When Horses Become Motion: An Artistic Equine Experiment in the New Forest

Artistic equine photography is not always about freezing the perfect moment. Sometimes it is about letting the movement become part of the photograph.

I spend a lot of time photographing horses in a way that captures their character, their expression and those little moments that make them who they are.

But every now and then, I think it is good to step completely outside your comfort zone and experiment.

That is exactly what this New Forest equine photoshoot was about.

Forget perfect for a moment

This was a model call through the training barn during one of my visits to the New Forest.

There was no client brief. No list of must have photographs. No pressure to produce a conventional gallery of beautifully sharp horse portraits.

Instead, I wanted to play.

I had two very different horses in front of me, Zeus and Hugo, and I decided to experiment with something I don't normally use for my equine work.

A very slow shutter speed.

The shutter was around 1/25 second, with my aperture sitting around f/22 and f/16 and Auto ISO taking care of the exposure as the light changed.

The intention was simple.

I wanted movement.

Not movement that I had accidentally failed to freeze, but movement that became part of the image.

Letting the blur happen

At those shutter speeds, every movement starts to tell a different story.

A turn of the head becomes a sweep of light and shadow. A flick of the mane becomes something almost painterly. The horse can appear to move through the frame rather than simply stand inside it.

And occasionally, if I timed everything just right, there would be a little pocket of sharp detail within all that movement.

That was the bit I was chasing.

Not perfection.

A feeling.

The majority of these images ended up working beautifully in monochrome too. Removing the colour allowed me to concentrate on shape, texture, movement and contrast without the distraction of the surroundings.

And yes, they are supposed to look like this

I think this is the part where photography gets interesting.

Because depending on who you are, you might look at these photographs and think they are wonderfully atmospheric.

Or you might look at them and think I've completely lost the plot.

And honestly?

Both reactions are fine.

Photography doesn't always have to be about producing the technically perfect image. Sometimes the slightly uncomfortable experiments are the ones that teach you the most.

There is something quite liberating about deliberately doing something that goes against the usual rules.

We are so often told that an image needs to be sharp, perfectly exposed and technically flawless.

But what if the movement is the photograph?

What if the blur actually tells you something about the horse?

What if you don't need to see every strand of mane to feel the energy of the animal?

That's what I wanted to explore here.

Two horses, two very different results

One of the things I loved about this experiment was seeing how differently the technique worked with the two horses.

Their movement, shape and personalities were completely different, which meant I couldn't simply repeat the same photograph twice.

That is one of the reasons I enjoy photographing horses so much.

Even when you use exactly the same location and the same camera settings, the photographs can be completely different because the horse in front of you is different.

And with slow shutter speeds, that difference becomes even more obvious.

Every movement creates something new.

Outside your comfort zone is where the fun starts

This wasn't a paid client shoot. It was simply an opportunity to experiment through the training barn's model call.

No images were purchased from the session.

But that doesn't mean the photographs have no value.

Quite the opposite.

They have given me the opportunity to explore an idea that I would like to develop further.

And the owner loved the results, which was probably the biggest compliment I could have received.

Because ultimately, that's what I want my photography to do.

I want it to make you feel something.

Could this become something more?

I've been looking at some of these images and thinking about how they could work as physical artwork rather than simply sitting on a hard drive.

A very small collection of these experimental equine images could potentially become prints and a few pieces of merchandise.

Not a huge range.

Just a small, carefully chosen collection of images that work because they are a little different.

I can already picture one of these photographs as a large framed piece.

In fact, that's exactly what I'm going to create next.

I'll be putting one of my favourites into a frame mock up in Canva so I can see how it works as artwork for the home.

Because sometimes you have to actually see an image on a wall before you know whether it has something.

Experimentation is good for the soul

I think every photographer needs permission to make photographs that might not work.

Some experiments will be terrible.

Some will be interesting.

And every once in a while, you'll make something that makes you stop and think, actually... I really like this.

That's what happened here.

These aren't traditional equine portraits and they aren't supposed to be.

They are an exploration of movement, shape and atmosphere.

A little bit of stepping outside the comfort zone.

A little bit of ignoring the rules.

And a reminder that photography can be about experimentation just as much as it can be about getting the shot technically right.

And perhaps that's where some of the most interesting images begin.

Would you hang something like this on your wall?

Some of my favourite images taken from that photoshoot session.

Maybe there is something in the blur

I don't know yet exactly where this little experiment will lead.

Perhaps I'll create a small collection of prints from these images. Perhaps one will end up framed on a wall in my own home. Perhaps I'll experiment with the technique again and discover something completely different.

And that's actually what I like about it.

Not every shoot needs to have a predetermined outcome.

Sometimes it's enough to pick up the camera, try something you've never tried before and see what happens.

Some photographs won't work. Some might make you question my sanity. And every now and then, one will make me stop and think, yes, there's something here.

These New Forest images might just be the beginning of something a little different for TMS Photography.

And I'm rather looking forward to seeing where the blur takes me.