Equine Photographers Podcast Peter DeMott • Interviews with equine photographers to discover their love for horses and how they use their cameras to show the beauty of the horse and to make a living in the niche' of equine photography

I love doing these podcasts

It is great fun to do these podcasts, and I hope to get more regular with them. One way to make things move along more quickly is to cut down on the amount of information that I include on the website. Going forward, I am going to share a little and some photos, but not try to tell about everything that was discussed in the podcast. You will have to listen for that.

Talking to Lori McIntosh was great fun

She grew up in a family of photographers and she loved horses and has been riding horses since being a small child. Her dad is a master photographer and he had three studios in Virginia until he retired. At 88 years old he still enjoys photography and is writing books. When Lori was ready to become a photographer he was able to connect her with some of the best photographers in the country to mentor her. She got to listen to a cruise ship full of photographers with her father when she was just starting out.

SHOW NOTES:

Growing up in a photography studio

Giving her parents a break by going to horse camp / stables

As a little girl she used to help her dad, calling clients to tell them their orders or proofs were ready to pick up. She also spent time each summer at a summer horse camp when she lived out east. Now she is located in Auburn California. In this photo from her Facebook page she explains that she was always a mischievous little girl and had burned a hole playing with matches in this dress which her father had brought home from a trip to Mexico. Even with the hole, she loved this dress and wore it out wearing it. She speculated that her parents loved the opportunity of sending her to horse camp every year.



Website: http://www.lorimcintoshphotography.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoriMcIntoshPhotography/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lorimc26/?eq=lori%20main&etslf=10566

Email: Lori@Lorimcphoto.com

  

Lori still rides today and participates in Endurance riding and has ridden the Tevis in California, one of the oldest point to point 100 mile Endurance events in the country. As she speaks about her equine competitive partners, you can hear how much she bonds and loves her horses.



Some of Lori’s work:









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Starting back up after a pause in the podcast

I hope to get onto a schedule again after a hiatus from the podcast. Hopefully everyone who has subscribed will get this new episode. Please share it and spread the news that there are going to be new episodes. I have to admit that I had a bit of a cold and that I am a bit out of practice and I jumped in without even introducing Pam. Please know that I will be trying to get back in the swing of things with interviews with people like Pam Gabriel and other photographers you admire. Thanks, Peter

I’ve enjoyed Pams work for some time and it was a pleasure to here about her journey with horses and photography.

Pam Gabriel Photography

Pam has made a point to keep horses in her life, making choices along the way to learn and grow in her knowledge and abilities working with horse adding photography as another way to stay connected to her community and to horse people and their horses. She was born with a horse bug and they have always been a love of her’s.

Website: http://www.pamgabrielphotography.com

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/pamgabrielphotography

Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/pam.kippergabriel

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kippergabriel/



SHOW NOTES:

Pam’s story with horses

We started out with Pam’s story with horses. Although she said she didn’t grow up with horses, it seemed to me that horses have been a big part of her life since a pretty young age and that she decided to make horses a part of her life throughout her life. After going to college majoring in art, she stopped college and went to be with horses. She wanted to see what it was like to be in the horse business. Equilibrium Horse Center was her first opportunity. She explains her journey up to now.

Pam’s start with photography

She started with photography when she was at a horse camp. Her parents gave her 4-5 rolls of film and a camera to record her experience , but when she came back only one roll had her friends and acquaintances from the camp while the other four rolls were her pictures of her new equine friends, I mean horses that is.



She started her business 7-8 years ago with Pam Kipper Photography, then got married and changed that to Pam Gabriel Photography. There are probably some pictures still floating around with Pam Kipper Photography, but mostly it has been the new name.



She still has a horse that she raised from a weanling. He is 17 years old now. She hopes to get a portrait of her with her horse some time before something happens to him.

She also loves dogs and lots of horse people have dogs, then she knew kids at the barn and that led to shooting seniors (high school grads in their last year).

  

One day when I’m no longer teaching, then photography will be something that I can keep doing.

We discussed her pricing and how she views things.



We discussed marketing and how she gets the word out about her photography. In the slow months, winter in Minnesota, she shares pictures that she has taken some time back. She looks over the pictures from Sombrero Ranch shoot with EPNET and re-edits those and shares them to keep her self out there. She thought she did maybe 20 seniors this past year. Horses are spring summer and fall. She wants to do more with dogs. She can do those in the winter in her living room with studio lights inviting friends to bring their dogs for a day of shooting.



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Thanks Kirstie Marie for a great introduction for Matt Cohen.

Matt Cohen Rodeo Photography

Website: http://www.mattcohenphoto.com

Blog: http://www.mattcohenphoto.com/blog/

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/1115/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattcohenphoto

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattcohenphoto/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jmatthewcohen

SHOW NOTES:

Matt describes himself as a city boy. He didn’t really have any exposure to horses at all until he was sent by a local paper to cover a rodeo for one evening. He started his career as a photographer shooting high school sports for several local papers. On that first night at the rodeo, he decided to come back for all three days of the event and was hooked.

With high school sports you are just shooting one thing. For example with football, you have about 10 minutes of shooting time spread out over an hour. But, with rodeo you have constant action and there are 4-5 completely different events to shoot. Each event although it involves horses is completely different from the other. This is how Matt describes what intrigued him with rodeo shooting.

The other thing that makes it a whole lot more fun is that you can get right in there. Between events you can chat with the riders and you have access. With other professional sports you are nowhere near the participants. Even when you are on the side lines, you are 10 to 20 feet from the players. You certainly are not allowed on the field.

Everything has horses. Even with the bull riding there are the pick up riders that go in to rope the bulls and get them back in the pens.

Social media

Matt is on pretty much everything. When he started, he just figured he would put the best pictures out there and figure out how to make some money with it. Facebook seemed to be the key to that as riders were tagged, then their sponsors would see the images and I would make connections with them for additional work.

He has 56,000 followers on Instagram, but it does not lead to a lot of business for him. He tends to spend more time on Instagram because he likes the format better. You see more images on Instagram and less “other stuff”. But, Facebook has been the social media that has performed in terms of helping him make the connections.

Making money in Rodeo Photography

He does not use the old model of shooting with the hopes of the riders wanting images of their rides. He works directly with the rider sponsors and only does a very little bit of selling to riders. Sponsors are looking for outstanding images for promotional purposes. Autograph prints, trailer wraps, bill boards, and other promotional materials. He does nothing on spec. He won’t travel great distances to a rodeo unless he knows that he has several sponsored riders at that event and the pictures are already spoken for.

He questions whether the old model is very workable any more. The better riders have been there and done that already and they don’t buy 8 x 10s.

It took him a long time to get to where he is today. As editorial diminished, he moved more and more of his business to commercial. It used to be that Sport Illustrated, a cover for example or a two page spread, was a real payday. Now instead of a couple thousand dollars, you are looking at a couple hundred bucks. Now they have laid off all their photographers and they get whatever pictures they can find. Matt said he has seen covers that were out of focus. It’s sad, he said, when he first started there was more in editorial.

In a changing market with changes in photography and changes in the economy their have been publications that have ceased to exist and others have cut back on photography budgets. Stock photography has also changed over the years. Throughout all this change, Shawn Hamilton has been able to run a successful editorial, commercial and stock photography business focused exclusively on equine photography.

My wife an I have been to the Rolex Three Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington Kentucky for the cross-country jumping portion of the event many times over the past many years. One year I had the pleasure of introducing myself to Shawn as she photographed at the water jumps. She had a very large lens which I think was a 300mm prime lens. I’m not sure where this picture  (below) was taken, but this is pretty much how I remember her on that day 4 or 5 years ago. For me it is just a 2 hour drive from Dayton, Ohio, however Shawn comes from Canada to shoot the event each year rain or shine.



But, as the interview progresses, you’ll hear from Shawn how she morphs her business to meet the needs of the day and now may also create some offerings that give her a chance to “give back”.



Website: http://clixphoto.com

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CLiXphotocom

Email: clixphoto7@gmail.com

      

SHOW NOTES:

As with every episode we start out talking about the origins of interest in both photography and especially horses.

She got her first 35mm camera from a rich ante when she was about 10 years old. She started riding lessons when her mom traded fabric for riding lessons.

She started her business in the mid 80s. She picked up The Photographers Market and entered all the magazines she had an interest in into a data base. She was working with a data base management company at the time. After a pregnancy leave of several months when she came back to work she realized that she wanted to go full-time with photography, so she quite her job and dove in.

It took about a year of shooting horse shows and three-day events before she would say that she was actually making money as a business. She started out as a show photographer.

In order to make it as an editorial and commercial equine photographer in Canada, you must have clients in the USA.

With the down turn in the economy she went back to school to learn more about writing and she has refocused on travel photography and writing, but still focused on equine vacation opportunities.

National Geographic Traveller Magazine UK version

Her recent accolade was her photography in National Geographic Traveller Magazine UK version. Shawn had taken a 7 day trip crossing the Andes Mountains from Chile to Argentina. A National Geographic writer had taken the same trip, but the photographer she had did not work out for whatever reason and they were able to use Shawn’s photography instead. It’s been in the works for some time and was just published recently. She is still looking for a copy of the magazine.



30 years photographing the Rolex Three Day Event

She has only missed two over those thirty years. Once because she was pregnant and another because she was living overseas. It used to be as an assignment photographer for several publications, but now she does the photography there for stock. She still shoots for several clients, but not like she used to. There are so many photographers at the event these days so the competition and the availability of good images is much greater. In any case Canada is still gray from winter and coming down to the Rolex where it is already spring, inspires her and gets her stock photography

Fine Art Equine Photography

Where to Find Christina:



* Instagram: http://instagram.com/christinascalera

* Twitter: http://twitter.com/creativeatlaw

* Facebook: http://facebook.com/christinascalera

* Website: http://christinascalera.com

* Email: hello@christinascalera.com

* Periscope: @cscalera

* You can ask Christina questions here: http://www.christinascalera.com/contact1





Photo by Shelby Rae Photographs

Christina is an attorney based in Atlanta GA.











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If you’ve ever complained that you love what you do but HATE the business side of things, you’re in the right spot. Christina’s mission as a lawyer for creative entrepreneurs is to help them fulfill their life’s work by creating beautiful businesses from the inside out. She provides the creative world with accessible, affordable legal solutions. Whether you need a last-minute contract template that covers your butt, a painless trademark registration or want to learn more to empower yourself to run your business well, legally speaking, Christina has you covered.

SHOW NOTES:

Christina has been a show rider for many years.

She loves horses and horse people since she has competed with her arab horse for 19 years.

Disclaimer: This is general information and does not constitute legal advice.

Here is her official disclaimer from her website:

THE CONTENT ON THIS WEBSITE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS INFORMATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE AND DOES NOT ESTABLISH AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. CHRISTINA IS LICENSED TO PRACTICE LAW IN GEORGIA AND FILE FEDERAL TRADEMARK AND COPYRIGHT REGISTRATIONS FOR CREATIVES ANYWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES. SHOULD YOU NEED LEGAL ADVICE FOR MATTERS THAT DO NOT CONCERN GEORGIA LAW, PLEASE SEEK OUT A LICENSED ATTORNEY. SOME STATES MAY CONSIDER THIS CONTENT ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.

How do you get legal advice? What does it mean to “retain” an attorney?

What does it mean to “retain” an attorney? How do you get a consultation from an attorney? When calling attorneys look for an attorney that is a “good fit” for you and for your particular needs. For example, a family law attorney may not be helpful to you about setting up your business and registering your images or if you had problems with regard to intellectual property rights.

Contracts – When and why do you need a contract?

Whenever you are forming a relationship with a person or company, it is appropriate to have a contract describing your relationship. Christina explains that many people do not realize that when someone presents you with a contract, that it can be changed. In fact you need to make changes to make the contract agree with what your relationship will be before you sign it. Don’t think of it as something fixed and not changeable. If you don’t feel comfortable with something, you should change it. Then it is something to negotiate with the other pe...

One big family

It is interesting interviewing show photographers and finding that one thing they love about what they do is getting to know the riders as friends over time. Andrew and Stacy do this to the nth degree and hire people who will continue with their sales philosophy and the feeling of family in their business. It sounds like they have a blast shooting and selling their photography at these shows. I would love to spend the day with them and just watch how the customer experience works.

The camera came first for Andrew





Andrew grew up around professional and avid amateur photographers so for him photography came first before the horse. He was very active with photography through college but lost interest for a while as he learned his new career after college.  For several years he worked at Disney World, a perfect place to learn about customer experience and customer satisfaction.

For Stacy the horse came first as long as she can remember

Stacy grew up with horses and in competition and still competes with her own horse. She knows the joy of owning her horse and the excitement of hunter/jumper competition first hand. She participates in upper level competition in the sport and has connections both as a participant for many years and now as a part of Andrew Ryback Photography.

For Andrew, dating a young lady with a horse (Stacy, that is) led to photographing her in her hunter/jumper activities. As her boyfriend and then as her husband Andrew followed her to her shows and brought his digital camera to fill the time and photograph her events.

Continuing to photograph his wife and sometimes other friends at the shows Andrew was invited to take some pictures by show managers. He did two shows for two years before things started to grow quite quickly.

He started as a weekend part-time business in show photography, but it soon became apparent that he could go full-time with this. Both Andrew and Stacy find this entrepreneurial adventure to be fun as a couple. Now he is full-time photography and is doing about 50-60 shows each year.

Understanding customer experience and customer service

Stacy’s family background included some entrepreneurs so she understands customer experience and she does a lot at the sales end of the business. She maintains her corporate job and helps out with management of the business and the employees as well as running the sales office at the shows when she can. Her vacation time is spent either participating in hunter/jumper competition and/or making the sales end of the business run smooth as silk.

Join me now in my interview with Andrew and Stacy of Andrew Ryback Photography

SHOW NOTES

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewrybackphotography

Website: http://www.andrewryback.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Andrew-Ryback-Photography-158188154858/

We started out asking about which came first, as I do with each of these podcasts. Andrew shared his story and Stacy shared her’s. He started with the camera from way back and Stacy started with horses from way back.

As we start talking about the business they discussed finding the right kids to hire who love photography and horses. Andrew has a team of photographers that make it possible to take on the shows that have multiple arenas. His wife, his dad and other teens and college students make up their team. It sounds like perhaps it is a lot of work to keep things organized for each show.

Camera Settings and exposure

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