ONLY a few years ago, most breeders wouldn’t have dreamt of grabbing their phone to make promotional material for online auction. Today however, breeders of all ages are utilising the power of photography, video, and social media when selling their stock.

With online bidding now an option at the vast majority of sport horse sales, it is very important to have good footage of your horses for any potential buyers who are not travelling to the sales to see the horses in person.

A professional videographer, though giving top-quality results, can really eat into your hard-won profit. There are a few basic photography and videography golden rules that Horse Sense can share, to help you put together your own successful sales videos.

Most smartphones will take high quality videos now so there is no need to invest in expensive camera equipment.

Here are a few recommended pieces of kit to go with your smartphone to help make effective sales videos and photos:

Memory back up

Battery pack

Grip tripod

Stabiliser

Rode mic – lapel and extension (only if you intend on recording audio)

Golden rules for

recording your sales videos:

  • Shoot with your phone horizontal
  • Lock focus – you can usually do this by tapping and holding down on the object you are shooting (your horse)
  • Get in close to the subject, try to avoid zooming
  • Keep it steady – use a tripod where possible
  • Shoot in sequences, you don’t need to video one long shot
  • Video editing apps are easy to access and most are very helpful
  • Make sure your phone battery is fully charged,
  • Bring a power bank with you if you plan on filming for a few hours
  • Have at least 5GB of storage free on your phone
  • Turn your phone on airplane mode before recording – this will make your battery last longer and also avoids phone calls and notifications ruining your video.

    • Golden rules for photographing your horses for the sales:

  • When taking conformation shots of your stock, stand them up in front of a plain background.
  • Use gridlines (found in camera settings) to help centre your image. Look for leading lines such as a stable door or fence line to keep your photo straight
  • Use natural light; shooting outside will come up better than photographing inside
  • Practice makes perfect, so get playing around with your phone and try photographing some non-sales horses before getting the perfect shot for the sales catalogue.