#17 possible? C&C

ilbcnu

I've been seeing so much snow from everyone that I almost feel bad saying that our weather has been in the 70's and my horses think it is time to start shedding thier winter coat. Today after brushing I realized I had hair everywhere and masses of it stuck to the curry combs. :huh Hair - I need to photograph that! First try what do you think -re shoot possible

leahe

I think this is a great idea, but I am partial to horses. If using the two curries I would increase DOF a tad so more of both curries are in focus. You might even try to get in closer to just one of the curries with a macro or zoom lens and get the lines of the curry to lead the eye to the hair.

We are pretty warm here, too. Highs in the mid 50's and lows in the mid teens. Mine aren't shedding yet, knock on wood. I don't want my old Appaloosa, at 30, to start shedding the minimal winter coat he has.

Kwarta

My Horses still look like wooly mamoths. Maybe try and back light the hair so it looks highlighted?

divamum

#1. I'm deeply envious that so many of you have horses. I miss mine!!

#2. Great idea - I nearly did something similar myself when I was grooming our dog for his closeup shots and saw the MOUND of hair on the table

#3 It just needs slightly more "pop" to my eye. Can you reshoot, using some sunglight to "lift" the colours and give it some more sparkle (maybe backlight those hairs on the edges of the combs, thus highlighting the texture contrasts more? The hair vs the metal is an interesting texture juxtaposition....)

Great start on this one

richtersl

I agree with divamum, this needs a little more pop. Right now it's just a shot of two curry combs full of hair. There's a lot more more photo fodder in your setup than just the combs themselves. You have the teeth, the arcs, and the hair swirled around them. The way the light is hitting the comb on the left looks pretty nice. You might want to consider a crop that emphasizes some of those features on that comb on the left. Or, try a reshoot at the same time of day and see if you can do something with the shapes of the curry combs.

ilbcnu

Thank you so much for your help/replies. I will try again this afternoon.
This is another I had from yesterday -

leahe

Kwarta,
My horses are still pretty fuzzy, too. I was thinking along the same lines as you. Having the hair highlighted with the morning sun.

Ilbcnu,
I like this last shot better. I think even a little closer would be a little more interesting IMHO. You have a great idea, just keep shooting until you get the shot that you think fulfills your vision. You are on the right track.

divamum

ilbcnu wrote:

Thank you so much for your help/replies. I will try again this afternoon.
This is another I had from yesterday -

This is more on to something, I think, although the DOF fluctuations are distracting (razorsharp on the right, blurred out on the left) - presumably with that kind of light you can afford to stop down a bit and still handhold

I really like the idea, though. As leahe said, keep shooting - there's a great shot in this, and you just have to work through until you find it

Velvet-Art

ilbcnu wrote:

Thank you so much for your help/replies. I will try again this afternoon.
This is another I had from yesterday -

That's better, maybe try the same idea but with the direct sunlight blocked and then back light the hair with off-camera flash. If you can get the blue sky again that'll make a lovely shot.

Tim

ilbcnu

Thanks all for the comments/replies!!
I can really feel the stretch on these challenges. My resolution was to participate in all just to learn and wow this one is teaching me! I bought inexpensive triggers off ebay about a month ago after reading a thread and this was the first time I really used them.
Trying different suggestions so here are new choices for 17- C&C!!
1

2

3

4

leahe

Yes! #2 is exactly what I was hoping you would find. And the fact that you made it black and white is the icing on the cake. It is correctly exposed and the DOF is a lot better in that almost the entire curry and hair is in forcus. The other shots are improvements on what you posted earlier, but #2 is the best IMHO. Great job!

ilbcnu

Leah, thank you for your comment! I am leaning towards #2 also.

Kwarta

Id say its a toss up between 1 and 3.
#1. Love the background (sky).
#3. Love the highlighted hair.

richtersl

leahe wrote:

Yes! #2 is exactly what I was hoping you would find. And the fact that you made it black and white is the icing on the cake. It is correctly exposed and the DOF is a lot better in that almost the entire curry and hair is in forcus. The other shots are improvements on what you posted earlier, but #2 is the best IMHO. Great job!