Equine & Pet Photos for Equestrians & Dog Moms in Atlanta, GA and world-wide

The Importance of Communicating With Your Photographer

When it comes to scheduling professional portraits with your horses and/or dogs, it is extremely important to be open and honest about boundaries. Whether it is your horse’s, your dog’s or your own boundaries, being open and honest with your photographer will ensure a safe and fun portrait experience. Here are a few topics I always suggest chatting about when preparing for your upcoming portraits!

Bareback Portraits

We always love seeing those dreamy portraits of the girl in the long flowing dress draped over her horse while she is riding bareback. It is always important to know yours and your horse’s limitations in situations like that. Knowing your boundaries when it comes to your horse means knowing whether or not you are fully comfortable riding bareback. As we all are very aware, horses have the ability to sense when someone is tensing up, in turn causing tension within the horse. Some horses may spook having a dress draping over them which is not an ideal situation for anyone involved. Communicating what you do and do not want to do throughout your portraits allows a smooth and successful experience.

Anxiety

Some animals may struggle with anxiety in a variety of different ways- separation and social are most commonly found in horses and dogs. When scheduling your portraits with your horses and dogs, please be sure to note any forms of anxiety they may struggle with.

If your horse has separation anxiety from a pasture pal, we may need to take that into consideration when we plan out where we create your portraits. The last thing we need is an image of your horse galloping all the way back to the barn in the middle of your portraits. Some horses struggle from general anxiety, this may mean they are sensitive to noises, sights or sounds that your photographer may use during your portraits, it is important to be upfront and honest about where your horse’s boundaries are.

Maybe you have a dog with anxiety in high traffic locations such as a park, it is very important to communicate with your photographer any social anxieties your dog may struggle with. Although your pet may not have an aggressive personality, they may become unpredictable in a location they are unfamiliar with. This is extremely important to bring up when planning your portraits, we can easily find a familiar and more secluded location to bring out your dog’s personality best!

Insecurities

We have talked about communicating with your photographer about your horses and dogs, now we are going to focus on you. I would be lying if I told you I do not have insecurities about myself, and I am sure you may have something too. When planning your portraits, please be open with your photographer about anything you may be uncomfortable showing in photographs. While you may be insecure about something, your photographer may not see it the same way and continue shooting your session. I am a firm believer that everyone is beautiful in their own unique way, if there is something you are self conscious about, please don’t hesitate to let me know so that I can ensure you feel confident in every portrait!

Whether it is your horse, your dog or yourself, always keep in mind that it is your photographer’s job to create portraits you will love and cherish for generations. Keeping open communication on boundaries and insecurities will ensure that everyone enjoys their portrait experience before, during and after! Make sure you head on over to https://bit.ly/2TONzwB to begin your custom portrait journey with me today!

Savannah & Mystic

Southern Cross Ranch

Meet Savannah and Mystic, the most dynamic duo full of optimism and trust, originally meeting at the Southern Cross Guest Ranch now working towards competitive eventing and jumping. When Mystic was a yearling in 2017, she knew she’d be Savannah’s far sooner than Savannah did. Fast forward to their portraits in 2020, Mystic has grown into a sassy, friendly, in your pocket kind of filly.

Savannah is the type of person you meet and do not easily forget, she is best described as an old soul full of kindness and the perfect balance of introvert and extrovert. Looking through her gallery it is no brainer that Savannah is passionate about her horse and constantly living her best life.

One of my favorite aspects in creating their portraits was their commitment to constantly challenging one another in a skillset and mental way. While they often enjoy trail riding and driving the cows, Savannah realized that Mystic’s heart leapt for jumping. Her natural athleticism over jumps drove Savannah to take a chance on switching from riding a Western discipline to English and needless to say, she has no regrets.

It is not always an option to have water scenes included in your portraits, but if you have a water horse and access to water there is a good chance I will be all in. The portraits created in water are true to Savannah and Mystic’s connection and trust with one another. Looking through this section of her gallery showcases exactly what it means to be a horse girl living your life with a dream horse.

If you have been on the edge of scheduling portraits with your horse, now is the time to schedule a quick phone call with me and begin your portrait journey today!

Why You Should Schedule Professional Portraits for Your Business

You have built the business, created the name, gained repeat clients, but you are struggling to establish the brand most unique to who you are. Marketing can become such a difficult aspect of business to truly grasp and succeed in. This is where hiring a professional photographer comes into play, today I am going to talk about the importance of why you should schedule professional portraits for your business.

Whether you are a trainer, the owner of a facility, a fellow photographer or anything in between, creating an entire gallery worth of professional portraits will offer a wide range of benefits to the brand you have worked so hard to create. Having low quality portraits representing you and your business could misrepresent what you can do for your clients.

Constant Content

I am sure you have heard this a million times, but everything is content when it comes to maintaining your social profiles. There is a large benefit to having professional branding images for social media use, not just websites since most business owners keep on top of SM but don’t necessarily maintain their website. Behind the scenes content or portraits of you working at your craft are great ways to draw your audience in through photography.

Harmony Pet Resort Owner Stephanie- Eatonton, Georgia

Clean and Cohesive

When you are building your Equine or Pet Business, you will more than likely create a website and social accounts for your potential clients to find you on. Hiring a photographer to create a full gallery of portraits will ensure that your website has the same aesthetic for each page. Have you ever visited a website with different editing styles on each page versus a website that clearly worked with the same photographer throughout their entire branding experience? Represent yourself and what you can provide to the fullest extent by finding the best photographer for you and your brand.

Southern Cross Ranch Content Portraits- Madison, Georgia

Professional Portraits vs. Self Made

Even if you have a background in photography, hiring a professional photographer with a shooting style that speaks to you will provide content that best represents your business. FIrst impressions are key in running a business, if you have poorly posed or poorly edited portraits representing your brand, clients are more likely to overlook you. However, if you have professionally posed and edited portraits, clients are going to stop scrolling and see what you have to say.

It Makes You Relatable

Have you ever been scrolling through websites searching for a potential trainer to work with and you can’t find a single photo of them? Even worse, you find a blurry cell phone photo of the trainer but there isn’t even an animal in the photo with them. I would keep scrolling too. Hiring a photographer to create portraits for your business means headshots, candids of you working, and details within your business. Having photography content built around your business allows you to relate with potential clients and catch their attention immediately.

It Builds Professional Friendships

Lastly, creating a business can be daunting and oftentimes overwhelming in the beginning. Working with a professional photographer could lead to a new friendship within your industry. Having someone in your corner who has been through the same process makes the journey less stressful and a bit more exciting.
I hope these quick reasons why hiring a professional photographer to create branding content for your business have been helpful. Be sure when you begin the search for the right photographer, that you choose someone with a photography style you believe will best represent you and your business. If you liked these tips and would like to chat about creating brand content today, visit here and begin your portrait journey!

Kayla, Kelly & Matt

My favorite family portraits are the ones including the humans you love as well as the animals who have become family big and small. For Kayla, Kelly and Matt, their four Quarter Horses and two dogs have become family.

For their portraits, we highlighted Kayla’s undeniable bond with Freddy, he is described as her horse and came into her life when she was just four years old! Although Freddy is a senior horse these days, he still has the same spunky spirit he has always had! Sporting a black lace dress, Kayla’s portraits with Freddy complemented one another perfectly and depicted the bond they built years ago!

Their other three horses Brownie, Lexi and Petie also tagged along for a few much needed family portraits! While Brownie may have been the only bay in a pasture of mostly sorrels, their coats offered a beautiful variety of color for this family’s portrait! Naturally I wanted to make sure we highlighted the beginning flame for their family’s equine obsession, Kelly!

Kelly is described as the serious one, but has a passion for horses just as Kayla, which is why we are here today! It always starts with one horse, well maybe they need a friend and then it leads to a dog. Suddenly you end up with four horses, two dogs and a non-horsey husband scratching his head wondering how he got here. After looking at the stunning family portrait we created, I am sure everyone is happy, horse person or not!

Let’s talk about dogs for a moment! When booking family portraits, your dogs can become just as much family as the years go by. Even if your dogs are a little rambunctious, I promise you won’t regret having a one of a kind family portrait created with the animals who are excited to see you each and every day. For our final shots, we included two of the horses along with their dogs Loli and Bullet. Loli is an adorable Corgi mix while Bullet is an Australian Shepard, it’s pretty easy to tell them apart but if you need a little help, Loli is the short one! Including Loli and Bullet felt like the final piece to the puzzle for this family portrait!

Please enjoy a few of our favorite portraits created for Kayla, Kelly, Matt and the four legged family members! If you have been interested in creating professional family portraits, feel free to visit https://bit.ly/2TONzwB and begin your portrait journey today!

5 Reasons to Skip the Décor Aisle: And Call Your Photographer

Picture this, you are at your local department store grabbing a few things for your new home. You wander down the décor aisle and spot the perfect picture to hang over your fireplace! It is a black and white photo of gray horses running through a field, you take it home and hang it up with pride. That is until you meet the neighbors, and they have that same exact picture in their dining room. Oh wait, the in-laws have it in their bathroom too? Even worse, your friend asks “Is that your horse?”. You go home and stare above your fireplace wishing you had something unique, I get it. Here are 5 reasons you should skip the décor aisle and call your local photographer.

#1- Everybody Has It

Like I said, you can walk into any house, apartment, or office and find the exact same photo you were just looking at in the décor section of your favorite department store. Hiring a professional photographer to create a portrait of your horses, dogs, and family to place above your fireplace will quickly become a statement piece in your home nobody else has.

#2- Quality Control

Purchasing a picture in the décor aisle may seem like the easier and more affordable route at first; however, your picture will not withstand the test of time. Department store wall art is mass-produced in the most affordable method for the company, this oftentimes means low-quality products that will fade, dent, or fall apart in no time. Hiring a professional photographer that works directly with a high-quality artwork provider will ensure you have heirloom artwork that will last generations.

#3- Impersonal

This one is pretty obvious, you have no idea what those horse’s names are in that department store picture, nor do you know where the photograph was created. Hiring your photographer to come out and create custom portraiture of your horses will not only give you one of a kind artwork, but it also takes you back to the day those images were created. You will remember the smells, the sounds, how your horses were acting and most importantly, you will remember how proud you were to see that finished product hung above your fireplace.

#4- Emotions

There is an emotional piece that comes with each and every portrait session, what emotions do you feel standing in the décor section of a store? Hiring your photographer to create a memorable portrait will freeze a moment in time. Looking back on portraits with people or animals that may no longer be with us allows you to take a step back and appreciate the artwork you had created years prior.

#5- Sizing

The final reason is a big one, sizing the artwork on your walls. When you look in the decor section of a store you have so many options, but which one is best for your walls? It is so easy to pick the wrong photo for a room, sometimes you need something a little bit larger other times the color just won’t work. Hiring a photographer like myself includes interior design work! This means you will see what your portraits will look like on your walls in the appropriate sizing and positions, that way everything is custom catered to you and there are no surprises!

Keeping these topics in mind the next time you are browsing your local department store could save you from blending in with each and every other house on the block. If you haven’t scheduled a portrait session yet, visit https://bit.ly/2TONzwB to begin your next interior design journey!

-Charlotte

Amber, Nicole & Kim

Southern Cross Guest Ranch Horse Session

The bond between sisters is undoubtedly one of the best to document through photography. Amber and Nicole share a loving bond over their passion within the equine world. When I was planning their portraits I knew I wanted to create that one of a kind piece of art highlighting the unbreakable bond between sisters.

It was quite clear Amber and Nicole were both intelligent and strong women working towards making the world a better place. It was a pleasure getting to know who and what made these young ladies into who they are today. Their mom Kim knew she wanted to have a mother daughter portrait worthy of hanging on their living room wall.

Kim describes both of her daughters as intelligent, caring and family oriented with a shared passion for horses. While Nicole has been involved in the horse world a bit more, Amber adores them equally as much. For example, while on a road trip from New Mexico to Nicole’s next rotation, she and Amber made time for horseback riding before Amber’s flight home. I think that is all we needed to know about their passion for the horses they encounter! When we ventured out the Southern Cross Guest Ranch in Madison, Georgia this trio was more than excited to enjoy their portraits with a couple of the ranch horses!

Throughout the entirety of their portraits, we had endless laughs and a clear bond not only between sisters, but also with their mom as well. It is so incredibly important for your family and those closest to you to support the hobbies and passions you love most. I hope you enjoy a few of my favorite portraits from Amber, Nicole and Kim’s day out with me. If you are interested in scheduling professional portraits with me, visit https://bit.ly/2TONzwB and begin your portrait journey today!

Preparing Your Dogs for Your Portrait Session

Today I would like to focus on preparing your dogs for your upcoming portrait session! When it comes to pet sessions, the presentation of your dog can oftentimes make or break your professional portraits. With a strong background in K9 handling I have compiled a few tips and tricks on how you can best prepare your dog both physically and mentally.

Basic Skills

Every dog is different; however, the best way to set yourself up for success is working on your dog’s basic skills- sit, stay and return. A few weeks prior to your pet session, I highly suggest taking your dog out for 15 minutes at a time and practicing their basic commands. Rewarding your dog for good behavior will familiarize them with poses I will ask of them the day of their session. Ensuring there are no surprises for your dog the day of your session will promote a successful session. I would also like to remind you that your dog’s safety is my number one priority and they will be on leashes a majority of the session, I will then photoshop leashes out of your final portraits!

Familiarizing Locations

When practicing your basic skills, whether your session is at home, a local park or the barn, I highly recommend familiarizing your dogs with locations they may not normally be exposed to. For example, I may want to have your dog standing in an open field where they normally are running through it. Practicing your basic commands in foreign locations will keep your dog’s attention and focus on you and your session! Throughout your portraits, I will always keep your dog’s safety as my number one priority, if at any point I feel they are uncomfortable we will take a break and move on.

Grooming

Grooming your dogs can come in different forms, whether you have a long haired dog or a short coat, grooming will come in handy for the final portraits. I recommend taking your long coated dogs to your groomer 1-2 days prior and keeping tabs on them to ensure we don’t have a muddy coat the day of! I highly suggest sticking to the groomer you trust, trying a new groomer before portraits can be extremely risky. Be sure their nails are clipped up and all eye boogers are wiped away! For short haired dogs, I still suggest a bath whether it is by your trusted groomer or yourself, a shiny coat is a happy coat! Keeping a few rags and brushes on hand for minor touch ups will also ensure a smooth session!

Toys & Treats

If you plan to bring toys and treats to your session to help keep your dog’s attention, I like to suggest paying close attention to the smells they react most to as well as their go to toys at home. I highly suggest avoiding switching up their treats the day of, they may have a bad reaction to the treats or even worse, get overly excited about something new. Using your tried and true methods will be more than enough to ensure we keep your dogs attention throughout their portraits!

I hope reading this quick guide has you feeling better prepared for you upcoming portraits, rest assured, being a certified dog trainer, I will be here to help every step of the way! Keeping these tips and tricks in mind when preparing your dog for your professional portrait session will help build the steps to success for the day of! Making your portraits an exciting experience will not only keep your dog happy, but also ensure that you are not stressed the day of. Professional portraits are meant to create joy and positive memories, not stress! If you have not scheduled your professional pet session yet, visit https://bit.ly/2TONzwB to begin your portrait journey today!

-Charlotte

Preparing Your Horse for Portraits

Let’s talk prep work for your upcoming portrait sessions! Last week I shared a few of my favorite tips and tricks on how you can prepare your barn for your portrait session. Today I want to focus on how you can prepare your horse physically and mentally. Below I have compiled my tried and true tips that will help set your horse up for success on the day of your portraits!

Ground Manners

Working on your horse’s basic ground manners may seem simple enough; however, asking your horse to stand for a duration of time in locations they may not normally encounter in their day-to-day activities could throw them off. A few weeks leading up to your portraits, I recommend taking your horse to new locations on the farm to practice standing for a few minutes at a time. Locations will vary on what we plan to create with your portraits- if water is included make sure you familiarize your horse with standing in place near/in the water. These short bursts of work will help better prepare your horse for the day of their portraits so that there are no surprises!

Ride, Ride and Ride Some More

Again, it may seem simple enough; however, your horse is not used to having a professional portrait session. A game-changing tip I have picked up over the years is to ride your horse to the same locations you practice ground manners at. If you plan to have portraits created on your horse, whether it is bareback or tacked up, I very highly recommend familiarizing your horse with your portrait locations. Riding portraits are completely up to you and where you are most comfortable. If you plan to ride your horse for a few portraits, take 15 minutes a few days a week to practice moving as well as standing in place. Keep in mind you are never required to ride your horse in your portrait sessions, safety is always my number one priority.

Bathing & Clipping

Whether you are keeping it natural or pulling out your show tack, bathing your horse before your portraits will take you to the next level. If you plan on keeping a natural look on your horse, I recommend giving them a bath the day prior to remove any stubborn stains, dirt, or a muddy mane and tail. Brushing out their mane and tail and ensuring they have enough time to fully dry will showcase your horse’s coat, any wet spots will stick out like a sore thumb. If we are creating a formal portrait with your horses, I always recommend treating your session like it is show day. Clipping should be done 1-2 days ahead of time, bathing, braiding, and/or banding should be done shortly before our start time. If the weather does not permit bathing, do the best you can to wipe down any excess dirt and grime. Pro Tip: Keeping a few rags, brushes and spray will be useful for quick touch-ups!

Feet

Your horses are on a set schedule with your farrier, scheduling your portrait session in the middle of that cycle will help prevent any unflattering feet pics! Using your favorite hoof conditioner, in general, will help strengthen your horse’s feet but it also helps ensure that your eyes don’t draw immediately to a cracked hoof in your portraits! When it comes to hoof polish, I recommend using what you personally would like to see in your portraits- whether that is a clear coat or black. Hoof care will also ensure your horse is happy and sound for the day of their portraits!

Fly Spray

This may seem obvious, but you may overlook the importance of fly spray while you are prepping your horse for their portraits as well as yourself! Keeping fly spray on hand will come in handy more often than not, it also ensures we don’t have a growingly impatient horse on our hands!

Food & Exercise

My final tip of the day leading up to your portraits is keeping your horse fed and exercised. Feeding your horse an early snack before your session will prevent that dreaded hangry attitude! Be careful with what you feed them though, we most certainly do not want to have a slime situation on our hands! If you have a high-energy horse, lightly working them prior to your session can help relieve a few impatient nerves they may be experiencing. Spending 10-15 minutes reminding them of their ground manners will also get your horse’s mind thinking and responding to you!

Taking these tips and tricks into consideration leading up to your portrait session will certainly help better prepare both you and your horse. From bathing and regular maintenance to physical and mental preparations, the work you put into preparing your horse for your session will show in the final products! If you haven’t scheduled your portrait session yet click here to start your journey today!

-Charlotte

Preparing Your Barn for Portraits

So you have completed the phone call, scheduled the date, selected your outfits, but what about the barn? Working with a professional photographer means that I am here every step of the way in planning and executing your portrait session!

Today we are going to chat about a few quick tips to help you better prepare your barn for your portrait session with me! Whether you are planning to be included, it is just your horse or your dog, preparing your barn for portraits will make all the difference in your finished product. Before you start to worry, I am not asking for you to renovate your barn, just a few tips and tricks I have picked up along the way that will help boost the aesthetic of your portraits!

Declutter

Oftentimes, that classic barn doorway shot can become distracting if you have wheelbarrows, water buckets, hay bales, and other distracting items in the alley. I always suggest tidying up your alley the day before portraits, who knows, you may find that halter you’ve been searching for all month!

Sweep

This ties into that classic barn doorway shot again; however, it is also extremely helpful when you schedule black background portraits. A clean floor will save editing time down the road which means you will view your portraits a bit quicker! I suggest sweeping your floors just a few hours prior to your portraits, if your barn is a high trafficked area, try sweeping a half hour before and keep that broom nearby!

Mowing/Lawn Work

I love having a little variety in my portraits, tall grass, and manicured grass can offer two completely different looks in your portraits. If you have the free time, maintaining the lawn and garden surrounding your barn can offer a sophisticated aesthetic. Leaving a few areas with tall grass offers a much more laid back theme allowing me to get a little more creative with your posing! If you do plan on manicuring your lawn and gardens, I suggest planning it out 2-4 days prior to your portraits.

Arena

Depending on the direction we plan out for your portraits, you may want to spend a little time in your arena. It is so easy for us to slack in the arena department because we are focused on working our horses, we aren’t necessarily hosting dinner parties. When it comes to portraits in your arena, I suggest clearing out a space for riding portraits as well as keeping a few jumps and/or obstacles depending on the discipline you ride. This will allow me to create portraits best catered to you, cleaning up your arena can be tricky if it is a high trafficked area. I suggest working on this tip 1-2 days prior to your portraits and doing a once-over shortly before I arrive.

Cars & Trailers

My final quick tip is more of a suggestion but can make a huge difference in you and your horse’s portraits. Be strategic in where you and your friends park your cars and trailers the day of your portraits. Having your barn, an open field, or tree line in your background showcases your horse perfectly. Having cars parked or trailers in front of the barn not only will be distracting but also may prevent us from creating a portrait in certain locations. Keep parking in the back of your mind when you arrive at the barn and start prepping for your portraits.

I hope these quick tips and tricks on how you can better prepare your barn will come in handy for the day of your portraits! Remember, each and every session is different and based completely on who you are and what we plan to create. If you haven’t scheduled your portraits yet, click here to begin your portrait journey today!

-Charlotte

Marketing Calendar by CoSchedule: The Busy Photographer’s Best Friend

Hello fellow photographers! For those who are not familiar, my name is Charlotte Detienne, I am an equine & pet photographer based out of Georgia currently. I am British born and raised with a passion for travel as well as building the Charlotte Dettienne Photography brand.

Traveling around the world means I can oftentimes grow extremely busy and drop the ball on the marketing side of my business. My time and ambition was being stretched thin and I knew it was time to find a better system for my social marketing strategies. I did my research and discovered that CoSchedule was a fan favorite amongst many photographers and better yet, their Marketing Calendar solved all of my problems before I could even mention what they were!

I decided it was time to give Coschedule’s Marketing Calendar a chance, so I logged in, followed their easy step-by-step guide to finish setting up my account. The software immediately provides you with a user-friendly starter guide, simple setup for me to link my professional social media accounts, and a straight-forward explanation on how I could begin scheduling my social marketing posts.

When you select the calendar tab to the left of your desktop, the marketing calendar will appear showing you the software that is going to save you time and energy down the road. If you are like me, you have an idea of which days you would like to post certain content on for example: Mondays are for inspirational quotes while Fridays are a call to action for my clients to schedule a consultation. Viewing my calendar, I simply select the day I would like to schedule on, choose which social platform I plan to use, create my caption and download the perfect portrait for that caption

Personally, I choose to use my Marketing Calendar as a way to share blogs from previous sessions, fun content that prompts potential clients to engage in posts, and build interest in upcoming events. I can easily access my calendar everywhere I go and make adjustments by simply selecting the post and editing the captions!

I have recently contracted my social marketing out to a virtual assistant with no prior experience with the CoSchedule Marketing Calendar, this is what she had to say after working with the software for one day:

“I was nervous about working with a software I had no prior experience with; however, I just ran through the starter guide provided and was able to be up and running with confidence almost immediately. It definitely has me leaning towards switching to the Marketing Calendar for my own business as well!”

When I check on my calendar, I genuinely find myself excited and relieved to see a full calendar completely prepped and ready to go for the month. If you read this blog and you too find yourself lacking the time to properly devote towards your marketing strategies or simply keeping up with posting light content, I highly encourage giving the Marketing Calendar by CoSchedule a try. Take back that fire you had when you first started your business by trusting that this marketing calendar will solve your social marketing problems!

-Charlotte

Did you like what you read above? Select the referral link below to get started on your CoSchedule journey today!

https://coschedule.com/r/o765161

The Importance of Communicating With Your Photographer

Savannah & Mystic

Why You Should Schedule Professional Portraits for Your Business

Kayla, Kelly & Matt

5 Reasons to Skip the Décor Aisle: And Call Your Photographer

Amber, Nicole & Kim

Preparing Your Dogs for Your Portrait Session

Preparing Your Horse for Portraits

Preparing Your Barn for Portraits

Marketing Calendar by CoSchedule: The Busy Photographer’s Best Friend

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