It was an early start for our beach shoot at Avon Beach in Christchurch last week. We knew the weather was going to be perfect as the rising sun appearing between the clouds was bright and beautiful.
Early on, the low light made capturing the detail difficult but gave me the opportunity to experiment with silhouettes. The above image I captured is one of my favourites.
As we started to feel the warmth of the sun, we were able to try some more traditional poses. Lisa and her New Forest pony Smudge were very relaxed by this time and I think this photograph looks very natural and shows the genuine bond between the two. I love the way that Smudge is gazing out to sea… I wonder what he is looking at?
Beach scenery can sometimes be challenging as often it is just sea and sand, but at Avon beach we were fortunate to be able to use the backdrop of these pretty pastel beach huts too. For a shoot like this it is necessary to get up very early, otherwise there would be too many people around for it to be safe to be riding somewhere like this on a sunny day.
There were also some attractive rocks, conveniently placed along the shore and ideal for sitting on. The pastel tones of the sand, the rocks and the sea make a beautiful backdrop here. Following on from the last blog post on what to wear, I also believe that the muted blues of Stef’s outfit choice really helped to complete the image. Bright colours in this environment would have produced an image with a very different feel.
Although Steph’s ponies Ishy and Mole were unsure about the water, Emily’s Smudge was very keen and loved playing in the shallows. Both horse and rider were thoroughly enjoying the experience. This photo has really captured the moment perfectly!
The pair even decided to go a bit deeper as Smudge appeared to be loving the whole experience.
All in all, we had a wonderful morning on the beach before heading off for a well-deserved late breakfast and I look forward to photographing more gorgeous ponies by the beach in the future.