Photography Friday: Dr. Fernando and Quincy Car

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Britt

Here in North Carolina, Dr. Fernando Cardenas and his stallion, Quincy Car, are something of local heroes. They compete at the highest levels of showjumping, and even represented Colombia in the most recent Pan Am games, qualifying them for a trip to Rio.

So it was definitely quite the honor to have them in front of my camera. This was my second shoot with a stallion, and Quincy was fit as a fiddle and just as shiny and conditioned as a horse ever could be.

While I was there, Fernando’s sweet family also joined in on the fun, rounding out a field of highly photogenic subjects!

I mean really, how sweet is this??

The other addition to our shoot was a recent import from Denmark, and the latest addition to the 3H team. Calvin is a hunk of a guy, and I definitely couldn’t leave without snagging a couple portraits just of him!

This was a very exciting session for me, and a real treat. Here’s wishing the Cardenas family lots of luck as they compete in Wellington this season!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Broadening the Photography Horizons – A survey of readers

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Britt

2016 sessions

As I shared at the beginning of the month, one of my major goals for this year is to grow my photography business. I’m attacking this aspiration with a vengeance- I revamped my portfolio website (though still a WIP) to reflect my photography centric mission, and tried to include some pricing and examples of my work that I feel like speak most for my brand.

It seems like I’m not alone in this endeavor, however, and a little part of me has lost courage after seeing my local market flooded with other people offering similar services, but at a cost that to me, wouldn’t even cover the gas and time costs at a minimum. Marketing is not my strong-suit, admittedly, so I would love to reach out to you all for feedback.

Since most of my readers are equestrians, and equestrians, especially those active in their local communities and on social media, are my target audience, I would love to pick y’all’s brains. If you have a few minutes, would you, kind reader, be willing to answer a few questions regarding equestrian photography?

If you filled out the survey, thank you, I really appreciate it. If you have other points you would like to discuss (such as pricing, your own experiences, etc), or even better, you want to talk about doing a shoot with your horse a 1,000 of your closest friends (hey, a girl can dream, right?), please shoot me a note at brittwgillis at gmail dot com.

Next weekend my plan is to head off to sunny Ocala, to visit a friend who is a working student there, and then to spectate and schmooze with the fancy folk (from afar, of course) at the Wellington Eventing Showcase. While I’m there I also hope to do a couple portrait sessions, namely highlighting my friend’s bee-yutiful Irish Sport Horse gelding. And who knows where my photography will go from there!

Photography Friday: Worth a Shot Farm

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Britt

I met the owner of Worth a Shot farm last summer during my horse shopping adventures. My vet insisted I go see a lovely gelding she has, and I admit, if it weren’t that he was an unbroken 2 year old, I would have snapped him up in a heartbeat. But besides my drooling over the horse, I also got to meet the farm’s other inhabitants. The farm proprietor also happens to breed beautiful Cane Corso dogs along with stunning warmbloods. One of her herd is the country’s lone passported silver dapple warmblood stallion, and despite being just a baby he’s quite the eye-catcher! So when the owner offered to help me with some trailer loading work with Smitty, I was keen to pay her back in photographs- and these are the results!

As I continue to grow my photography business, I hope to offer more and more of these black background shots. The silver dapple was an interesting color to photograph, as it is so rich and contrasts dramatically with that blonde mane and tail- and I hope to go back in the fall when this fella’s coat is even more dapply and extreme!

Have a great weekend, y’all!

Branding the Equestrian Business

Posted on January 16, 2017 by Britt

Branding is the art of aligning what you want people to think about your company with what people actually do think about your company. And vice-versa. – Jay Baer

All businesses and organizations can benefit from thinking about brand, since really, brand is the totality of how you/it/they are represented in the world. It’s feelings and visuals and messages all rolled into a ball.

The USEF just released their new branding, which includes a new logo, revamped website, and more. By changing their name to US Equestrian, they now feel like a more personal organization with an emotional tie to its members, rather than simply a governing body. To emphasize their new, friendlier, approachable brand they also rolled out a campaign they call “the Joy of Horse Sports”, featuring feel-good imagery highlighting the bond between horse and rider.

Old versus new logo

Branding is something I’m required to think about on a daily basis, since it’s part of my job. And I love it- branding is a mix of design and psychology that ticks off my greatest educational interests in college, and though it is exceptionally challenging to create a brand from scratch, building recognition through branding efforts is also exceptionally rewarding as well. It took me ages to come up with my own logo (always hardest designing for yourself!), but eventually settled on this design, which emulates my simple visual aesthetic. The circle hints at the aperture of a camera lens, but isn’t specific enough to discount the other types of design work I do- anything from wedding invitations to, you guessed it, logo design.

My own branding illustrated on my business cards

Recently I entered a logo competition hosted by The $900 Facebook Pony, and was thrilled to learn that they chose my logo as the winning entry.

If you ever hire a designer for an identity project (or work on one yourself!), you know that the process of developing your visual identity is deeply personal. Not only do you want to somehow sum up the emotional values that make up you/your business of the present, but you also want to represent the aspirations you have for the future. Whether your goals are to become a household name, or the local go-to spot, a cohesive brand identity will never hold you back.

For the bloggers out there- what elements have you focused on to create your brand? How does your visual identity tie back to you? Does it use your eventing colors? Wedding colors? Did you make font choices or even naming decisions when you first created your blog/business/facebook page/etc. What branding challenges have you faced, in the past or currently?

Photography Friday: Olympia

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Britt

Olympia was for me, the event of a lifetime, and a memory I will never forget. The equine performers and competitors were absolutely top-notch, and getting to see some of the world’s best showjumpers warm up, up close, was enlightening and inspiring.

My camera was my only companion for the night, though I did make some acquaintances while in the more personal viewing area at the warm up. But despite being alone, the entertainment was enough that really I didn’t mind.

You can see I was quite struck with this particular act, the Stallions of Portugal. The dressage and riding in this segment was really impressive, combined with lighting effects and an excellent soundtrack- well, what’s not to love?

Most of the images I took in the warm up ring you will have seen by now in a former post, but here are a couple more worth sharing.

Here’s hoping everyone has a wonderful weekend! I’m doing two photoshoots (assuming the weather cooperates) that I am super excited about, and I can’t wait to share them with you all!

Photography Friday: Upgrading the Equipment!

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Britt

So I did a thing last week, a totally fiscally irresponsible thing, and I have to admit, I don’t regret it one bit.

I upgraded to a full frame camera, which basically means more pixels, faster shutter speeds, and better low-light imagery.

And I’m thrilled!

As soon as I got my grabby hands on the new beast, I took it to the barn and convinced my friend to let me take a couple photos of her new pony. I’m super happy with the result, and I can’t wait to hopefully make good on my resolution to expand my photography practice this year!

Happy Friday y’all! Stay warm out there!

Artwork of the Past

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Britt

As part of the process of removing my thousand or so Breyers from my parents’ attic, I also came upon other blasts from the past. Namely, the art that I produced in high school.

Before sadly tossing most of it in the garbage (because who doesn’t want an anxty goat man over their mantel?) I went ahead and documented some of my favorites. Art for me at the time was just as much a part of me as horses. I was the kid who constantly had a sketchbook with her, doodling throughout class.

I was inspired by energy and had a sharp sense of humor. I’d often put easter eggs in my work, like the chimp in the (rather beaten and warped) piece below. Sometimes it was sarcastic, sometimes it was a little dark, but a lot of time my art was just plain whimsy.

Yes, even then I was annoyed my salmon came out a bit red.

Some of my artwork was pensive stuff like the above, because what else does a horse-crazy teenager draw?

Other work I found was purely abstract, and more about trying new techniques than anything else. But as I was pawing through the masses of art, a couple stood out to me that were worth taking half-shadowy photos of before putting in the dump pile.

Sometimes I get quite sad about how long it’s been since I’ve drawn anything (over 5 years), but then again having a creative career means that at the end of the day I just want to horse and go to bed. And I have my photography as a creative outlet.

But still, it sure was nice reliving each piece of work again, just for a short while.

2017 Goals

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Britt

You know what I decided? I’m not making any horse-related goals this year.

The reality is that making goals with a super green, super sensitive young just seems a bit overreaching at this point. There’s going to be ups, there’s going to be downs, and who the heck knows where we will be in two weeks, let alone 2 months or a year.

So instead I’m going to focus on personal goals: things I can strive for without placing expectation on Smitty. Things like:

1.Meeting more bloggers
I’ve now been blogging for 3 years, and have come to love being a part of the horsey community locally and online. I hope to meet more of you in person, so if you’re ever in North Cackalacky hit me up!

Blogger hangout in CA!

2. Focus on growing my photography skills
Meaning self-educate, maybe play with artificial light, and learning to be bold and reach out to the local horse community to break into other disciplines and areas.

2016 sessions

3. Continue to make healthier decisions, and try some non-carnivorous meal options for Pete’s sake
Last year the husband and I started to cut out red meat from our diets. This year he’s going cold turkey, but this girl loves the occasional steak, so that’s a no-go. Instead, I’m going to try and make one day out of the week a “Meatless Monday”- fish/veggies only.

I realize the list is short, but I think by keeping my goals concise I hopefully have a better chance of success.

Assessing 2016 Goals

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Britt

2016 was a roller coaster year for us. In a lot of ways it signifies the closing of several long chapters, and the starting of new stories. In April we sold our house of 3 years, and in May my beloved Foster became someone else’s to love. But we also purchased our dream home, and in September I ~~went crazy~~ bought myself a gangly 4 year old warmblood sight-unseen. So with that in mind, let’s look at my original intentions for the year.

2016 Goals

The Horse:

~~Find the perfect situation for Foster.~~ Done, and unintentionally done again.
~~Keep riding, even if catch riding~~ Thank you Darcy and Riley for keeping me in the saddle
Participate in at least one dressage clinic Nope!

Darcy dressaging

The House:

~~Paint upstairs – hallway, study, State room~~
~~Wrap up giant handyman to-do list covering all sorts of small sins~~
~~Declutter in the extreme….~~
~~In order to put the house on the market!~~

This was a wrap!! 15 showings and a full-price offer within 24 hours on the market!

House on a Hill 1.0 Before and After

The Rest:

Health
- ~~Eat less red meat~~ Thanks to the husband’s willpower
- ~~Make a dedicated effort to consider myself an athlete as a rider and take responsibility for staying in decent shape~~ Yes, until September
Concentrate on photography and expanding my range of work
- Complete 10-15 sessions this spring – my fingers are itching for that shutter button! 11 shoots this year total- still looking for more!
- First newborn session! Didn’t happen- but first maternity session did!
~~Stay positive and keep calamities in perspective~~ Found some balance in my life and a new positive attitude
~~Focus on savings~~ Saved those pennies and then lost them buying a horse!

Final Thoughts
I think 2016 will forever stand out in my mind as a bittersweet year. Bitter in the loss of Foster as my eventing and everyday partner, but sweet in the realization of selling the house- the culmination of 3 years of hard work and literal blood, tears, and lots and lots of sweat. I will say that I’m a happier person now than I was at this time a year ago, and I’m thankful for all that went into that as well.

Musings from the Olympia Warm-up Ring

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Britt

As part of my night at the Olympia Horse Show in London, I purchased a ticket to go visit the warmup ring backstage. This was essentially a spectator area filled with tables and seating and its own personal bar (which you know I took advantage of on my way out!).

So before the final class of the day, the 1.55m Martin Collins Christmas Tree Stakes (not to be confused with the Mince Pie Stakes – not kidding), I scuttled down (or rather, up, over, down- very confusing to someone who’d already had a glass of wine ~~or two~~) to the warmup arena to watch the big names go.

PS of Sweden made an appearance!

I think one of the most interesting things about showjumpers is the variety of tack that they employ. I saw every combination of hackamores, drop nosebands, figure 8’s and double bridle variations, and that was before even looking at the bits. The most popular bitting option appeared to be a gag bit, but I did see a few standard snaffles here and there.

Other trends included leaving a patch of hair on the sides of the horse (like above), something I hadn’t noticed before in other disciplines but surely to avoid any spur marks that might eliminate an otherwise clear pair.

Besides the horses themselves, it was fascinating to watch the riders warmup so differently from one another. Many would take a medium sized oxer (say 3’3″ to my eyes) and then go over a small vertical like below. I would have loved to pick someone’s brain to know the reason for the small vertical, but alas, I never found the opportunity.

Others, like the horse below, would repeatedly stop their horse in front of the fence. My guess would be to get their horse listening and on his haunches, but again, I really can only speculate.

As you can see, I took the opportunity to document as much as I could without being absolutely obnoxious, and enjoyed chatting with the other Olympia-goers about their horses and their favorite riders and horses. It was awe-inspiring (because let’s be serious, I am never going to have to prepare for a 1.55m track) and educational to see all the differing approaches in the warmup ring, and amazing to get to see some of the world’s top riders up close!

Lots more photos to come!