Loula and Sam at Dawn
Dec, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I work part-time for a Thoroughbred horse farm. This was taken in the broodmare pasture. The mare is named Loula. The foal at her side is Sammy. I was there when he was foaled, and the mares all know me very well. So they don't worry about me following them around with the camera.Time
This was very early in the morning. Around 5am in May. I turned the mares and foals out and then followed them around the field. It was quite dark, and the sky was threatening a storm.Lighting
As the sun came up, the storm clouds turned into a brilliant pink/magenta sunrise. Loula herself is very photogenic, and the lighting really set off her chestnut coat. The camera was new to me at the time, so I was quite clumsy with my exposure settings. But since I shot in RAW, I was able to adjust it all during post.Equipment
This was taken with a mirrorless camera. A Samsung NX1000, using the kit lens (20-50mm). Handheld, no flash. Got down low and braced myself on the ground. I nearly passed out from holding my breath :-)Inspiration
Every morning, I watch all the mares and foals. They are quite remarkably beautiful. In fact, watching them in the mornings inspired me to buy the camera. I hadn't had half decent camera since the 1980s (my beloved old Pentax K-1000). The NX1000 was a very affordable way to get back into photography. Anyway, that morning, the gorgeous sunrise and the gorgeous mare and foal made for an irresistible shot.Editing
Yes, I used Adobe Camera RAW and Photoshop. The shot was underexposed and rather grainy. Because it was in RAW format, I was able to bring up the exposure and saturation, and clean up the noise. This was one of the first photos that I did any serious post-processing with. So it was quite a learning experience.In my camera bag
I've moved up to a Samsung NX20 since I took that image. And now I normally shoot with a 50-200mm zoom lens. Although I have a tripod, I rarely use it. I tend to wander around following horses, cats, and dogs. Or crawl around looking at flora. The tripod slows me down too much. But I do have a monopod that I sometimes find useful. That's about it. I travel light :-)Feedback
With horses, you have to be patient and move slowly. They are easily alarmed. So take your time and let them relax. Talk to them when you approach. They have good vision, but they don't see depth of field quite the way we do. So if you stand still and don't talk, they can't identify you as human, and will get worried and run off. Wait for their ears to go forward to get a nice shot. They always look a lot better with an alert expression.
