Turn your snapshots into photographs

Although I'm not a professional photographer, I have been able to take some great shots of my horse - and other members of my family - using three basic principles I learned in a photography course I recently completed. I have found these basic guidelines to be so helpful in my own photography that I decided to share them with you in this first edition of the Wisconsin Horseman. Then, in subsequent issues, I'll turn the forum over to the real pros, as professional equine photographers located throughout Wisconsin share the secrets of really great horse photography with you.in this regular column of the Wisconsin Horseman.

1. A good photograph has a clear subject or a theme. A photograph is about someone or something , and anyone looking at it should immediately know who or what the photograph is about. Of course, if you're taking pictures of horses, the horse will usually be the subject of your photograph, but horse photos can also express a more universal "theme" or quality such as "beauty"," strength", "elegance","playfulness"," speed" or "athleticism", or they may show a special relationship between horse and rider, mare and foal, or between pasture-mates or barn buddies. Before taking a picture, ask yourself "What is my subject? What special quality or theme, if any, am I trying to portray with this photograph?"

Although I like to feature Wisconsin photographers (in this edition, the photographs of Wisconsin equine photographer Tracy Trevorrow), I just had to use this photo, taken from http://www. nyip.com, to illustrate what I mean by a special quality or theme. Here the photographer has captured the quality of "playfulness" with a photograph that gives the viewer a humorous insight into the mischievous personality of this horse. (Of course the picture would be better if the photographer would have been able to eliminate the distracting elements - in this case the other horse- as suggested in guideline 3 below. I'll ask our professional photographers to give us some tips, in future editions, for doing this when taking spontaneous shots like this one)

2. A good photograph focuses attention on the subject - it draws the eye to it. Once you know what your subject is, you want to focus attention on it so that the eye of anyone looking at that photograph is immediately drawn to your subject. While there are a number of techniques you can use to focus attention on your subject ( for example, you may position the subject in a way that calls attention to it, you may focus sharply on the subject while throwing other elements in the photograph out of focus, you may use lighting to draw the eye to your subject, etc) As our professional photographers discuss these various techniques with you in future editions of the Wisconsin Horseman, remember that you want to to use these techniques to focus attention on your subject.

The trio of horse, dog and lovely lady are clearly the subject of this photograph taken by our featured photographer, Tracy Trevorrow. Here Tracy has focused attention on her subjects not only by placing them near the middle of the photo and having them face directly into the camera, but also by framing them within the large branches of this tree.

3. A good photograph simplifies. While you want your photograph to include those elements that draw the eye to your subject and that support the theme of the photograph, your photo should include only those elements and nothing else. This means that anything that may be present in the environment that might draw the eye away from the subject,or that fails to support the theme of the photograph needs to be eliminated . For example, lets say you are shooting horses in a pasture on a soft, foggy morning. Your subjects are the horses of course, and you decide that your theme - that quality that made you reach for your camera to shoot the picture in the first place - is " bucolic beauty" (I never said your theme couldn't be a little corny!) You will want to include all the elements that support that quality - perhaps the white rail fencing, a tree or two, the fog hovering just above the ground, the picturesque farmhouse in the background - and you want to eliminate anything that might distract from that quality - like the manure spreader that's parked by the trees, the garbage cans that are sitting next to the fence and the tangle of power lines that are running to the house. Again, there are many ways of eliminating distracting elements from your photograph, from simply changing the angle from which you shoot or moving your subject to another setting to throwing your background out of focus. The the point is, you need to consciously look through the viewfinder for any distracting elements that will show up in your photograph before you press the shutter release. And if you notice any - don't press that release until you find a way to eliminate them.

The unusual perspective captured by photographer Tracy Trevorrow makes this photograph of carriage horse and driver truley awesome! But the image wouldn't be nearly as powerful if Tracy hadn't eliminated background distractions - in this case by throwing the background out of focus. Notice how this technique focuses attention on and immediatly draws your eye to her subjects.

So now, every time you pick up your camera, ask yourself:
1. What is the subject or theme that I want this photo to be about?
2. How can I focus attention on this subject and draw my viewer's eye to it?
3. Have I simplified? Have I included those elements that draw attention to my subject and support my theme? And have I eliminated anything that might be distracting or that isn't essential to my theme?

Follow these 3 guidelines and you'll have taken a giant step toward turning your "snapshots" into "photographs"

This photograph, featured on our homepage, reminds me of hundreds of pictures I've seen of little girls and their ponies -- but not very many of them looked as nice as this one does. Why? Because, unlike most of us, photographer Tracy Trevorrow has not only called attention to her subjects by placing them in a position of prominence in the photograph, but has consciously eliminated any unsightly distractions from the background by moving pony and rider to an uncluttered setting that compliments the theme of "sweetness" or "innocence" that the photo portrays.

Another very simple - and very lovely - portrait by Tracy Trevorrow. Notice again how Tracy uses only background elements that compliment her subject- there is no distracting clutter here - and how she focuses attention on and softens the beautiful face of her subject by throwing the background out of focus.

* Tracy Trevorrow is a professional equine photographer based in Campbellsport, Wisconsin (located between West Bend and Fond du Lac). She and her "partner" - daughter Gina, who works with her when she isn’t busy with her own Friesian horse breeding business - have won multiple first place and best of show awards in both the still and posed professional categories in photo contests at several horse shows, including Horse-a-Rama and Midwest Horse Fair. Tracy, who specializes in high school senior portraits with horses, does all kinds of horse photography from stallion promotion to 4-H expos to jumping and dressage competitions. "From horse showing to rodeoing it's all fine with me," she says. She also does children and family portraits. Tracy currently photographs on location or on bridle trails in the scenic Kettle Moraine area. For more information, or to schedule an appointment with Tracy visit her web site at http://www.equinedesign.freeservers.com, , e-mail her at eqindsin@fdl.net.com, or call her at 920-533-5643

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	TURN YOUR 'SNAPSHOTS' INTO 'PHOTOGRAPHS' IN 3 EASY STEPS featuring the photographs of professional equine photographer Tracy Trevorrow
Photograph By Tracy Trevorrow