At just 23 years old, Giana Terranova has gotten to work up close and personally with horse lovers all over the country. A fellow superfan/hopeful future client myself, I recently had the opportunity to discuss with Giana how she went from an Equestrian Studies Degree at Savannah College of Art and Design to pursuing photography full-time on the road.
1. What’s the thing that interests you most about equine photography?
I’ve always been a horse girl, pretty much since I was old enough to know what a
horse was. Being able to photograph horses basically ends up being my dream
job, combining the artsy creative interests I’ve always had with my absolute love
of horses. I just love capturing that bond between horse and rider in an image
that could end up lasting a lifetime of memories. I still cherish the photographs I
did as a graduating senior with my first horse, and looking back I’m so beyond
glad I did that photo shoot! Knowing how important those images are to me
makes my job so much more interesting to me! Horses are honestly such
interesting creatures, with their own special personalities and quirks that I never
really appreciated fully until I was able to meet so many of them over the years.
2. Are there other equine photographers that inspire or influence you? If
not, who or what does?
I was always inspired by Kirstie Marie’s work, I always found it to be so stunning.
She always has such a great understanding of natural light, which was one of my
main reasoning behind shooting entirely natural light for my portraits as well. I’ve
also been really inspired recently by Philippa Davin and her fine art portrait work,
as I’ve tried to explore the possibilities with a white background too!
3. What’s the most inspiring photo you saw recently?
Basically anything off of Katarzyna_photo_equine’s instagram page. Her work is
absolutely stunning!
4. What were the big break moments that made you feel there was a need
for your photography focus and that you could make this successful?
There were a few instances in my life that slowly pushed me along my way
towards photography, but there was one moment that really solidified that
photography was going to be my true calling. Right out of college I actually got a
grooming job in Marlyand, and at the time I figured I would have to give up
photography almost entirely because grooming is such a full-time job. But, of
course, that’s not what I did. I ended up spending any time not at work or days off
focusing on booking sessions. I barely got any sleep, I was working my butt off,
but I just couldn’t give it up. I started to realize that what I truly wanted to do was
photograph horses, and when I moved to Maryland is sort of convinced me it was
possible. I uprooted my whole life to a new area, where I had connections, and
my business was booming faster than I was able to work with because of my
other job. I sort of just took the leap from there and went full time, and I haven’t
looked back since!
5. How did equine photography change your world?
Honestly one of the biggest things it’s done for me is open up connections to
people that I never would’ve met without it. Born and raised in California, you
don’t realize how small of a tiny bubble the entire state is, especially in the horse
world. I feel like I was so disconnected with the entire equestrian industry, and it
wasn’t until I was able to travel and stay in different places all over the country
did I even realize!
6. What has the reaction to your photography been like?
It has been overwhelming positive in my opinion! Every year I’m able to grow and
expand, travel to new places and build new client bases all over the United
States. I think that people really recognize the quality of my work and appreciate
that. My family and friends have also always been super supportive of it since
day one, and still remain my biggest fans and supporters of everything I do! Even
more so, there are some amazing clients out there that still spread my name and
send referrals my way even years later.
7. What’s been your most popular picture and why do you think that is?
In my most recent memory I believe it was the white background picture with the
white and black horse touching noses yin-yang style. Ended up over 5k likes and
was reshared a lot! I honestly really love that image, it’s my personal favorite
from last year, if not ever! It’s just a really cool composition, and the client
actually requested it! Super glad she did, because it’s a super cool image.
8. You’ve travelled all over the United States photographing people’s
horses. What are some of your favorite locations?
I’ve been to some amazing places, but hands down my favorite area is
Wellington during the WEF season. There is just something about driving through
Grand Prix Village to go meet your client that just gives me the coolest feeling.
The barns there are just magnificent to look at in general, but just the horse-
focused environment is just a really cool place to be!
9. Do you have a favorite breed or color of horse to photograph?
I’m definitely a little bit partial to Warmbloods since they come from the
disciplines I practice (hunter/jumper), but I love to photograph the occasional
AQHA/APHA and Arabian as well! They always tend to be super photogenic.
When it comes to color, you can never go wrong with a dapple grey, but some of
my most favorite images come from the super colorful paints or appaloosas I’ve
met along the way!
10. What’s the one question you get asked the most?
Probably how I have so many clients all over the US. I think a lot of people think I
suddenly gained all the followers I have over night, but what they don’t realize is
this has been years in the making! I started building clients almost six or seven
years ago, so when I did finally go full time at the end of 2016, it had been a very
long period of steady growth that was able to make what I was doing successful.
11. What are your tips for getting a great photo of your horse?
The biggest thing: patience! I think people really expect too much of horses
sometimes, and we tend to forget that they are animals. Even the most well
trained are still animals, and they have their days and personalities that as a
photographer we have to learn to accommodate. I’ve had sessions where the
horse would only stand still for a second before constantly needing to move – the
hardest kind of shoot there is! I find that instead of forcing the horse to participate
in something they don’t understand (they have no idea what a photoshoot even
means!), you find an accommodating compromise. Maybe that means letting
them go back to the barn and decompress, maybe it means they need more fly
spray or a new location where they feel safe, or maybe they just need to keep
moving so take a picture, move again, take another picture, move again!
Patience is a virtue, as cheesy as it is, is truly the key when it comes to horses!
12. Do you have any funny stories from photo shoots?
So many! From fresh, cheeky horses to hilariously fun clients! I think one of the
most amusing things is seeing horses reaction to my mirror trick for the first time!
One of the things I bring to every photoshoot is a mirror! It’s a neat little trick I use
to get the horse’s attention, normally making them give a great expression with
ears forward. I’ve seen so many reactions to the mirror that it’s pretty funny to
see how certain horse personalities interpret what the object is! I’ve had horses
that completely ignore it, and others that are so scared I just show them the
paper back of the mirror and it’s enough! Everyone usually get’s a good laugh
when their horse arches their neck like a stallion and snorts like the mirror is the
craziest thing they have ever seen!
13. How much time do you spend editing each shoot?
It honestly depends on the type of shoot! Black background sessions can take an
hour or two, but some of the larger package horse and riders can take up to a
few hours to complete from start to finish!
14. What other talent would you most like to have?
I think it would be really cool if I was able to draw/paint. I’ve always wanted to be
an artist in the physical medium but I couldn’t draw anything good to save my life!
15. What are your personal goals for your photography over the next few
years?
I’d really like to keep expanding, being able to reach more states and locations every
year. Ultimately one of my biggest goals is to be able to travel abroad as well! If I
could start doing shoots in foreign counties I would really feel like my photography
goals would be met to the fullest extent!
