Hank The Tank

Ifocus4u

I believe this can be classified as a sport. This is a friend of mine who competes with the most beautiful horse I had ever seen... "Hank The Tank" The leg is a tad blown but I hope to get back to that soon. Its won a couple of awards as is so I'm a bit leary of making any changes. :wink

sdways01

To me it is cropped too much. I would expect to see the whole animal to show its magnificence. I would also expect to see the whole rider (as during a show) or no rider (as the horse is in the pasture).

Having the top of the rider and the horse's legs cut off are distracting to me.

Art Scott

very well done!!clapthumbthumbbow

As far doing any reprocessing for a blown leg.....none of the legs are blown out to me on my monitor......I see good definition in all of them.......I think I would leave alone..............

KellyC

I agree with sdways01 it is very distracting. if it was cropped could we see the whole picture, it looks like a beautiful horse.

Wil Davis

IMNSHO the horse looks distorted; just look at the nearside hind-leg… (what can be seen of it); the haunch looks totally wrong, and tiny compared to the neck and shoulders of the horse.

…perhaps it's the fact you used a wide-angle lens, which tends to distort the lines and exaggerate the perspective.

The saddle blanket is creased.

The cropping does nothing to improve the picture, neither does the red frame (again IMNSHO).



- Wil

BTW - Welcome to DGPF!

wadesworld

At first I was a bit taken aback by the crop too - but the more I look at it, the more I like it. It definitely makes it not "just another horse picture."

arrgh406

The crop is not working for me as well, but I do not think anything is blown out.

Ifocus4u

sdways01 wrote:

To me it is cropped too much. I would expect to see the whole animal to show its magnificence. I would also expect to see the whole rider (as during a show) or no rider (as the horse is in the pasture).

Having the top of the rider and the horse's legs cut off are distracting to me.

I see where you are coming from but the shot is a portrait of the horse and if I included the rider the focus would naturally go to the rider. The close crop is an artistic choice which I like very much. This shot has made my quite a bit of $'s so I guess its okay. I'm not into shots that folks expect to see which makes for more interesting photography. I appreciate your point of view and for taking the time to comment.

Ifocus4u

Art Scott wrote:

very well done!!clapthumbthumbbow

As far doing any reprocessing for a blown leg.....none of the legs are blown out to me on my monitor......I see good definition in all of them.......I think I would leave alone..............

Okay! Will do..

HoofClix

I have comments that I think would come from what an equestrian might say, really, from the viewpoint of the judge next to the ring..

You seem to be trying to make a finished image that would show off the formality of the sport, but what would have made this much better would be to have selected an image that had:

1. The mane braided or at least falling all to one side.
2. The pole of the horse's head, that point between the ears, being the very highest point, with the angle of the nose being perfectly perpendicular to the ground.
3. Shoe polish, or lack of dirt, on the left toe of the rider's boot..
4. Saddle pad not slipping backwards. It should extend beyond the front of the saddle, not be folding on the behind.

I am also confused by the lack of connection between the nose-band and the rest of the bridle. It is either twisted away from your lens so that it doesn't show (not good for the rider) or it was taken out in the process of cutting this horse/rider away from it's original background. That's not necessarily wrong, just confuses me.

Equestrian, while it is surely a sport, it is like a strict form of poetry where all the rules have to be followed. Photography in most cases has to convey those rules. Just my opinion on that!

frigidlight

I like the crop of the rider, it makes the viewer focus more on the horse than on the rider or the rider-horse combo. I also like the pose of the horse, it gives it more character than if it was a static pose.

Ifocus4u

HoofClix wrote:

I have comments that I think would come from what an equestrian might say, really, from the viewpoint of the judge next to the ring..

You seem to be trying to make a finished image that would show off the formality of the sport, but what would have made this much better would be to have selected an image that had:

1. The mane braided or at least falling all to one side.
2. The pole of the horse's head, that point between the ears, being the very highest point, with the angle of the nose being perfectly perpendicular to the ground.
3. Shoe polish, or lack of dirt, on the left toe of the rider's boot..
4. Saddle pad not slipping backwards. It should extend beyond the front of the saddle, not be folding on the behind.

I am also confused by the lack of connection between the nose-band and the rest of the bridle. It is either twisted away from your lens so that it doesn't show (not good for the rider) or it was taken out in the process of cutting this horse/rider away from it's original background. That's not necessarily wrong, just confuses me.

Equestrian, while it is surely a sport, it is like a strict form of poetry where all the rules have to be followed. Photography in most cases has to convey those rules. Just my opinion on that!

You are right.. if I was shooting to sell to other riders I'd be more careful but this was a shot with the rider as she was. Not much I could do about her riding habit.. mind the pun. I ride but I don't compete..would rather spend the money on lens's. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Ifocus4u

frigidlight wrote:

I like the crop of the rider, it makes the viewer focus more on the horse than on the rider or the rider-horse combo. I also like the pose of the horse, it gives it more character than if it was a static pose.

Thank you..