Horse Pics - Are These Good Enough to Keep?

redleash

I shot several images of my brother's horse. I fed him some snacks, trying to get a nice head shot and also trying to grab a funny angle shot. I like his face in these two, but I'm not sure they're worth keeping. I wanted a nice head shot to print for my brother. I can't re-shoot until fall, when I expect to be there again.

Any comments on these images, or suggestions for a re-shoot (don't cut off the ears! ), would be most welcomed. I did a tiny bit of PP on these, tried to blur the background a bit in #1. A little contrast boost in #2.

1.


2.

clcoronios

Hi Lauren,
Of the two, I prefer #2. I'm not large on the distorted look (caused by getting too close/not enough zoom) - although some think it's 'funky'. #2 is also sharper.

Looks like it was pretty dull lighting - you might try a bit more saturation - but to be honest, I'd wait for fall and try again before printing anything.

Then...try to get a little more distance from horsie. If you can, tuck the flap into the buckle on the halter, up near his eye.

Definitely don't cut off the body parts. It's OK not to show the full body when doing a head shot, but ears are an important part of the head, unless you're doing an eye or nose shot. And you want the ears 'up' (like the left one here).

Can you get someone to help you? If so, that person could attract his attention, perhaps getting more expression in his eye, although I like his eye in #2. Have this person (or you, if no one else around) hold a crinkly paper (like a peppermint wrapper) and when you have all settings correct and your finger on the trigger, crinkle it. Or a coffee can with a little grain in it - but don't have the person move it 'til you're all set. Very often, you get one chance at ears - and fiddling with the attention getter while you're getting set up means the ears are up about 5 minutes before you're ready and after that, you get "yeah, so???"

Your brother will love his present!

C

pyry

I have to agree with Carol, except I'd take the halter and blanket off (and give him a quick brushing perhaps).

You could also try to take a picture of him just running around for fun, or with a rider.

redleash

Great tips for next shoot--many thanks!! Here is another shot of the same horse; I took this one last summer. Better shot, but I still cut off some body parts!

clcoronios

Lauren, last summer's is a good starting point. You already know that you don't want to cut off his hind feet, so in the fall, you'll be aware of that and shoot looser.

The angle's not bad - and you're not getting major distortion (a BIT, perhaps, but not knowing the horse, it's a little hard to tell).

Now - can you picture this with all 4 feet showing and the horse interested in something (ears forward, nose pulled in just a titch, so the neck is a little bit arched - sort of "What's that???") - or with the horse grazing (put a little bit of grain in the grass)?

Carol

leahe

Ditto what Carol said to get a more flattering portrait. To expand on your funny angle head shot idea... you should try to get a handler to use a treat to get the horse to raise his lip and 'smile' and take the shot then. Or give him a treat that he has never had which may make him do the same thing to smell it better. With the distorted look and 'smile' it makes for a pretty funny pic. I did something similar with one of my own horses:

Jane B.

clcoronios wrote:

Lauren, last summer's is a good starting point. You already know that you don't want to cut off his hind feet, so in the fall, you'll be aware of that and shoot looser.

The angle's not bad - and you're not getting major distortion (a BIT, perhaps, but not knowing the horse, it's a little hard to tell).

Now - can you picture this with all 4 feet showing and the horse interested in something (ears forward, nose pulled in just a titch, so the neck is a little bit arched - sort of "What's that???") - or with the horse grazing (put a little bit of grain in the grass)?

Carol

Carol
With both you and the OP in the US I can't help but wonder why you keep telling her to wait until FALL. Surely, you could expect her to have a bright clear day before then. What is wrong with shooting on a clear day now in late winter or in the spring and/or summer?

Jane

pyry

Jane B. wrote:

Carol
With both you and the OP in the US I can't help but wonder why you keep telling her to wait until FALL. Surely, you could expect her to have a bright clear day before then. What is wrong with shooting on a clear day now in late winter or in the spring and/or summer?

Jane

Because:

redleash wrote:

for my brother. I can't re-shoot until fall, when I expect to be there again.

Not that a trip to meet a horse (and his human) is ever a bad idea..

clcoronios

Jane B -
Yup - what pyry said....

C

dlplumer

No, throw them away Lauren Of course they are worth keeping. Very nice

redleash

Dan--did you mean throw away the pics or the horse?

I'm going to do some Photoshopping and see if I can turn them into art. Maybe a watercolor effect?

dlplumer

redleash wrote:

Dan--did you mean throw away the pics or the horse?

I'm going to do some Photoshopping and see if I can turn them into art. Maybe a watercolor effect?

Neither. I was joking. Look at my post.

SoonerShawn

Lauren,
You have some great tips here, on what to do different next time, but I'm gonna tell you that no matter what other people think about these images, ultimately it comes down to what your brother will think about the print, and how you feel about it. I've found that many times I'm too hard on myself, not that my shots are any good anyway, but for what I'm doing with them, and what you are intending to do with these, they are great! Your brother will love them, and you should print it for him. I sit down from time to time and go through my pictures, and compare them to shots I see from professionals and realize that most of stuff doesn't match up to the incredible images you will find here or on other photo galleries, and I start deleting old digital files from when I first started. I've trashed lots of stuff I later wished I'd kept just because I thought it wasn't any good. So you do whatever you want to, but I would definately print it for your brother, all horse people love their horses, and someday you'll be glad you did it...no matter what you might think about the quality of the image.

redleash

Thanks, Shawn! Great words to shoot by!:D