De Zoetermeerse Birthe (23) is a horse photographer. In the dunes, the beach and in the woods she knows how to shoot the most beautiful pictures of beautiful horses and their owner. “Some people hang one of my pictures on the wall. I think that’s special.”
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Birthe has been fond of horses since childhood. She took photos of a horse for the first time ten years ago. Even then she noticed that she really liked it, but only years later did she do something with it. “During the corona period, I suddenly had a lot of time, so I asked people if I could capture their horse. I found out that that was totally my thing and that’s how it came about Birthe Kulik Photography.“
Special technique
We naturally wondered: how do you get such a beautiful picture of a horse? You can’t ask them to pose. “I have my tricks for that,” Birthe begins. “I bring all kinds of toys, such as balloons and bells to make the horse curious. If that works, the horse’s ears will stand forward and that makes for a nice photo.”
Some photos have a black background. This gives the portrait a calm and chic look. And no, she doesn’t quite drag a horse like that into the photo studio. “I use a special technique called black photo, where the horse is nicely exposed, but the background becomes dark. I then make it completely black in post-processing,” she explains.
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Photos are memories
It is special for the owner of the horse to have such portraits made. The bond between horse and human can be very strong. “I had a shoot at sunset a while back and six months later that girl’s horse suddenly died. She was so glad she had these photos taken. Moments like that make my work very valuable.” In addition to horses, Birthe also photographs families and pregnant women. Even then she feels how special it is that you capture memories for years with photos. “Looking at a photo allows you to travel back in time and relive the moment.”
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