Ride a Cock Horse
Part of the Fine Lady statue erected near to Banbury Cross (out of focus in the background) to commemorate the nursery rhyme:
Ride a cock horse to Banbury...
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Part of the Fine Lady statue erected near to Banbury Cross (out of focus in the background) to commemorate the nursery rhyme:
Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
She shall have music wherever she goes
Read less
Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
She shall have music wherever she goes
Read less
Mar, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken in Banbury, just outside the firm where I work. It personifies Banbury - the nursery rhyme Cock Horse overlooking the other symbol of Banbury, the Cross. Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross To see a fine lady upon a white horse With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes She shall have music wherever she goesTime
This was taken at March 15th 2016 at 1.37p.m. - in other words during my lunch hour.Lighting
The winter light was quite grey and weak, which made the colours on Banbury Cross very washed out as usually the colours are deep and rich. I wanted a dramatic image, with the horse being the stronger element, so decided to try to spot-focus on the horse, with the Cross being out of focus.Equipment
When I'm at work, I don't like to walk around with my full kit so generally in my handbag I have the very first Canon EOS-M mirrorless camera, usually with the 20mm f2.8. However occasionally I will put the adaptor on, as in this case, where I used the 50mm f1.4. The iso performance on the EOS-M1 is not great, so I try to keep below ISO400. This was taken at ISO 200, f4.5 and 1/200 and handheld. The image is uncropped, and as composed.Inspiration
As the Fine Lady Statue and Banbury Cross are literally yards from my office, I've taken a lot of images - particularly of the statue, which is quite striking. There are actually a series of images for sale in a local picture framers of various angles of the horse and its rider, and this image has also been used several times in local magazines. It was originally taken because I was taking part in a photography challenge in one of my online groups: this was "to illustrate a nursery rhyme".Editing
Because the light was so grey and the colours were quite weak, I decided to try a black and white conversion in Lightroom. I started with a Punch Black and White preset from Sleeklens, but that made the image very bright so there was quite a lot of dodging and burning. I also removed some distracting chimneys and several lamp posts.In my camera bag
What equipment I'm carrying really does depend on what idea I have in mind. However, my kit on the days when I'm working is usually the mirrorless Canon EOS-M mk 1 with the 20mm f2. It makes me think more and compose and focus with my feet instead of a zoom lens.Feedback
When I took the series of images of the Fine Lady Statue, I was looking to capture unusual angles and features of this much photographed object. If there's a statue or building that's often photographed by tourists, it's worth looking for something slightly out of the ordinary. In the case of this statue, there is a small frog on the plinth of the statue which isn't mentioned in the nursery rhyme, but is the maker's trademark. Other beautiful details on this statue include the rings on her fingers and, of course, the bells on her toes! The detail of her hair and the hidden butterflies and flowers are also beautiful.
