I was recently approached by Samantha Finnemore, a Rutland-based veterinary physiotherapist, looking to revamp her web site and add new content. She was keen to commission me to produce both video and still photography of her at work, with horses and dogs.
Sammy was keen to use a realistic working environment for the shoot, and we were very grateful to Samantha Hobbs and her team at Streethill Farm, in Leicestershire, for allowing us to use a range of settings on their yard.
As with all shoots of this type it was important for me to establish Sammy's aims and expectations before we started, so we spent half an hour exploring sets, backgrounds, and lighting variations, both indoors and outdoors.
Equipment consisted of DLSR cameras, both handheld and tripod mounted, and a mobile phone on a gimball for some unusual overhead angles - more later. Video was shot predominantly at 60fps to allow for use as slow motion footage if required.
The first part of the shoot took place in an outdoor arena where the focus was on specific movements of a horse being ridden, with close-up on areas of the body. In addition to low-angle and handheld shots from the ground, I also utilised some over head footage by standing on a wall beside the school and holding a gimball-mounted mobile phone over the horse and rider, to capture the curvature of the spine during a shoulder-in movement.
Later we moved into the stable area to shoot footage of Sammy at work, massaging and manipulating horses and dogs in different ways. Finally I set up off -camera flash in order to capture a selection of still images of more static forms of physiotherapy treatment.
I am an equine photographer, website designer and hosting provider living in Lincolnshire.
I work with clients who are sole traders and others which are FTSE companies. They are equally important to me.
If you need commercial photography, editorial photography, event photography, lifestyle, equestrian or wedding photography, then I can help you, with over 30 years experience in these areas.
I also teach photography. I mentor photographers with a range of experience, from beginners to working professionals and run an equine photography course which gives members access to articles about the business of equestrian photography.
I have a varied set of skills, having worked for well known web design, SEO and analytics companies in parallel to my photography.
I design, host and maintain websites for clients as varied as farms, interior designers and equestrian centres, as well as for bloggers and sportspeople, including many riders.
I am the Public Relations Officer for the Midlands Area Point-to-Point Association, a role which utilises my PR and social media skills to promote horse racing both online and in the National press.
If you think that I could be the right person to help you, whatever your project, then please get in touch and we can discuss what you need and the ways in which I can help.
You can find out more about me here.
Your help, advice and professionalism was invaluable Nico. I can't thank you enough for the value you added to the day, and the fantastic videos and pictures you captured.
Thanks Sammy, it was a pleasure working with you. I look forward to seeing the results go live!