This is Ben and Lynelle. He is an Arabian Horse at Gales and one of my favorites.
I know his nose is cut off, I know her head is cut off but I like the action of the shot, the way his mane is curved and I like the implied action in the shot.
I fixed the red eye,cropped, adjusted the black, grey and white points and cloned out part of the fence that was in the lower left corner and there you have it.
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rugly? Nice photo, did you use a flash?, perhaps it would have benefited from no flash, but I know that shooting horses is hard cause you need a short exposure.
These comments may not be appropriate because of camera used. If so, please accept my apologies. It may also be that the original is better than what appears on the monitor.
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The flash seems to be straight on which in itself need not be a problem but it has burned out the front of the horses face. The coat and mane are beautifully exposed. Unfortunatly the dark coat of the rider has disembodied his head.
If an off camera flash had been used to the left and pointing up slightly and been held closer to the rider I think it may have illuminated at least the shape of the rider without leaving shadows on the horses face.
The extremely tight crop (or frame), unfortunately eliminates features of both horse and rider. While the flash appears a little harsh on the horse\'s face, it lacks range to distinguish the sleeve (and possibly the rider\'s wrist and hand) from the jacket.
From an equestrian point of view, a better perspective would be one including, at least, the rider\'s hand and the course of the reigns. This would reveal more of a relationship between the two beings. Ideally the reigns would flat and untwisted also, showing no tension.
The rider\'s hands, here, levy a visible effect on the horse\'s mouth. The position of the bit substantiates the evidence of a hard hand. The horse\'s eye seems to register and reflect this as much as the bright proximity of the flash.
Its head carriage is very high, too, for what appears to be a fairly green horse, but not too unusual for an Arab, certainly.
Equestrian shots, in my experience, are one of the most taxing and difficult of all. Not only does the photographer have to master his/her craft, he/she needs to have a fundamental understanding of horses and the sport to render a -telling- shot. Needless to say, to provide all this while having to battle poor light and changeable conditions which are in constant flux is no picnic.
The thrill and the thing to look for here, IMHO, is a split second of harmony between the two, a kind of suspended animation, which few recognize and even less can capture.
Looks like the light was pretty dim there for your shot. The riders head is cut off as is the horses nose. Nice try and a good entry for the challenge.
Take my opinion for what it's worth please ( you won't get far) . . . but I'd have like to seen the rest of the horse's muzzle--also have the picture exposed so we can see more of the rider. This would be tricky because of the close-up of the white horse and what seems to have been a low-light scene.
Better lighting would help this shot - the rider gets lost in the background. Subject meets the theme. Perhaps focusing on either the horse or the rider - they're competing for my attention
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