How to Light On Location Portraits With Horses

Photography Tips  •  Portrait Photography

When shooting on location, the best of plans don’t always work out—especially when working with animals. That’s why it’s important to make sure you have the right gear with you. In the video below, award-winning photographer Bobbi Lane takes us through her gear choices as she does a beautiful photo shoot with horses:

While it didn’t seem like much unexpected happened in this shoot, Lane made sure to cover all her bases with the equipment she brought with her. Not only did she have fixtures with enough capacity to meet all her needs, she also made sure she had modeling lights with battery packs that would last the duration of her shoot.

In case you haven’t used strobes before, they tend to fire too quickly for the photographer to see what the lighting will look like. Modeling lights remain on while the strobe is in standby mode, allowing you to see exactly the lighting you’re setting up. And while most modern strobes come with modeling lights, they’re infamous for draining up their battery packs very quickly. That’s why Lane prefers the Phottix lighting kits—they come with battery packs that last.

Equipment List

First Scene:

• Phottix 43” Luna Octa folding softbox (key light)
• 2 Phottix Indra 360 kits (background lights)
• Phottix Indra 500 kit
• 3 Phottix light stands
• Odin TTL Flash Trigger for Nikon

Second Scene:

• Phottix Indra 500 kit (background)
• Phottix Hexa-para Softbox – Large (key light)
• Hexa Speed Ring – Bowens Mount
• Odin TTL Flash Trigger for Nikon

One thing about the Phottix kits though–they don’t come with carrots or buckets of grain. You’ll have to provide those separately.