Amanda & Atlas | Tri-Brook Equestrian Center, New Egypt, NJ

There’s a running theme on my blog this summer – gorgeous clients that somehow manage to stay looking gorgeous in horrendous heat. Let’s add Amanda to that list! It was brutally hot and humid the day of her portrait session at Tri-Brook Equestrian Center. As usual I came prepped with my portable fan (I freaking love that thing), cold water, and towels; alas, there’s only so much you can do when it’s in the 90s with crazy humidity. When even moving around in the slightest makes you all sweaty and sticky.

Amanda had her trainer/friend along to help us on the shoot and to do her hair and makeup, so we started out nice and fresh and optimistic. I immediately began to wilt. I turn into a sweaty, dirty, hay-covered mess pretty quickly on a shoot. Honestly if you’re photographing an equine shoot in the middle of summer and don’t end up covered in horse slobber, hay, dirt and horse hair then I think you’re doing something wrong. In any case I was a hot mess about 5 minutes into our shoot. While Amanda was definitely warm, somehow she managed to stay looking gorgeous.

Amanda’s horse Atlas is the sweetest boy. We started out in a sunny patch and worked our way into the trees behind her barn. By the time the sun started going down, there was insanely beautiful light coming through the trees. We brought out her other two horses, Apache and Oberon, for a few minutes to join in the fun.

I love deluxe portrait sessions like this one (and this one) – getting the chance to interact with all of her horses and do the black background portraits of Atlas gives me the maximum amount of time with my clients. It also gives me the opportunity to get to know them and their horses even better. One of the reasons I do in-person consultations before portrait sessions is to establish a relationship with my clients. I can get a feel for what they want/need and tailor their session to their specific wants and needs. When the day of their photo shoot rolls around, I’m prepared and excited and ready to take some pictures!