This is Tyler and 'She's a Knotty Sunset'.
I went to my buddy Blue's riding stable and asked if I could take some shots of a horse and someone dressed in "Cowboy type attire". After I explained that Sean had passed away and this great and wonderful photography site I belong to, DPC, was honoring his memory with a photography challenge called "The Cowboy" and that the challenge details were to photograph something representative of a cowboy this week, we were all business.
The first thing Blue wanted to know was who I was intending to use as a model. I told him I still had to work that out and was here to see if it was even possible to do it at his farm. "You mean to tell me you came all this way and you thought I would say NO" Blue said snapping into action he called over Tyler who is one of his good friends sons, sent his daughter into the house for a shirt and hat, told her to get Moms good saddle from the house.
We outfitted Tyler and moved "Knotty" into the paddock. After a short explanation of what I was trying to achieve with the shot we got down to it.
I would like to thank DPC for doing this challenge in honor of Sean.
I would like to thank my very good friend Blue and his daughter for their help pulling everything together.
I would also like to thank Tyler for being my model for this shot. I'm thrilled with how it turned out.
I would finally like to thank Melissa, Sean's wife for having the strength to communicate with us through Sean's profile and in the thread created in his honour. Sean Michael Matos
Here's where drew my inspiration I hope that I have done Sean's memory proud. He was a great photographer and will be missed by many, many people both on and off this site.
The Edit:
Shot in RAW
Import into Photoshop
Levels
Slight shadows adjustment
Slight contrast adjustment +37
Slight saturation adjustment +8
USM 203%
Black border
Resize for web
"que a paz esteja contigo". Sean
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Nicely composed. Lighting is a little hot on the horse and the focal plane is just falling off on the "cowboy's" face (leaving him just a tad soft). Great idea...timing (not midday with strong sunlight) could really make a difference on this. Good luck in the challenge.
Really tough light to work with. I'd like to see some fill from the left side though that may not have been possible. Great tribute shot that I think Sean would appreciate.
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