elmariephotography

Light at the end of the tunnel

NIKON D5000

settings

Aperture f/4.8 ISO 800 Shutter 1/1000 Focal Length 116/1

upload_date

May, 2015

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111

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+10

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Same photographer See all Behind The Lens

Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo at the barn where I ride horses in Western Australia, in the large outside arena.

Time

This was taking late in the afternoon afternoon on a sunny day in the Autumn of 2015, when the day was just approaching golden hour. It was taken in March, which would be the beginning of Autumn in Australia.

Lighting

The initial shot was very bright due to it just starting to become golden hour, but I decided I wanted this to look darker and a bit more ominous, so I edited it to get this result. The overall image is very dark, but the bright, white light that is caught on the horse's mane, head and ears creates a lovely silhouette. A lot of details are able to be seen due to this light, including whiskers on the nose and lip, neck muscles, and the little hairs in this horse's ears.

Equipment

I took this photo (without tripod) with my Nikon D5000 with its Nikkor 55-200mm lens, no other equipment was used.

Inspiration

I was at one of my barn's showjumping competitions taking photos of the little kids for my trainer, but decided to stay behind for a little while to take photos of another young lady riding her horse. This photo was unintentional and initially would not have been taken, but I'm glad I stayed those extra couple of minutes to capture this shot.

Editing

The first thing I did was make the photo black-and-white, then lowered the exposure and played around with contrast, highlights, shadows, etc. The background was quite dark but the light on the horse's mane allowed for an excellent silhouette, therefore I tried to edit the image to enhance the silhouette to make the distinctive shape of the horse visible.

In my camera bag

I always carry my Nikon D5000 body, with the Nikkor 18-55mm lens, the Nikkor 55-200mm lens and the Nikkor 28-80mm lens. I also own an old Nikon F60 which also fits all of those lenses, but came with the 28-80mm lens. I am by no means a professional photographer, so this is the only equipment I own and use.

Feedback

I recommend having the subject facing a source of light, natural or artificial, so that this light is able to bounce off and enhance features. An ideal time of day would be golden hour (either shortly after sunrise or just before sunset), when the light is neither too harsh nor too soft, allowing a natural glow to magnify details (in a way). For post processing, I would lower the exposure and just mess around with contrast, highlights, shadows, etc. and see what looks best. I think for this type of image, where the lightness and darkness of the photo are the main focus, it's best to keep things simple and in black-and-white - not overly saturated.

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elmariephotography

elmariephotography

Light at the end of the tunnel

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow elmariephotography

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