Brainstorm

Brainstorm what you want your final photos to look like. A fun, casual shoot? An elegant session with a beautiful dress? Full show attire? Do you want photos of you and your horse or just your horse?

Let me know any photo ideas, locations, changes of outfit, and more.

Location

The best backgrounds typically have a lot of color or greenery. They can also be a landscape or the side of the building depending on the look you are going for. Backgrounds with crazy patterns or a lot to look at can sometimes draw attention away from you and the horse.

If your horse has never been to the location you want to shoot, please take them there (if you can) before the session and make sure they are comfortable.

Outfit

Choose an outfit that is comfortable.

Dresses, riding apparel, casual clothes, suits, etc are all popular clothing options for your shoot.

My personal opinion is to pick an outfit that isn't the same color as your horse.

Please be extra careful if you plan to wear open toed shoes such as sandals or heels. This decision is completely up to you at your own risk.

Your Horse

Many people wash their horse, groom them, clip their whiskers, pull their mane, put on shoe shine, braid their mane, etc.

Have your horse as "picture perfect" as you'd like. Some people prefer their horse totally natural and that is absolutely fine as well.

Would you like your photos with a nice halter, bridle, or both?

Do you want to leave on or take off bell boots?

Don't worry about scratches or other unusual things on your horse. It will be removed in editing. Please let me know if you don't want these removed.

Photo helper

To get the best results, bring someone you are comfortable with to your photo shoot. They will help me get your horse's ears forward, fix your hair, and cheer you on. Please only bring one to two helpers max. Too many can be distracting for you and/or the horse.

If you don't have anyone able to help, no worries! I can hire someone to help me.

I have a few tricks to getting horse's ears forward. Let me know if treat bags are okay (some people prefer that I don't have any treat like objects).

Relax

Many horses do get tired of standing still and having to look a certain way for a long time. Don't stress. Even sessions in which the horse is tossing their head and won't stand still, I still get amazing pictures and we will come up with creative poses. Try to stay positive and understand they are likely not used to photo shoots. Your photos are still coming out great.

Majority of the horses I shoot, do not stand perfectly and that's okay.

I recommend riding or lunging your horse the day of or the day before your session. It can make a huge difference.

Contract review

Your photo session begins and ends at the specified time. Any time spent getting you or your horse ready after the session time begins is still part of the session. "Overtime" begins 15 minutes after the final session time ends and is charged an additional $150 per 30 minutes.

Avery Fletcher Photography is not responsible for behavior of the equine, clothing and footwear decisions made by client, photos not taken due to clients failure to cooperate, client or horse injury or death, pre-approving horses for session that are not client owned, delivering images when client has not paid the full amount, etc. Please review contract for more.

Photo Viewing

After the full session amount has been paid and approved, your session photos will be uploaded. These are the lightly edited, almost straight out of the camera images (they are meant to be edited).

We will set up a zoom meeting to go over your favorite images, any editing desires, and pick which ones you'd like to purchase.

Products

I am partnering with a print shop I absolutely love and trust to deliver high quality images.

Please let me know if you'd like any recommendations on different products. I love the metal prints, I have purchased many for my own house.

I hate using walmart, target, CVS, and even some local "professional" photo print companies. I found the photo shop I trust to print amazing photos every time.

If you plan to get a large print (an 11x14 or larger), please reach out to me and I will make sure the photo you want is a good candidate and is the correct pixel sizing.

Recommendations and reviews

It means the world to me when you tag me on your photos on social media. I love seeing them!

Word of mouth is huge for me. I get most of my clients this way. Please don't forget to leave me a review on my Facebook page as well.

Thank you so much!