Opinions/advice/critique/ect?

[dakotawo]

I’ve been looking around for a forum that could give me some honest opinions on my photos and I really like this site so I think I shall give it a go.
I am a slave to this artistry, learn something new everyday and love it! I would love to hear what you guys have to say about my pictures.

First up is an edit done for a contest.
https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/560528_10200595804605534_1114330346_n.jpg

If you like this picture (or don’t even) please take a few seconds of your time to vote for me in the contest. It would really really mean the world to me. Here is the link: http://www.doversaddlery.com/PhotoContestGallery.aspx#view/17807/1504298

 

Second one up is a shoot I was doing while my friend was schooling an extremely photogenic horse. Come to think of it- she is the same one as the photo above! Definitely one of my favorite to photograph. 🙂 I particularly like the muscles, the angle of her legs and especially the dirt flying in this picture.
https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1011989_10200318688317800_348695095_n.jpg

 

I absolutely love this third one. I believe that it is one of my best shots that I’ve done. There is a lot of textbook technique in this which makes me extremely proud. Feel free to tear down my ego and critique away!
https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1157431_10200539150149208_907026070_n.jpg

 

Last one is something that I shot today. If you like more traditional photographs, then I am assuming this is not for you. For the younger side of this forum, I would love to know what you think.
https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1236409_10200637263921991_1995951376_n.jpg

 

I have many more photographs to show you guys but for now I will leave this up and I might come back with more non equine shots. I also do landscape type pictures but that can be for another day.

[cameraclicker]

I see you found emilyh’s post with horse photos so you have probably also seen what we put into that thread.

I don’t know the circumstances of the shot but your contest entry would benefit from a rim light.

Horse in a hard right turn, the camera is tilted.  It’s not a horse’s most flattering side.

Pony through a hole could stand a little more light on the shadow side.  I would prefer a bit more DOF to have the whole head in focus.

Horse in the sun desperately needs a lens hood and fill flash.

 

 

[dakotawo]

cameraclicker – Thank you. I will take everything you said into consideration. For the third picture, you say you would prefer more DOF to have the whole head in focus. Do you say this because of the shadow? Or do you think the mane (long hair on the neck) is out of focus?

EDIT: The first picture is a candid shot, not a set up one. Still trying to figure out how to set up a photo while photographing horses doing their own thing in the field. A rim light would be very helpful if I was ever to do something like that again.

[cameraclicker]

The mane is on the neck.  That’s behind the head.  The nostrils, and area between them, look soft to me.  That may be due to image size, lighting, lack of sharpening, the horse’s colouring, all those little hairs, or it might be a little past the edges of sharp focus. My impression may be incorrect.  Look at the full size, original image to see.

What is on its head?  It looks like there is a couple of links of chain joining pieces of fabric.  The near end seems to fade to nothing.

The challenge with rim light is getting a light source behind the horse.  That may not be practical if you have to provide the light.

[Sharra]

Perhaps the horse in a hard right turn was asking the question Vy iz dehr zoh minny mohr orziz aziz dan dehr iz orziz? 🙂

[dakotawo]

cameraclicker – For the part between the horses nostrils I honestly think it’s just because his nose was so soft anyways and that’s how it was even in real life. As for the chain thing I see what you are talking about. Should I have gotten the angle to where there was more light coming through or completely cut the top off of that?

[Bill]

I have to agree mostly with CC on the photos, but I just wanted to give what I saw.  I will go in the order of the way the links are posted.

1st photo – Not sure if it the DOF or if you masked out the background but the outer edges of the horse are too soft.  I don’t know horses, but having the mane draped over may have looked better, but then again, I don’t know the horse or your situation.  What was the background?  A key light behind the horse may have gave the image some more depth.  Just guessing here since I’m not sure what was there and what you had to work with.

2nd photo – Horses in motion can be very dramatic shots.  The muscle tones look good but IMO could use a bit more contrast and a different angle.  Truly, no one wants to see a horse’s ass.  In this case a fill flash would have made the image worse by highlighting something that should not be highlighted.  These shots can be trying to get, sometimes you got to spray and pray because going in the corral may not be allowed and be dangerous.  If you were at the 2 – 4 o’clock position taking this shot, things would have been greatly different.

3rd photo – Agree with CC, fill flash on the right side of the horses face would make this better.  I would also crop out that distracting string in the upper right-hand corner.  As small as it is, it draws my attention away from the cute little pony.  I “assume” the uploaded image is a low-res version?  I zoom into it and it looks soft, rightfully so if it is a low-res version.  If not, it could use a slight bit of sharpening, but not too much.  Otherwise that shot is something I would see in a cutesy calendar.

4th photo – fill flash or reflector to see the horse’s face details.  The lens flare looks good but the horse’s face is way too dark, too dark to make any of the facial features out.  If this was shot in RAW, you might be able to save it by adding some fill, but I would not go too far as it will create a ton of noise.  As you can see by bringing into ACR, the blue areas are where details are too dark.  I know horses don’t stay still for long, so a slow shutter speed would not help.

http://tinypic.com/m/hrwuw0/1

[cameraclicker]

I think the “string” Bill mentioned is the green elastic cord and yellow hook.  What you do with a photo depends on the use you are going to put it to.  If it is for an editorial or news piece, there are usually rules prohibiting most editing.  You can brighten, change contrast a bit and crop.  Most other changes are not allowed.  If it will be used as a fine art piece, you have complete latitude to change whatever you wish.  If it is a fine art piece, cloning out the cord and hook would be worth considering.  In the same light, I might consider removing the links of that chain.  But, I have no idea why it is there, or what it is.  To those more knowledgeable about horses, there may be a good reason to leave it in the photo.

To answer your question, if you want to draw attention to something, add light.  If you want to hide something remove light, or add light to other areas to put what you want to hide into shadow.  In the case of the chain, I would just remove it with a clone tool, or leave it there if it makes sense.

[Bill]

CC – yes that is the cord string I was referring to. It is minor but it is like a shiny penny in your peripheral vision just drawing your attention away the slightest bit, or maybe that’s my ADD

[Author]

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