How to take the perfect Halloween picture of your horse

Halloween is the perfect excuse to dress up your horse in the scariest costume you can find. It’s also the perfect opportunity for a photoshoot. In this blogpost, we will share tips from our photographer to have perfect, yet scary, Halloween pictures of your horse.

Before the shoot

First, it’s important to get some inspiration. You can find inspiration on Halloween costumes and photoshoot locations on Pinterest. If you don’t find enough ideas, you can also scroll through TikTok. TikTok has plenty of videos under the #halloweenhorse or #halloweenphotoshoot. This will give you some first ideas as to which kind of photoshoot you want to do.

When you found some spooky inspiration, it’s time to make sure you’re well prepared for this photoshoot. From your research you could make a moodboard. This moodboard will show the end results you have in mind. It is also useful here to note the different poses your horse should do for the photoshoot. A Halloween moodboard could be dark, moody and witchy themed or orange themed with a lot of pumpkins.

For a witchy themed photoshoot, you could use some green elements, such as the Stable Rug Dark Green. But also, purple elements, such as the Saddle Pad Velvet Jumping and black elements such as the Black Sheepskin Halter.

For the orange themed photoshoot, we also have some options. We have the Show Rug Autumn Orange that gives your horse a stylish Halloween look. If you want to have photos while you’re riding, we have the an orange set consisting of the Saddle Pad Velvet, Fly Veil Wellington Velvet and Polar Fleece Bandages Velvet that has 100% spooky vibes.

If you decide to paint your horse for the photoshoot, there are a lot of different designs you could try. To quickly figure out what you would like to paint on your horse, you can print out a photo of your horse. Then you can try out your design, for example a skeleton, in advance.

When you’ve decided on the mood of the photoshoot and the costume of your horse, it’s time to think about the environment. Will you do the photoshoot at the stables or a different location, such as a forest? For both options, it is important that your horse is at ease during the photoshoot. If you choose a different location from where your horse is usually stabled, it is important to let your horse explore the area beforehand.

The last step of the preparation process is to think about everything you need to bring on the day of the photoshoot. Your camera, tripod, your moodboard, your costume, your horse’s Kentucky costume, etc.

Shoot

On the day of the photoshoot, it’s important to try a lot of different things. You could shoot multiple outfits or costumes in one day.

Take pictures in different portrait formats. Vary the portrait formats from tight to wide and horizontal to vertical. This gives you plenty of footage to work with afterwards.

Constantly pay attention to the legs, body, and ears of your horse. The ears for example, should always be forward. The position of the horse has to be in proportion and the legs should be in a good position. If you’re taking a picture from below, on the other hand, the horse will look big and majestic. Also try out different poses throughout the photoshoot.

Another important tip is to always shoot in the shadow. This will give you natural and bright colors. When you shoot directly in sunlight, the light will be too harsh.

Need some more tips on how to take pictures like Kentucky Horsewear? We have a blogpost about it. You can read all about it here.

After the shoot

The post-production of the photos is very important. Some tips on how to accomplish different moods:

If you want really spooky photos, try to keep the photos a bit darker and accentuate the blue tones by playing with the color hue slider.

If you want warm halloween photos, edit them light and accentuate the orange tones by playing with the color hue slide.

If you are more skilled in post-production, you could add some fog and other spooky details to make the pictures look really scary.