[MtnTopRebel]

Yes you can break the rules, sometimes it's because you have no choice, sometimes it is to make a point, but before you go breaking the rules you need to know them. If you go look at the history of photography, you will see some pretty sick concepts of rule breaking. A good example of this is in the portraiture field. For example, a young lady comes for her senior portrait, the current fad is to wears some funky glitz jewelry, and she does her photos in that stuff, a few years later, that fad is out, and is considered not cool, so now her pix are dated in a negative light and she will hate the picture. The responsibility of the photographer is to take these things into consideration. He/she can photograph the glitzy stuff and the current fad if requested but you should also tactfully offer to do the more traditional images, as in most cases they will stand the test of time, and most often when viewing the proofed images, they will choose the traditional in the order. With 50 years of photography under my belt, believe me I have seen a lot of things come and go, and mostly go. A photographer is much more than just a camera operator, you must understand people, what they need, what they think they need and what you need to offer, all these with respect and tact. You basically are a mind reader in order to meet their needs in a way that satifies the customer.
About35 years ago I signed up for some livestock confirmation classes at a local college. I had no animals, but wanted to have the knowledge as I lived in a agricultural area, and owning a full service studio I felt I should be somewhat qualified regarding what is good in confirmation of livestock. We were taught what a judge looks at when judging, what is a good looking horse,bull, sheep etc. What do you do when asked to go photograph some prize bull for breeding etc. If you don't know whats good and or bad you will not know how to compose to minimize a defect or show a strong point. What lens length do you need. Well for horses people are concerned about the length of the neck and back, two short a lens will distort this and a longer lens shrinks the length, which do you want, or is everything just right? Well the same thing exists with the human body, you have a subject who is sensitive about his/her nose, they probably are not going to discuss with you, " hey I have an ugly nose, I feel very sensitive about it, can you hide it?" no the judgement will be made when it is time to order, they will not tell you why but will tell you no with a non/small order. Do you know how to move the lights to minimize the problem, turn the head to subdue the problem,while not breaking the rules of confirmation and what is a healthy natural position? These my friends are not things you just figure out over night, in time you will figure it out, or move on to some other trade, but hey you need to survive while your learning. These are all rules and techniques you need to master.
From the the livestock classes the instructor was a Pro Rodeo bronc rider. He was the coach for the college rodeo club, he wanted photo's and I got started doing that, I found shooting in the arena with the bulls and broncs was a kick, that and climbing fences quickly a exciting. I even got into the horse racing photo work once, made a bunch of money on that one. I shot a lot of rodeos, before moving to a new area to start a new studio. I also got involved in horse shows which I still do from time to time. If you are into horses, and love cameras, it is a fun way to get involved in photography. Back when I started there was no digital, and the problem was the participants were gone before you could get proofs to them and unless you caught them at another event, it was a lost sale. Now, my wife and I and usually a granddaughter work as a team, shooting, with a pocket of memory cards, I keep swapping cards they are downloaded to the computer on site, a proof of all the pix are printed, and a second computer plays the galleries of pix in a slide show. And we have a computer and printer linked to print the finished print on site, and offers for shirts mugs Big prints, etc., that can be ordered. It is also a good way to become acquainted with the stock people in your area for on site photography of their ranch and stock. I throw this as a suggestion, it was a blast to do, and there is money in it. But, believe me, you have a young lady and a high dollar horse, they both gotta look good as "THEY" perceive themselves to be, in order to get that sale, and grow your respected client base.