Horses and their riders were the first subjects in front of my camera when I was just starting out.
It’s true. I never pushed these kinds of sessions into the limelight before but they are a major part of who I am today. You see, I actually began my photo journey while at my sister’s horse shows.
I was a bored teenager with nothing much to do while my sister showed Appaloosas on the show circuit. The whole family would pack up the truck camper, hook up the horse trailer, and hit the roads on the weekends several times a month during show season.
My uncle took pity on me. He knew I had an interest in photography and happened to have a 35mm camera that he began to let me take with me on the road. He gave me a brief lesson, my first real photo lesson, on how to work the basic features of the camera.
And then I was off on what would become my life-long passion with photography.
I’d photograph riders prepping their horses in the aisles of numerous barns, tracking them walking to the warm-up ring, warming up their mounts, get a few last tips from their trainers, and then I headed into the stands to document the class. Then it was the judging, the cool down, and the clean up. I’d also take detail shots of the environment between events. Quiet moments. Interactions and responses.
This is where I started to learn about composition and capturing those special moments.
And learned real quick about the cost of film and processing. Woof. A lot of the first rolls where unusable but I persisted. I soaked up everything I could learn, put it to use the next time, and got better. I still use these very same hard earned lessons in my work today and I pass on to my students.
It wasn’t just on the show circuit, either. We had a horse stable at our place so I did a lot of photography there, too, honing my skills even further. The camera transitioned from something I borrowed occasionally to being my full time ride or die. I started shooting so much more than farm life.
So, when you see these images and think that this is something new for me, trust me, it’s not. This is actually a homecoming for me. It’s been there since the start. I feel at home and at peace on a farm. I respect and admire the relationship between a horse and their person. I love capturing the relationship between the two. Fleeting moments that last a lifetime.
Not to mention horses are magnificent creatures to photograph. Soulful creatures. Power, grace, playfulness, and curiosity all in one package.
It’s an amazing experience.
Mark Knopp is a photographer with over 40 years of experience behind a camera and teaching photography. He is based in Yorktown and covers Hampton Roads, Richmond and beyond. Contact him at mknopp1(at)cox.net to ask him about his Horse and Rider or Fine Art Equestrian packages today.
Photography by Mark K 