Siesta 2
Nov, 2014Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at a beautiful horse retirement farm west of Ft. Worth, Texas.Time
It was just as the sun was coming up and the orange glow was spectacular. Two mares were running and bucking while they were waiting for their caretakers to feed them.Lighting
The combination of the color from the sunrise and the dust the mares had stirred up gave it a really warm glow. The look was so magical. I think I shot 500+ photos in that small window of time.Equipment
I used my Canon 70D and a 300mm lens. I had the camera set on Action in rapid fire so I could get the girls playing. f/7.1, 1/250, ISO at 400. I didn't use a tripod as I was in the pasture with the mares and had to be ready to get out of their way quickly.Inspiration
The glow through the trees was the prettiest sunrise color I have ever seen. When the mares started kicking up the dust, it took on such a beautiful warm glow. Everything was bathed in this golden orange color. Since the suns rays were so diluted I knew I could take some cool photos with the mares outlined in a glowing type of color. With the old girls playing and the sun's colors, I just had to take as many photos as I could while it lasted.Editing
I used Photoshop to bump up the mid-range tones in order to bring out more depth in the background trees. That's all. I didn't want to sharpen or anything as I wanted everything to look as surreal as it really was that morning.In my camera bag
I always have my 135mm and 300mm lenses in my bag. As I shoot horses and ponies primarily, I don't bother with the other lenses. Extra batteries and SD cards (32 and 64GB), along with tissues, lens wipes and a notebook are also in my bag. I usually go out with a list of horses I need to photograph and a particular style I'm looking for on that ramble about the farm. I'm always open to what the horses are telling me they want to be photographed doing that day.Feedback
When taking pictures of horses, you need to be mobile. In their pastures, sometimes you have to really look and wait to get a photo. Early morning right before feeding is a good time as they are active and really alert watching for the feed/hay wagon. I pretty much always shoot in Active Rapid Fire when I'm photographing horses. Their faces are so quick to change and there are so many subtle changes. Getting the right look with their legs as they are moving about it tricky. They can look really awkward if you don't have the right angle or timing of their movement. I sometimes will fire off 10-15 photos at a time. I find that towards the end I get 'that' look in their eyes that seems like they are looking right into you. That the look I want. A view into their soul.
