photoshoot

After weeks of preparations, this was finally happening. Last Friday, we packed our fairytale-dresses, a large bag of good mood, our horses and the amazingly talented photographer Miina Anahita and headed for my familiy’s cabin, an hour north of Oslo.

Why? For a three day photoshoot in the beautiful winter wonderland, of course! (Why else would anybody travel to a cabin in the winter? Skiing? No way.)

The car ride went very well, the horses behaved perfectly and finally, we was there! WINTER WONDERLAND! Gosh, it is so extremely beautiful around the cabin. The nature is absolutely gorgeous; the trees covered in snow, the silence, the nature all around you, I wish I could live there! We fed the horses, who immediately felt like home, and packed out our stuff.

Inside the cabin, it was, unfortunately, unbelievable cold. (Grab your varmedresses, guys!) There was no point of spending time inside anyways, so we went out again, and started taking photos only 30 minutes after our arrival, haha. Busy schedule with short days and lack of sunlight. We started with some photos of Batman at liberty, but he was not cooperative at all this day. And with 60 cm of snow, it was not so easy to run after him, either. We ended up with me walking half a mile to get him, walk half a mile again to bring him back, let him loose and pray to The Old Gods and the New for that he would show some gallop for Miina.

He kinda did, a few times, before he also discovered too that 60 cm of snow was exhausting to run in, especially when you are wearing three layers of wool and a varmedress. I feel your pain, Batman. Not. With me tired of running after my usually well behaved horse in a way too big field, Miina took some close-ups instead, and I could finally sit down and relax and just watch her do her thing.

And then the sun went down, and we spent the rest of the day trying to make fire, and thanks to Miina Targaryen, we had finally one reliable source of heat inside the cabin. After that, we drove to get pizza, drove back to the cabin again, ate, and fell asleep before 8 PM. None of us had eaten more than breakfast and some snacks the whole day, and I had actually slept for 4 hours the night before, Linn had not slept at all and Miina’s bus left Göteborg around 01:45 AM, so yeah, we were all pretty exhausted. It is a miracle what we achieved that day, under those circumstances.

 

DAY 2 – THE COLD AND AWESOME DAY

The next morning we had more energy, and Linn and I got up early to finish our outfits. Miina’s alarm clock got off 20 times that morning, and when the sun began to rise we decided to wake her up, and that was a project :D Hahah! After a few failing attempts we finally got contact with our sleepy friend! (She also fell asleep in the middle of the floor the other day, perfect with a photographer with ultra-fast charging system installed!)

I did the last details on my cloak, and it turned out GREAT! I learned so much from making it with Linn (she did most of the sewing tho, because we had so little time and I’m so goddamn slow AND clumsy). Linn continued with her skirt, and Miina and I did my makeup, before went outside for some portraits of me in the snow.

It felt really, really weird to pose in front of a camera WITHOUT Batman, but Miina did an awesome job and I know very well that that girl knows what she is doing! It was very cold to do the portraits, but the good things is that if you are freezing, you can simply run around in the snow for a minute or two, and you’ll be warm again! Behind the scenes in a magical fairytale-photoshoot … HAHAHAH! Looks sooo romantic in the real life, not. :D

With beautiful locations absolutely everywhere, it was not hard to find the perfect spot to start with the photos with Batman. We did the first with him and me standing beside him under the old apple-trees, they are over 200 years old and still going strong! The little farm has housed eight generations of Brandt’s, and I guess those apple trees are as badass as we are.

It was cold (unessecary to point that out, Matilde) and Batman was a bit unfocused in the beginning, but soon it went better when Linn came out to help us, and I’m very happy with him in general! All you need is carrots and really warm clothes in the breaks.

We spent the next two hours with shooting Batman and I from the ground, before we went to another location for a little more action filled shots. Cantering on Batman through the beautiful scenery with snow covered ground, in a fairytale dress, bridleless with his entire mane waving in the wind… I will never forget that feeling – ever.

To get some great portraits, we used sparklers to get his attention and that worked out very well! After almost 4 hours of shooting, I was done for the day and Miina took portraits of Linn and Takawi, which looked absolutely gorgeous together as always ❤❤❤

STAY TUNED! @miinaphoto + @matildebrandt ✨❄📸️😍🙌🏼

A video posted by Matilde & Batman the Friesian (@matildebrandt) on Jan 25, 2016 at 10:03am PST

 

DAY 3 – ICE AND FIRE

(How many Game of Thrones references can you simply get into one blog post? I’m trying to reach a new record) Miina wanted photos with the black leather chamfron, and we was getting her photos with the black leather chamfron! Making Batman looking like a fierce stallion on the other hand, was not that simple. Linn and Takawi did their very best to catch his attention with the sparkles, but he did not care so much about the sparklers today, frustratingly enough. So we had to think outside the box … FIRE!

Batman have seen fire only one time before, so I got us some fire. It worked out better, but I’m going to spend the next few months with clicker training him to “pose” and stretch his neck beautifully, so he’ll look stunning the next time Miina visits us! Hopefully, she did get a good shot or two. Linn will from now be titled the Master of Fire and Sparklers.

After the sparkler-spectacle, we hit the road and walked up to the next location, the beautiful view a short walk up the hills. That was a scenery to die for.

We got some AMAZING shots up there, and the horses behaved brilliant as usual. They basically stood there and waited patiently, completely loose. That’s our boys ❤ They are a dream to work with! I saw one of the shots on Miina’s camera and nearly fainted, haha!

We also took a snapshot of Miina with Batman and Takawi, and that is currently my most liked photo on Instagram of all times, with 16 600 likes and counting, oh my god! Bat and Kawi made Miina look like a minion!

Then we headed down to the big field again to get some portraits of Linn, more photos with Takawi, and a few more of Batman. I spent the spare time cantering around on Batman, not bad at all, haha! Miina and I stayed there shooting the horses at liberty until the sun started to set, and we had to pack and head home.

Three exhausting days, but what a weekend it was. Miina was such a lovely person and we had so much fun together, I wish we could have stayed there for two weeks! I had the time of my life! Thank you so much dear Miina and Linn for an amazing experience I will never forget ❤

The photos will be published soon, in the meantime, check out Miina Anahita’s website, her Facebook page and Instagram account and discover her stunning work!

I also recommend you to follow Linn & Takawi, one of my biggest inspirations of all times, they are on Instagram under the name @imaginetakawi!

Peace, love and Friesian hugs,
Batman & Matilde