BOSS LADY SPOTLIGHT - ELIZABETH HAY

jmacandcompany
Jul 6, 2018
8 min read

You may or may not know her name but by this point, you've probably seen Elizabeth Hay's images. Based on the Central Coast of California, she's been producing stunning images of horses and their humans for just over a year now. Elizabeth has captured that special connection between horses and their humans in ways that keep the viewer enthralled with the easy beauty of the subjects under natural, soft light.

Elizabeth's popularity has been growing since she bursted on to the scene and it's not only her amazing work that has people and companies lining up to get their pictures taken. Elizabeth has a warm, personable and slightly quirky (which is the best ) personality that makes conversation and laughter easy and allows her subjects to get comfortable in front of the lens. I've had the opportunity to develop a friendship with Beth over the last year and was able to procure a little Q&A for us....

Ok first thing first... would you rather go by Beth or Elizabeth?

To my friends and family I go by Beth but professionally I go by Elizabeth.

What does a normal day look like in Elizabeth’s life?

Ride my mare, come in and have breakfast, then get to work. Usually editing in the morning or all day unless I have a shoot in the evening. Then I go shoot and repeat the next day. Sometimes I wait to ride with my husband when he gets home from work.

Have you always wanted to be a photographer?

I don't know that I've always wanted to be anything, in all honesty. All I know is that I've always wanted to be around horses. In any and every capacity. So far I've been doing that. From riding, to working student, to foaling out mares, breeding quarter horses, ranch managing and working in an equine stem cell lab, I've covered a few bases in the horse world. It just matters to me that I'm around horses and I really enjoy when I can take good care of them.

What kind of riding do you do?

I grew up riding English. Lots of equitation. My teacher for years had a dressage background so my foundation was very solid, I think. Then I rode at a hunter jumper barn for a little before going to Cal Poly and being converted to the western and reined cowhorse persuasion. Now I have an adorable little reined cowhorse mare that I bred and raised myself. I'm not really a competitive rider by any means. When I've shown in the past it's been all schooling shows. I think that's partially because I never had a horse growing up. The shows I went to were always schooling shows on a sweet old school horse. I bought my first horse when I graduated Cal Poly.

Can you remember the first horse you ever rode?

I sure can! He was an appaloosa/QH cross named Rainbow. I was 8 years old in San Francisco where I grew up when I begged my parents to sign me up for beginning lessons at $12 a week! Rainbow was one of the beginner horses and an absolute heart of gold. I heard in his hey day he was quite the jumper. Even as I advanced in my riding I would request to ride Rainbow every year on my birthday even if all we did was walk.

Your work varies from families and graduates to gorgeous portraits of horses. What kind of photoshoots do you get most excited to do and why?

I get excited about anything new. Sounds cliche but I look forward to all my shoots (no matter what type) because I get to meet new people and horses. Horses and their people are my favorite but I'm having a lot of fun with western fashion lately and seniors. Any lifestyle session is enjoyable because I get to see what's close to someone's heart. What their actual lifestyle is.

Do you look up to anyone, professionally?

A ton of people. Of course David Stoecklein who passed away a few years ago. I was in love with his work when I first saw it, which was around 2005 for me. Every image he took told a story and his work had such a voice. It was always really "saying something" to me. As far as equine photography, I'm pretty sure I owned every Bob Langrish calendar and a few books with his images. Kirstie Marie is the current queen of the day I would say, her work is stunning. As far as non-equine, I grew up in SF so it's in my DNA to love Annie Leibovitz. There's a UK photographer that I am obsessed with that shoots an Alice In Wonderland series. She creates each image from concept to costume design, hair and makeup, location/sets... the whole deal. It is the most amazing work I think I've ever seen. Her name is Kirsty Mitchell. I'm going to go ahead and say my aunt as well. She is not a professional but she grew up with a dark room in her house and shot and developed her own film. She taught me how to use her film camera when I was 17 and bought me my first film camera when I was 18. I still have that camera.

So far, what has been the one image that you are most proud of?

This is really hard because I am not someone that likes to toot my own horn. I think my answer is somewhat unexpected. My favorite set of images might have been taken at a branding in Bakersfield earlier this year. It was a typical early branding morning and California hadn't really seen rain yet this year and the cowboys were sorting off the pairs. The dust that was being kicked up was backlit by that perfect morning light and it just looked golden. The cowboys, cattle and horses ended up being almost totally in silhouette and I just thought it was so cool because it was real. Nothing staged, nothing too fancy. Just life. I barely edited those images because I was happy with how they turned out exactly as my eye saw the scenes. Obviously I'm proud of some of my images from workshops but I think I am most proud of those branding shots because they are all my own making. I just had to get out of bed early enough that day!

Similarly, have you had one photo session that you walked away from thinking it was a total disaster?

Thank goodness no! The very possibility of that makes me nervous! I've been lucky to work with great people and we usually connect right away. There was one session where I thought I was working my tail off to bring my personality to the table and wasn't getting a huge "read" off the people, but the images ended up being great and they were thrilled with them. Of course I've had super windy weather and foggy weather when we were hoping for sunshine but there's really no control over that - you just gotta make do and do your very best in those situations. Ultimately I think my job is to please the client. It's not about my agenda or what I want to get out of the shoot, it's about what they want to get out of the shoot. So if my clients are happy, then I'm happy.

It’s your perfect day, you can do anything you want… what does that look like?

On an absolutely ideal dream day I would ride my horse Stella and give her a spa day with a good bath. Take my dog to the beach, practice some yoga, have lunch with friends, and eat sushi for dinner with my hunky husband. If there was a horsey photoshoot somewhere in there before dinner time I would be pretty excited about that, too.

Have you encountered your heart horse yes?

I have been very lucky, yes. The mare I bought when I graduated from college was my heart horse. She was everything to me and such a special little soul. We connected in ways I didn't think possible and she was very devoted to me (as I was to her). Practically no one could catch her other than me... except my husband which is how I knew he was a keeper. She told me so. I'm pretty sure we could actually read each other's minds and our personalities were so similar. If I'm being honest, I've been that lucky three times over. There was another mare after her that I had for an unfortunately short time that I would call a heart horse, as well. I swear she could look right through me and know exactly how I was feeling. The third time I've met my heart horse is with the mare I currently have. I bred and raised her and she is such a special little individual. All three of these mares have been very similar in their personalities and how we have gotten along. They have had their own unique traits, of course, that made them each so special to me as well but I think they are all similar in how sweet they are and how they have all tried to please and had so much heart. My current mare, Stella, is literally every hope, dream, wish and prayer I've had since I was 8 years old. In my eyes, she's perfect.

Are you more of a ride-in-your-leggings-when-you’re-feeling-lazy type of person or tried and true jeans and boots gal?

I would live in leggings if I could but never ride in them. I need jeans and boots or boots and breeches to ride.

How many dogs/cats/horses do you have now?

I have one of each! One horse, one dog and one cat. But if you add my husband into the mix we have three horses, six dogs and one cat.

Outside of horses and photographer life, what’s your favorite thing to do?

My favorite thing to do is walk on the beach with my dog. When she was a puppy I would take her once a week if not more. We both love it so much and I love watching her enjoy herself. I love being with friends over a meal and connecting people that I think would be friends. My friendships are very important to me and I try my best to maintain them well. As far as creativity, I've tried to express that in different ways over the years so I enjoy exploring that from time to time. I love having an idea, mulling it over and making it happen.

Finally, for a woman who is starting her own business, photography or otherwise, what is something you’d tell her that possibly no one told you?

Hmmm... you CAN teach yourself anything. I didn't know the first thing about digital photography or editing - enter internet. With the magical internet machine these days, you can literally teach yourself anything if you are willing to try. And keep trying. And blinders! Stay in your own lane and keep your blinders on. It's super hard but you gotta do it. Don't copy someone else's work because they inspire you. Take that inspiration and make it your own. Don't do what someone else has already done, do you. Put yourself out there. You'll be the most proud of your own original work.

See even MORE business/life/barn tips from Elizabeth in our bi-weekly installment, Tipsy Tuesday.