Photographing Horses: How To Capture The Perfect Equine Image is not necessarily written for the photographer who wants to learn how to photograph horses, rather it is more geared toward horse people who want to learn how to take better photos of their horses.

According to the author, Leslie Groves, "Horse photography does not lend itself to a traditional how-to approach, except at the most elementary level." "We don't all have the same expectations, nor are we working with predictable ingredients." "Our Photos are unique images of unique individuals." Photographing Horses is just over 200 pages in length and is divided into 16 chapters.

Chapter 1, "The Simple Recipe for Taking a Horse Picture," begins with the basics that will allow someone with little or no want to become a fine art photographer to gain the skills to take a picture that does not sabotage a horse's appearance. It is from this instant success that the author feels may bring a greater interest in photography. Chapter 2, "The Big Picture," provides an overview of horse photography and a detailed look at the many factors that result in a quality image.

Chapter 3, "Learning to See the Light," describes how the quality and direction of light has the most impact on the outcome of your image. Light can enhance or detract from your picture, so it is important for you to be aware of the light around you. Chapter 4, "Camera Considerations," works off of the idea that cameras don't take pictures, people take pictures and the worst cameras can take good pictures, as well as the best cameras can take bad pictures; there is a lot more to a good image than a great camera.

Chapter 5, "Technical Trade-offs," explains some of the more technical aspects of photography. Here you will learn about shutter speeds, aperture settings, ISO settings, and how they intertwine and work off each other. Chapter 6, "The Model Horse Exercise," describes an exercise for photographing horses by using small plastic models. This way you can concentrate on the getting experience with lighting and other aspects of your camera settings without having to contend with an animal that will have a shorter tolerance level.

Chapter 7, "Scouting Locations," shows how there is more than just background to getting the shot right. You have to take into consideration light source, slope, space, background, where will the horse want to be, how short or long is the grass, and does it matter which side you shoot the horse from. Chapter 8, "Grooming Considerations for a Photo Shoot," looks at how photographers can get involved in the grooming process at least to the extent that it has a positive impact on the look of the horse for the final image.

Chapter 9, "Setting up Photo Opportunities," realizes that sometimes opportunities come along and other times you have to create those opportunities. Many times that includes a helper or two. One is usually for the set up and one is to try and get the ears right. Chapter 10, "The Classic Poses," are the ones that have the horse standing balanced with all four feet showing and the two feet closest to the camera the farthest apart. Although this is the easiest shot to get there are still a lot of considerations to take into account.