Hannah & Magic

I loved this shoot with Hannah & Magic.

November 2023 is the first time I've fallen in love with photographing in late autumn and early winter. I don't know if it's true, or if I'd just been paying more attention, but the autumn colours seemed to draw out for a long time this year. The yellows and oranges and reds lingered, coupled with the odd late November frost it was just stunning.

Hannah was amazing to work with... The choices in outfits she brought were just wonderful, I loved her different outfits, and at one point she even let me try something a little outside both of our comfort zones (more on that later).

Hannah has had Magic for over 10 years. She bought him as a 3 year old (turns out he was actually 2!), she gave him one year out to chill in the field, and then broke him in. He was the first horse she'd broken in, so they learned together. She describes him as a super allrounder, a solid dude and her soul mate in pony form. They enjoy low level showjumping, dressage and hacking together, particularly on the beach.

We did her shoot at her livery yard in Cossall, it was a beautiful frosty November morning. We started in the cross country field (Magic found this very exciting!), using some of the cross country fences to sit on, the different trees and light provided us with a huge amount of variety in backdrops, we did a couple of outfit changes up there as well which was great fun.

The plan was to start up there and work our way back, but my attention kept getting drawn to the cabin in the corner of the cross country field. I asked Hannah how she felt about trying something a little different (I don't normally do "urban" stuff, but I knew if I let the opportunity slip I'd kick myself!)

"I have the perfect outfit!" she said, and she got changed into these gorgeous bright mustard cord trousers with a black top and a red hat.

We just did 10 minutes here - the result totally different to my normal thing but I really enjoyed it and I know this might just spark a bit of inspo for a future client so I really wanted to share it here.

We worked out way back down towards the yard, using gateways, the tunnel, the path to the field, wooden gates and trees. Hannah loved the more rustic look for her shoot, and she wanted some cuddly shots with Magic to show their bond.

The main thing Hannah wanted was a new lock screen for her phone, so she picked a gorgeous portrait image of them both for that, as well as a couple prints for the house which I know will look absolutely gorgeous on the wall.

I broke my previous horse in myself, and we learned a lot together, so I know exactly how it feels to have that long term bond with a horse right from the start. It's such a privilege to capture that emotion in gorgeous images for someone else, and we had so much fun doing it as well.

For anyone who loved tweed jackets and jumpers, I'd highly recommend considering a shoot in November/December/January, I know the weather can be a little hit and miss but if you're patient and willing to wait for a frosty morning like this, the results are just incredible.