As a Horse Photographer during Covid19 I work from home more often than usual.
When Arizona residents were first ordered to quarantine in March, I was actually pleased to have an opportunity to stay at home for a few days. Not that I was pleased with the reason but just like so many of us, I was in need of a bit of downtime. I took the time to get caught up on some rest and then soon after that I started back to my marketing and website development.
Horse Photographer during Covid19
My process as a Horse Photographer during Covid19 for the actual photo shoots has changed only slightly. When I’m onsite with the client, I keep more distance between us when we are in the Horse barn discussing the objectives of the photo shoot. After I’ve clarified the objective of the horse owner, we head out to the pasture or arena and start the photo shoot. As typical, I scout out locations and angles and distractions or potential eyesores and try to position myself correctly for the shoot.
Once I feel like I’ve gotten the shots that I want and the client wants, I head home to start the editing process. I don’t have to clean off any of my equipment because I am the only one that has touched it. I sift and I sort the images narrowing down to a small selection. I try various filters and let my mind and creative vision have some liberty with the horse photos as well. I prep the images to low resolution files and load them into my client proofing area on my website. From there I will send a link to the client informing them their gallery is live. Next step is to write a blog about the experience including the horse, the owner, the setting and more. The blog is coupled with how I will use the horse photos in my social media. This entire process could take hours, days or weeks. It depends on my schedule, and my sense of inspiration.
I think about how the horse photos might inspire people in various size canvas from the living room walls or the office walls if they have a particular office space at home. I always aspire to create something special for myself with each photo shoot. It’s rewarding when I can turn some of them into art that I get to look at for a while in my home or even as a piece that is on its way specifically to someone for a particular place in their home and just needs to be signed by me.
Horse art for Zoom Meetings
It’s a free flowing yet planned out experience of doing what I love that reminds me that others are looking for an emotion that they want to feel as they look to their walls around them. I know a lot of people love horses and feel a very strong connection to them and so they allow that connection to be the source of choosing a photo. They may feel inspired toward greater belief that everything is going to work out for them as they go through a hard time of finding the right solution for themselves moving forward. You may be working from home due to Covid19 or you are confined to your home or you are considering moving things around to keep things fresh for yourself. If you are in a creative field it might be nice to change the photo out behind you on a regular basis for those Zoom Meetings. As a Horse Photographer, I certainly consider the images hanging on my wall when I get onto a Zoom Meeting! You might choose it for the inspirational quality or for the sense of what you want to convey, that you are feeling strong and ready even now and the photo that they are looking at when you chat from your home office conveys that feeling.
Jody Miller is a professional photographer specializing in Horse Photography, Equine Photography, and Equestrian photography. Her work can be viewed online here in her gallery section, and she is also featured at these Arizona Galleries: Van Gogh’s Ear Gallery on Whiskey Row in Prescott, AZ and Coops Coffee House at Talking Rock Ranch. Several images are also available at the current exhibit, Hold Your Horses showing at The Phippen Western Art Museum