot and the photos. I was retiring from riding and sending my horse to FL the next day to be sold. Jesse and Heather made it a memorable and happy time for me and now I have these wonderful photos of my heart horse, Annie!
”

— Nancy