Shy
Shy - Is the title of this photo.
IMG_2521x_DxO_1 file name
Jul, 2016Views
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Awards
Chatter Award
Top Shot Award 22
Legendary Award
Contest Finalist in Black And White Compositions Photo Contest vol3
Contest Finalist in The Power and Grace of Horses Photo Contest
Member Selection Award
People's Choice in Black and White Beauties Photo Challenge
Summer Selection
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
Genius
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Categories
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VenueImages
July 28, 2016
Thank you all for reviewing this photo. It is one of my favorites, and I enjoy that you all find it as pleasing as well.
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npstorms
September 09, 2018
Very defently love it. Great shadowing. Nothing like this beautiful shot. Great Job.
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken just out side of Mt Rainer National Park, on a private small ranch Bed and Breakfast.Time
It was a cold, sunny morning and it has just snowed. I was staying at a Bead and Breakfast adjacent to the ranch but they shared the same barn. The horse was initially outside warming in the morning sun when I disturbed her. She is a shy creature and slowly retreated into her barn. I walked over and waited, just outside her stall. Eventually she came out...that is when I captured this shot.Lighting
A bit of luck never hurts. In this case the sun was shining into the barn lighting much of the area; but not directly behind her head. That area is dark on the RAW file. The horse being white, there was still a big difference between the barn rails and her face. That enabled me (in post) to reduce the shadows to create this dramatic look. If you look closely, you can see that her left face is almost blown out bright; horizontal morning light. That should be an indication of how much I pulled in the shadows down on the rail. I then created a vignette around the rest of the barn area that I wanted completely dark. She had two pieces of straw hanging from her mouth - I clone stepped those out. The morning light really lite those straw bites and it was oddly distracting.Equipment
Canon EOS 7D with a 17-55mm EF-S f2.8 lens at 55mm. 1/320s, f2.8, ISO 640. I use DXO Pro10 for RAW post processing.Inspiration
I love traveling and staying in Bed and Breakfast lodging. They offer unique opportunities that hotel may not. The people there, may also set you off in one direction or the other. I went to that morning photograph a white house standing in silhouette in the snow. I came home with a shy horse peaking around the corner. Loved it!Editing
Yes - This is shot in RAW. I greatly deepened the blacks and shadows as described in the lighting section. I cropped the scene so the horse was off center trying to follow the rule of thirds. This also made the fence railing leading lines and not distracting lines.In my camera bag
Just my 7D and 17-55 lens. Don't carry a lot. Too much gear makes me focus my thoughts on gear and not photography.Feedback
Generally, for nature shots I try to expose for 'data' and not shadow/highlight balance; I do the balancing in post. Most of y photos are exposed this way. If I had used that approach here, I would not have bee able to get the deep blacks that this shot used. I exposed for her face instead. She was a little jumpy, so I opted for a faster shutter than smaller aperture for better depth of field. This photo, from the beginning is about a subject. When shooting a subject, I spot meter what I want to become the subject. In this case, her right face. That made her left bright instantly giving me some shadows to play with; since it was a spot meter, you don't have to check the image on the camera. You can wait and focus your thoughts on creating other shots. This was the third shot is a series for her sneaking about the barn. If I had not spot metered, I would have always been checking the back light exposure; not watching her. Keep in mind, the barn is not the subject, but the wooden rail adds leading lines to our subject. Average metering would have exposed the wall behind. In short, find what is interesting, and wait. Sometimes, patients and being quite and observant will allow other possibilities to mature. Don't focus your attention on gear, use your heart instead. .... that is a skill I am attempting to acquire.
