I've become curious about photographing horses on the Outer Banks. Have any members done so, and how was it? Many of the photos I see are just portraits. I'd of course be interested in action photos such as one sees from the Camargue in France. Any advice, and time of year? Tom Loucks
Some of the Camargue action pics have riders in them, so I suspect many of those are from the same event but the rider is not visible. I don't know of any such events in the Outer Banks. There's no access that I know of to get to the horses on Ocracoke other than in the viewing area at Pony Pens.
Up in Corolla it's different; they seem to be out in the wild as long as you can get there. But I'm not aware of any mass movement like you have at Chincoteague, where you'd be sure to get some action shots.
There are two ways to get pictures of the horses on Corolla Beach. You can take a tour in the back of a truck jeep (only 4x4 vehicles are allowed on the beach) or you can rent a house on that beach and take pictures from your porch. If you rent a house, you still need a 4x4 to drive anywhere on the beach.
The whole area is a preserve. You are not allowed to feed or touch any of the horses (big fines if you do). They wander freely in the area. There are several tour groups that you can book from, information available https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g49058-d12647914-2_h...
I have been to Corolla on two occasions to photography the horses. The first one was a Jeep tour early in the am. Not much luck- was out for two hours and did not see a horse. I then scheduled a photo trip with Mark Buckler and the weather was terrible. Rainy for 3 days. Saw a few horses but not in a picturesque setting. The shots were of horses walking along the beach or in the neighborhoods but no sunrise shots due to the overcast days and no action shots. I think you have to be lucky to get an action shot in the Corolla area.