Create a black background for horse photographs
Equine Photography Feature
This is the first of a two-part blog post where I’ll walk you through how I create striking ‘black’ or dark backgrounds for my equine portrait sessions.
This style of photograph has grown in popularity over the years, and for good reason. It’s a fantastic option for the Horse photographer to adopt, when the weather isn’t cooperating or when outdoor locations are limited. To set up these photographs, I typically look for a barn or an indoor school to work with.
Choosing the Right Location
Clients are often surprised when I position them and their horse in front of what seems like a less-than-ideal background—perhaps a row of haynets, stacks of rugs, or feed bags. But the key to this technique isn’t the background itself—it’s the natural light. Large open doors in an indoor school or barn act as a perfect light source, illuminating the horse and rider while allowing the background to fall into shadow.
Setting up the photograph
To achieve this look, I position the horse and owner near the open doors, maximising natural light while allowing the interior behind them to fade into darkness.
If the owner prefers not to be in the final image, they often still hold the horse but step just outside the frame. If the horse wants to be close to their owner, I may ask the client to stand discreetly beside them (on the other side), so they don’t block the horse, and I can easily remove them during editing.
How dark should your background be?
Many photographers aim for a completely black (RGB 0,0,0) background. However, I always recommend avoiding a solid black. Instead, I suggest an off-black tone. Why?
- A true black background can be difficult to print, which isn’t ideal for clients who want stunning wall art.
- If the horse is a lighter color, such as grey, a pure black backdrop, in my eyes, can look too harsh and unnatural.
A softer, slightly lifted black creates a more balanced and flattering image.
Capturing the Perfect Equine Shot
Recently, during a photography workshop at Acton Hall Equestrian Centre, I found the perfect setup. Their indoor school had large, wide-open doors, letting in beautiful natural light—even on a cloudy day.
Here below is the out-of-camera shot of a stunning Irish Sport Horse, owned by Gina. In this image, Gina stepped to the side while I captured the shot.
My camera settings
To create the black backgrounds for horse photographs my camera settings were:
- ISO: 1000
- Lens: 24-70mm (at 56mm)
- Aperture: f/3.5
- Shutter speed: 1/400
- I photographed in Raw rather than jpg – so that I could retain as much quality from the digital file as possible – adding flexibility in post production.
In hindsight, I could have adjusted my position slightly to be more parallel to the horse. However, the natural light worked beautifully, and I was excited to refine the image in post-production.
In Part 2, I’ll walk you through how I enhance the background, remove distractions, fine-tune composition, and polish the final image to ensure the horse looks its absolute best. (Just like the image below!) Stay tuned!
