Jessica’s mum had asked me to photograph her daughter Jessica last August where I had a stand at the RDS Dublin Horse Show. It took some time to organise the shoot!

The equestrian portrait session took place in Co Antrim, Northern Ireland at their beautiful stables.

As usual we had the four seasons in one day, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, and Jess was a real trooper.

I also used my elinchrom ranger speed pack and deep octabox for a few images, like the shot of Jess and Harry on top of the hill.

People who love horses tend to love dogs and there were dogs a plenty, but I loved Nugget. Full of character, fun and intelligence and with a wise old face. I’d swear he tried to have a conversation with me………

Just a selection of images from the shoot below:-

I think they all  thought I was a bit nuts…

This is after  I told them I had been a vet student for a year back in 1989 , before leaving and eventually becoming a barrister, then a solicitor,  before finally becoming a photographer….. sheeesh I know it makes me tired thinking about it.

Nuts…………maybe…but perhaps a helpful characteristic….:-)

Biggles is Laura’s horse but she brought along the other man in her life for company

I  decided to keep most of images in black and white as it suited the environment we were in.

No restrictions on this beach so at the end of the shoot Laura stepped on the gas. I love the set of images of her racing along.

I have also posted some images of Megan and her little sis together.

First image is of Max…seriously all he lacks is a crown

I  simply can’t do the shoot justice in one blog posting so splitting the shoot up into parts one and two. Part one is just about Laragh and her pony Robbie and Bonny the dog. Robbie is a beautiful, gentle little pony with a little pot belly.

I also had a great shoot with Megan and her gorgeous horse, Max. I will post images from that part of the shoot on Tuesday

On these equestrian lifestyle  shoots it is very easy appreciate the connection between pony/horse and owner. It is that connection that I try to capture.

A selection of images below. Hope you like!

Loved the shoot, and in particular the jumping shot as I was able to use flash to give it a bit of umph and help bring out the detail in the sky. I always do a quick flash tolerance test on the horse/pony to make sure they ok with it

It depends on the age of the owner but these equestrian shoots normally take  at least 2/3 hours and usually longer. It can take a while to get everything right and if your horse doesn’t like being somewhere or doing  a certain activity you simply move on to keep him/her interested. Sometimes it is good to take a break, have a cuppa and come back to it. There’s no rush because it is all about building a story.

Here are a selection of images from the shoot. Hope you like!

The family dog was Charlie Shot in the grounds of the family home which were beautiful.