What do you need to photograph mustangs?
1.
A job- This may sound like an oxymoronic statement but unless you are
wildly successful, you won't make a living solely upon your mustang
photos. Most of the successful photogs in the mustang industry also do
non-mustang horse photography. Horse shows, gymkhanas, private photo
shoots, animals other than horses (pet portraiture) etc.
I
have a wonderful job I adore outside of photography that allows me to
pay for camera equipment, software, advertising, traveling to the horse
management areas, printing... Plus my job also gives health benefits so
when I cut my leg open on rusty barbed wire in pursuit of mustang
photos, I can go to the Emergency Room for a tetanus shot.
2.
Mustangs- another no-brainer. Use this book to find the mustang sites
and I can offer suggestions for good hotels nearby. There are a lot of
Horse/Herd Management Areas (HMA) in many states- some closer than you
think. Also Google BLM, mustang, wild horse, management areas and you'll
find a lot of information, once you know the name of the HMA, try to
Google that and you will be amazed at the sheer quantity of clubs and rescue
groups affiliated with the mustangs!
3.
Car with high clearance- four wheel drive is not necessary if you are
absolutely 100% positive it won't rain (being a weather psychic is
useful too). High clearance is the most useful feature for your
mustang-finding-vehicle but four wheel drive comes in handy and
will offer you peace of mind. My husband loves to drive all over the
place looking for mustangs... Four wheel drive is also good and I won't go
out to some of the sites without it...
4.
SLR Digital Camera-like a Photoshop below, you need a DSLR camera
(digital single lens reflex)- Canon, Nikon, Olympus- whatever is
most affordable, start with used if finances are an issue. Lots of megapixels
are great but beyond 10- the photos are just taking up space on your
hard drive-unless you specialize in posters which require large files
for the clearest printing but for most people, 10-12 megapixels or less
is fine. Should you include video? Some of the newer SLR cameras come
with video. I am a bit of a purist and I bought a GoPro camera so I
can shoot video and photographs separately. When I am in the groove
taking photos, the last thing I want to do is stop and switch my camera
to video and waste tremendous space on my memory card for video... Save
it for photos and find a friend with a sense of humor to shoot video for
you. Try B&H Camera and Video in New York City- I have been there
many times, they have excellent on-line used cameras and lenses and you
can search by price. They are very knowledgeable and if you decide to
visit, let me know-I will treat you to lunch.
5.
Adobe Photoshop- Don't accept substitutions. This is the industry
standard in photography and if you want to be taken seriously, you need
Photoshop. If money is tight, then you might consider buying it with a
student license. There are restrictions with a limited student license
but it is substantially cheaper. It is a rather complex program and it
will take a while to learn Photoshop but there are plenty of books you
can buy to learn this program as well as thousands of free lessons on
line. Even video tutorials at Adobe's website or You Tube. They have a new way to buy Adobe products
called Adobe Creative Cloud where you pay a nominal fee each month and
you have access to ALL Adobe products and they have a vast library of
programs for web design, video, photography and graphic design.
6.
A spirit of adventure and professionalism- being adventurous is
critical to mustang photography. When it is the fourth herd, located
well over a mile away and it is 90F and you are already hot and
sweaty...having that "okay, let's hike through the sagebrush for the
fourth time in the hot sun and photograph the mustangs" attitude is
key... It is ALWAYS worth it. As for professionalism- be polite,
respectful, avoid profanity both on your website, Facebook fan page and
your personal page. People can see some of your personal page
(regardless of friend status) and having questionable photos/content
won't bring people to your photography site in droves. Utilizing your
computer's spellcheck and grammar are also pluses though I have been
known to post some humorous comments when typing on my phone- granted
the comments are spelled correctly, the just don't make any sense
grammatically.
Other non-essential but useful
A friend- driver, video , companionship
External hard drive-always, always, always back up to an external source before you even look at the photos!
Cintiq
board/tablet- I bought mine at B&H and this handy graphics tablets
comes pre-calibrated for print. I never have to worry about my prints
looking different than what I see on my monitor because of my Cintiq. If
you don't have a a graphics tablet, try calibrating your monitor so
that the print will look similar to what you see in Photoshop. Also when
doing fine work on a photograph, the pen is more comfortable to use
than a mouse.
Telephoto
lens- most cameras come with a 35-110 or 200 mm lens as a package deal.
I love my 18-200mm. For mustangs, you will probably want to invest in a
100-400mm and IS is best. (Image Stabilized). I had a 500mm Canon lens-
it was a moose, weighed a ton and was utterly useless in the field.
Great for photographing hummingbirds at my feeder at home but that was
about it. You want the most portable lenses you can carry- literally.
Digital watermark- this is a process that places an invisible 'digital watermark' on all your image (you choose which). It tracks these images throughout the Internet and will find if your image is being used somewhere else even if it has been altered. I use DigiMark.
Nik filters for Photoshop - amazing filters I can't live without!
Alien Skin Filters- also phenomenal
Alien Skin Filters- also phenomenal
Adobe Lightroom- an amazingly useful program to preview, catalog and do minor editing- also will upload to a website as a gallery- very cool!
Monopod-
like a tripod, this handy item comes as a single cane-like support for
your camera. It has only one leg but if you find your images are blurry,
try using a monopod or tripod. I find them cumbersome and I have
learned how to steady my camera but I carry a monopod in my uber-cool
photography vest. Once in a while they are great for panning a running
herd or if you find yourself parked next to a waterhole...
Photography
vest- a slightly dorky but rather useful article of clothing. It has
about 15 pockets of varying sizes. Make sure, if you don't have a driver
friend, put your car keys in a very safe place- zippered pockets are
nice and secure. You don't want to search through sagebrush for your
cars keys. The nice thing about the vest is it holds extra lenses,
water, monopod, memory cards and lens cloths without a backpack. Useful
for hot summer days especially when you have to hoof-it for a mile....
Memory
cards- I use smaller cards, about 32 MB and switch frequently. If I
manage to get an amazing series of photos, I will remove that card,
stash it someplace safe and continue with a fresh card. This way you
don't ever run the risk of losing precious photos. My cards are labeled
1,2,3,4,5... And A,B,C,D,E... This way I remember which are used and
which are blank. All cards are reformatted after each day. The photos
are uploaded to my laptop. Then they are backed up to my external hard
drive which I carry on the plane with me. Only then do I allow myself
the pleasure of looking through that day's adventures in mustang
photography on my MacBook.
Cell phone with car charger- this is an obvious one
GPS- might be useful, I have never needed one myself - most phones come with some sort of location function. Try that before you buy a Garmin
Water- especially in the warmer weather
Have fun and be safe!!!!
-Meredith
