You may well have already seen the image above circulating around social media, but there’s more to this image than you might think. If you’re a photography or fine art buff, you’ll find this fascinating. Who wouldn’t appreciate a stunning picture of beautiful horses. Here’s the back story:

Regular Badminton visitors will probably know that the Outside Chance Bar has a tradition of using a picture of the previous year’s winner as the backdrop to the bar. When the bar’s owner, Freddie Tulloch, came across pictures of racehorses in a fine-art style in Gallop magazine, he decided to contact Ripley [the photographer] to see whether he would be interested in doing something for the Outside Chance.

Ripley who has a passion for horses, can usually be found photographing some of the world’s most prestigious cars for high end automotive clients, and has a rich history of photographing celebrities and musicians, like David Beckham, Radiohead, Blur, Oasis and Victoria Beckham.

More recently Ripley has branched out into fine art photography of equines in historic settings, working initially with thoroughbred racehorses, but also sport horses and even the household cavalry. The photograph of Sam Griffiths in front of Badminton House is a composite of several images painstakingly crafted to produce a harmonised scenic illustration.

Using a Hasselblad high definition camera, these photos capture every detail, allowing images to be printed large enough to cover the side of a building from 200 megapixel files!

Let’s hear from Ripley & Sam Griffiths about how this photograph was created:

Apologies for the background noise at the beginning of the video!

To view more of Ripley’s stunning Fine Art equestrian photography visit his facebook page or come to the Outside Chance Bar today for a chance to see his work up close.