3 Books You Need to Learn Horse Photography

1. Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers – Carol J. Walker
2. Photographing Horses: How to Capture the Perfect Equine Image – Lesli Groves
3. The Digital Photography Book – Scott Kelby (Series – Sorry I Cheated)

Would it really be school if there wasn’t any recommended reading? I don’t think so. 🙂 You are here because you have a desire to learn, right? These three books are solid choices for beginners and will even have some intermediate to advanced lessons inside them too. These books will help you build a solid foundation to build upon. If you don’t master the basics, then you’ll forever struggle with more advanced concepts. 

Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers

Carol J. Walker’s book, Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers, is an excellent place for you to start photographing horses. Carol does an excellent overview of the basics of cameras and varies ways to approach horse photography. Carol begins by guiding you through her process of working with horses. Many of you reading this will feel like you want to skip the first chapter, but I don’t think you should. It’s a quick read, and I’m sure you’ll find some things you hadn’t thought of yet. After a quick rundown of the gear, you’ll find a discussion about the most important part, light. The rest of the book is about the actual making of photos. This is perfect for beginners to get a quick intro to action photos and wild horse pictures. 

Photographing Horses

Photographing Horses by Lesli Groves hasn’t been in my possession as long as the other two books, but even as a more seasoned photographer, I’ve certainly learned some things. I think you’ll find that the learning never really stops, but the incremental gains do get smaller. Soon, though, you’ll appreciate the small wins just as much as the big ones that you experience as a novice. If you love horses more than your camera, this book is for you. In fact, that’s pretty much the first line in her introduction. She has a recipe specifically for horse photos that would really benefit novice photographers. 

The Digital Photography Book

Ok, I know what you’re thinking here. “Nowhere in these books does Scott Kelby tell me how to make a photo of a horse.” You’re right, he doesn’t. But, I’ve learned more from this little book series than almost any other book I’ve read. (I’ve read a fair bit too). My copies of this series are full of notes, highlighter, and sticky notes. These small little books fit in your bag and are perfect for taking outside. My copies have been in all of the elements, and I’ll use them to this day to help convey a message to a fellow photographer. You’ll learn a ton about being a photographer, and his photo recipes are so good! Many concepts can be adapted to equine photography from nearly any other kind of photography. I know this is a series of books, and that’s maybe cheating, but it’s a highly valuable resource for the beginner photographer.

I recommend buying just one of these books, then come back after you finish it and then get the next one. I’ll share with you the links to these books on Amazon, but these are not affiliate-links at this time. I just want you to get some great information to go with the Equine Photo School Podcast. 

Listen to the associated episode of the podcast here:

1. Horse Photography: The Dynamic Guide for Horse Lovers – Carol J. Walker
2. Photographing Horses: How to Capture the Perfect Equine Image – Lesli Groves
3. The Digital Photography Book – Scott Kelby (Series – Sorry I Cheated)

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