Barn Picture Day in The Hague

Barn Picture Day at ‘s-Gravenhaagsche Stadsrijschool in The Hague, The Netherlands

Who ever said you have to own or lease a horse in order to have a professional photoshoot? For so many equestrians, that most important equine friend may very well be a horse or pony from your riding school. Just because they’re not yours on paper, they may very well have your whole heart and that is worth treasuring in photographs. This is why I have designed my Barn Picture Days – specifically with you in mind.

For this post, I want to highlight a day in late summer of 2022, when I had the great pleasure of photographing some of the horses and riders at ’s-Gravenhaagsche Stadsrijschool – the oldest civilian riding school in The Netherlands. With a history spanning over 200 years, their courtyard has without doubt witnessed countless partnerships between horses and humans.

On a beautiful August morning the riders gathered to wash and groom their favorite horses, followed by individual photoshoots in the historic stable courtyard. The horses loved all the extra attention and the slightly out-of-the-ordinary activity planned out for the day, with many posing like total professionals.

During my Barn Picture Day’s, each Horse and Human combination receives a 20-minute timeslot during which they are guided through a posing flow designed to allow for a variety of photographs to be created for each rider. A dedicated staff member from the barn was educated on the posing flow ahead of time and assisted in posing each horse during the sessions so that the riders could safely focus on enjoying the experience with their chosen horse.

I am all for dressing up for the occasion – and did these riders deliver! We saw beautiful ball gowns, summer dresses, smart riding attire and cozy sweaters. Everyone looked and felt amazing and that if anything shows in the resulting photographs. Big tip for the day of the photoshoot: Get your horse all groomed and ready before changing into your photoshoot attire!

My job as the photographer is to make organizing an event like this as easy as possible for the barn owner. I create a poster with all the important information which the barn can then share with their clients. I also have an online booking system set up for each Barn Picture Day, so that everything relating to time slot selections, payments, and signing my session contract are taken care of without any effort on your part. All the barn owner has to do is share the marketing material with their clients, schedule the grooming and preparation of horses as well as be present during the photoshoot day. The facility owner/operator also gets a special treat for organizing the day – they get their very own time slot free of charge.

After the Barn Picture Day, here’s what happens:

1 week post-session: Each participant receives an email with a link to a private, online proofing gallery. This gallery consists of a curated collection of color-corrected, but not fully retouched, images. Out of these, each client will have the option to select their favorites to be fully edited and delivered. The session fee includes 3 high-resolution digital images. Additional images may be selected for a fee of $25/image. Each client has two weeks from the delivery of the proofing gallery to make their selections.

After selections have been made: Once selections have been made in the proofing gallery, I go back to the drawing board and ensure your favorite photographs are carefully retouched and finalized.

Final gallery: The fully finished, high-resolution images are delivered in a private online gallery within two weeks of proofing gallery selections having been made. From here, you can download the photographs, along with a print release. Your gallery will remain online for one year, after which it is archived.

During a Barn Picture Day, it is possible to photograph up to 15 combinations, with one additional time slot provided to the barn owner. A minimum of 10 bookings is required in order for the day to take place. With this specific session, a wait-list had to be created due to the interest!

It’s always a good time to celebrate your amazing lesson horses, their caring riders, and the community that you as a barn owner have fostered. That being said, I have so many fun ideas for special barn sessions you could think about organizing. How about a christmas-themed session with each horse wearing a beautiful wreath? Perhaps an autumn day with warm sweaters and orange leaves? I’m happy to think along with you if you’d like to organize something extra special.

The photographs created on these special days are first and foremost beautiful, timeless memories for the riders and those close to them, but they are also a beautiful representation of the amazing partnerships you have fostered between horses and humans.

Would you like for me to come visit your barn and photograph the friendships between horses and humans? I would be honored to! I am available for barn visits in the Greater Toronto Area. Travel fees are included for locations within 100KM of downtown Toronto. Read more about barn visits on my website and reserve a time for a free consultation call in case you would like to set up your very own Barn Picture Day!