Heidi is one of our many repeat customers. She has been to our studio so many times it started to feel like hanging out with a friend instead of working with a client.  Surely you guys remember some of the memorable shots of Heidi that were posted before.

Working with Heidi is always such a pleasure. Her outfits are colorful and fun, her body art, most of which is done by Tiny Tim’s Tattoo, is tasteful and unique.  In addition to Heidi being a hair stylist she is also a big fan of wigs, so I can always expect her hair to look amazing and match the look we are going for.

When Heidi was here few weeks ago for another fun shoot I found out that her sister Amy is a horse trainer with Fire Mountain Friesians and they have two horses that they are working on at home.  For a while now I’ve been thinking of doing a location shoot with a horse and since I knew that Heidi can deliver the look I had in mind I asked if she would be interested in modeling for me.

Gladly she said yes!

An involved shoot like this needs a lot more people to pull it off than normal. I needed Heidi to model, Amy to attend to the horse, and Dawn to help out with lighting and equipment as well as take some behind the scene shots. I, of course, am busy with Holiday shoots at the studio, so it took about three weeks to find the right day for everyone to get together.

It was a cold rainy morning in Sedro-Wooley when we arrived to Heidi’s house. That was the first time I met King, a beautiful and energetic, but gentle horse. I felt a little bit bad for asking Heidi to wear almost nothing in such a cold weather, but once she got on King’s back, his body heat was keeping her nice and toasty.

 

Doing a shoot with any animal is a whole lot different than just photographing people. The obvious communication problem is not the only thing. Animals are unpredictable and fast moving. While directing the poses, lighting and shooting I still had to keep one eye open for King walking right into the camera and another to watch out for horse poop.

Few days before the shoot Heidi got a cute, but super short haircut. Not the look we were going for here. Thankfully she has plenty of wigs to choose from. This one was great. It looks natural and compliments the shots. It kind of matches the horse mane, and I loved that!

As you can see we got some great shots that day. It was definitely an educational experience for me as a photographer, but also a fun day doing something I love!

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.