mneerwijk

Equine Portrait

Equine Portrait of Horse Mr. Darcy.

Fuji S5Pro - Nikkor 50-1.8d

Equine Portrait of Horse Mr. Darcy.

Fuji S5Pro - Nikkor 50-1.8d
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FinePix S5Pro

settings

Aperture f/1.8 ISO 100 Shutter 1/350 Focal Length 5000/100

upload_date

Nov, 2015

Views

556

Likes

+24

Awards

Action Award

Zenith Award

Creative Winter Award

Legendary Award

Staff Winter Selection 2015

Top Choice

+14

Absolute Masterpiece

+12

Superb Composition

+12

Outstanding Creativity

All Star

Peer Award

Magnificent Capture

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in front of an old barn, the wood panelling has wear and tear due to ageing and harsh weather conditions but gives kind of a rustic look. The light in the afternoon and evening is almost always beautiful here.

Time

It was during golden hour in September, the light was gorgeous and gave beautiful golden highlights and brown shadows on Mr. Darcy -the horse- his hair.

Lighting

At first I was photographing inside in the stables but when I looked outside from the corner of my eye, -as someone with a horse was passing- I told the owner: "Come quickly, we MUST go outside. This light is fantastic!" We just tried to position Mr. Darcy so he was facing the sun and his hindquarters were almost against the barn. When shooting I always try different compositions and different angles from or to the source of light hitting the subject when I photograph.

Equipment

The picture was taken with a Fujifilm S5Pro -an oldie but still one of my favourites- and a Nikkor 50mm / f1.8, which I had on loan for testing. This was probably one of the first 25 pictures I'd taken with it. I used a Circular Polariser Filter to enhance on contrast and give more warmth in the color images. I made sure not to cut too much reflection on the horse hair. With horses I always shoot handheld, to quickly change position or -when moving/running free outside- get the hell out of the way! ;-)

Inspiration

I love horses, just really love 'em! They are beautiful to see, can be so graceful in movement and command a way of respect and represent -in my head- something Wild & Free! -Yeah, I watched too many old Clint Eastwood Westerns with my father when I was younger....- ;-) Each horse has his or her own personality and I'd love to capture that. This particular session was about me getting some testshots with the Nikkor 50mm / f1.8 on my trusty Fijifilm S5Pro and the owner of the horse had bought a brand new shiny bridle that she was testing for fit.

Editing

I always use Adobe Lightroom, for cataloguing and the edits (post-processing) of my pictures. At first I was editing in color, working my way into the image... -ie. testing where the limits are and what changes happens in the fore, middle and background.- Then by accident I clicked on black & white and immediately liked what I saw, this dramatic portrait was staring back at me! I tweaked it a little further so I could retain most of the shine on Mr. Darcy's hair and darken the shadows to a near black. I did some local dodging and burning and: Presto, a timeless headshot/portrait (to me) was born.

In my camera bag

I am lucky to have 'several' bags and I pick the one -or ones- that I think will suit my needs best for that particular assignment. I have the 'Portrait' bag which contains the Fujifilm S5Pro and a Kodak SLR/n -hard to master, but when it's right unlike any other; almost film like images-. For lenses: an old Tamron SP 70-210 / f2.8, an old Tamron SP 18-200 / f3.8-5.6, a Nikkor 35-70 / f2.8 and finally the Nikkor 50mm / f1.8. Then there is the 'Sports' bag with a Nikon D300 and for lenses: the Nikon AF-S 70-300 / f4.5-5.6G ED VR, an old Sigma 70-210 / f2.8 APO and a Sigma DC 18-50 / f2.8 EX-D.

Feedback

First, scout for an interesting location, then learn at that location the different lighting scenarios in different seasons and choose what time of day best fits your needs. Second, make sure you have an interesting subject, -some help/extra hands- and experiment with different angles to get the style of image you'd like to capture. Third, try to position the subject closer or further away from the background - see what works. Fourth, shoot lots of pictures! (Memory is cheap....) Switch lenses to see what works at different focal lengths. Every lens also has it's own characteristics & color due to different coatings -as do different camera sensors-. LEARN YOUR GEAR AND YOUR SUBJECT -in this case: a horse- and know how to anticipate. Get out of Auto or P-mode and shoot in A-mode (Aperture priority) or M-mode (Manual), choose Centre-weighted light metering and Single/Center Focus point. (Half-press the shutter to hold focus & recompose if needed. In a large Aperture (shallow depth-of-field) make sure not to move too much in or out or the subject will be out of focus!) ....or do what I did: ALWAYS be observant to your surroundings and act quickly!!! ;-) For post-processing: ALWAYS SHOOT RAW (or RAW+JPEG) and learn what the limits (details and/or noise) of your camera are in Highlights and Shadows in a RAW processor. -For example Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop- EXPERIMENT, it might take you to images you never thought possible!

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Equine Portrait

Equine Portrait of Horse Mr. Darcy. Fuji S5Pro - Nikkor 50-1.8d

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow mneerwijk

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Equine Portrait of Horse Mr. Darcy.

Fuji S5Pro - Nikkor 50-1.8d

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