Royse City, TX Equine Portrait Session | Rachael Watts Equine Photographer

Earlier this year I was contacted by Carly to photograph her 2023 barrel futurity prospect, RDC Famous Design affectionately known as Louie. Her sire, Slick By Design has an LTE of over $600,000!

It was a short 30-40 minute drive to her boarding facility in Royse City, Texas. When we arrived, we were greeted by Louie and her miniature companion, Pop Tart.

Pop Tart played a big role in Louie's photo session. Since my fiancé offered to tag along, I put him to work being my ear getter upper. He and Pop Tart got a little exercise that day and of course, I had to get a quick video of the shenanigans. Hands down, this is the easiest way to get your subject's ears up and a great expression. And a few laughs.

With every session I like to include multiple posed shots as well as candid moments, headshots and action shots. Carly told me one of the main things she wanted was a black background picture of Louie, but she wasn't sure how it would turn out since Louie is black. I assured her that with the flashes, Louie would indeed stand out against the black background. After hanging out in the pasture and getting our candid shots, we went to the arena to get some action photos while we waited for the sun to go down a bit more.

This picture below turned out neat, I think. I was being impatient and tested out my flashes while the sun was still too bright. I ended up with a white background. It's not the best angle, since I had to crouch low enough to keep the fence out of the picture behind her. Overall I was pleased with it. Take away lesson: even though my lighting may not have been perfect, sometimes I can get cool results if I just go for it. Don't be afraid to step out of the comfort zone of perfect lighting. You never know what you'll get until you try.

I was hoping for a prettier sunset, but it still made a nice background.

The black backgrounds came out okay, but I'm a perfectionist and I already know what I need to do to really make these stand out like I'm envisioning in my head. I hope you enjoyed looking at Louie's portraits.

If you are looking for an equine photographer in Texas, check out my website www.rachaelwattsphotography.com