Fran Lynhaug, Author of "Horses of Distinction" wants me to send her some quality photos of Metawa to feature him in her new book "Horses of the Range" a sequal to the first one. He is to be the breed represenitive for the American Indian Horse Registry.
The photo needs to be au natural...no halter or anything, but I'm having problems getting him to cooperate, lol. also need help in choosing the best time of day to achieve the best lighting, etc.
Any ideas welcome!

Also, it needs to be a minimum of 300DPI...I'm not sure I know what that is..I know it means dots per inch, I think anyway...but how do I know if that is what I am getting with my camera? I am using a Canon 35mm SLR T50
Thanks!

time of day that best captures your horse will be afternoon or early morning. if you get a feild mist before the sun is up, it can make for a great picture.

Also, if possible, photograph him with his rump to the sun; not too high a sun, as this will allow highlighting of his muscles and give an overall nicer appearance in the photograph. That, together with what bay appy says about shooting (photographing) in the early morning or late, late afternoon or early evening, because the light is soooo much softer than from about 10:00 am to 5:pm, or sometimes even later, depending on the time of year. I'd also try, if possible, to photograph him face to the sun too.

One trick you might try to keep his attention for a few moments, is have a friend hold a mirror so he can see himself in it. Your friend should stand just to the side, out of camera range, with the mirror reversed until you're ready to shoot. Then , your friend turns the mirror towards the horse, gets his attention somehow, usually by speaking and perhaps moving the mirror a little to attract his attention. You be ready with your finger on the button, and when his ears perk up, SHOOT! This takes practice; your camera on a tripod will help to stabilize the camera too, and avoid those annoying "soft," out-of-focus pictures which often occur due to camera shake.

Good luck; let us see how you do!

Thanks Bayappaloosa & Rusty Rider. I forgot to mention it needs to be a conformation picture. I like the idea of the rump angle, but that's not what she wants. I took an entire roll of film last fall hoping I'd get that "perfect shot" had my mom helping to try to keep his attention off me..but I'm his mom, lol...almost every shot I took he was looking at me and would only turn an ear towards her...the stinker... Here are a few examples of what I ended up with (they turned out the best...will work, but not really what Fran wants)





So then I tried everything I could think of to at least get both ears up and forward...nothing...he did once when a neighborhood horse winnied...but I was in the wrong place and ended up with this...
It's too much sholder and he is looking away........



At which time I lost his attention altogether and he took off to see who was winnying........



I never thought of the mirror idea..I'll try it! Now if he'd just hurry up and finish shedding out his winter coat so I can finally get this done and send her what she wants.

I had the perfect picture, it's EXACTLY what she wants.....but I pasted him in, which she said was fine, but it wasn't enough DPI
This is what she needs though...just better quality. If I could just find a way to duplicate this in a better quality...

Mustang Blue; I suggested the horses rump (or front) could be towards the sun, which will highlight his musculature, much as in your top pic in your last post. Point the camera at the mid-point of his barrel both top and bottom, and between his fore and hind legs. (Imagine a "target" painted on his coat right in the middle... and put your camera's focusing ring in the viewfinder on that target.)

With your T50, you'll need to get one of the prints scanned for Fran, but I'd suggest, if you don't have the resources to scan one yourself, perhaps Fran could scan it for you. Ask her what size of picture she'd need for a nice shot.

I once took a photo of a boy in a hacking jacket and flat cap holding a pony, which was used in a local horse magazine. However, I was horrified when I discovered the publisher had scanned the 4" X 5" picture (I'd taken it on with a very professional camera) and then enlarged that scan to magazine size. I would have provided an 8 X 10 no charge (my name and phone # were stamped on the back of the picture.) Which would have given her a very nice, hi-resolution scanned pic for her cover.

My point is, you might need a larger pic than what is normally provided by a processor for a magazine-quality shot, which means your negative is going to have to be VERY sharp. Use of a tripod is highly recommended; hand held portraits seldom work. Anyway, good luck:

Thanks for all the great suggestions Rusty Rider! I ran into an old friend/professional photographer this weekend, she's going to do it for me at half price since her work will be featured in a book and she'll receive credit for it

You might want to try getting a 3/4 shot. Meaning instead of a picture of his side view, stand more to the front of him, off his shoulder. This pic isn't ideal because he is eating but it makes for a nice angle