Ocala Horse Photographer

Horse and Rider Photoshoot

Ashley and Luna

I photographed Ashley for her senior portraits several months ago. While photographing her I realized that her eyes were extremely unique, I immediately decided that as an Ocala horse photographer I needed to photograph her with a horse. I had an idea of the horse that I wanted; I wanted a horse with a trait similar to hers. Blue eyed horses are not uncommon in the equine industry, but I specifically wanted a bay or chestnut. In addition to color preference, I also really wanted the horse to have two different colored eyes just like Ashley. I found Luna and she couldn’t have been any more perfect for the job! We styled their horse and rider photoshoot a few months in advance because I had a very specific look that I wanted to pull off. I rarely take photos for myself to let me creativity run, so I took this as an opportunity to do just that. After consulting with Ashley and a few others, we planned the perfect session for her and Luna.

The tricky part was that Ashley had very limited horse experience. This was a little bit nerve racking because if you’re an equestrian, you know that horses are a little bit dangerous. With safety as my number one priority it limited my choice of horses even more. Luna’s owner assured me that she would be perfect for the job, and boy was she! With a couple of helping hands, Beth Cannon from Cannon Equine Services, we created something truly magical (at least in my eyes!). Ashley got to experience the horse world first hand, she assisted me with photographing Luna’s pal, Millie, while Luna was getting braided for the session. When game time finally rolled around Luna was a superstar. Seriously, I can’t stress enough horse I found the perfect horse for the job. She let Ashley lead her around and was very respectful of her space. Luna posed like she was a super model, it wasn’t hard to get her ears up. Ultimately, I truly believe that we had the perfect session.

Thank you so much to Bonnie for allowing us to use Luna, Ashley for modeling for me, and Cannon Equine Services for braiding and being our helping hand. This session was great for me creatively and I’m so proud of the results!

-Shelly