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Colorado Sorrel



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Pretty sorrel nicely posed for portrait amid Colorado high mesa prairie.

Pretty sorrel nicely posed for portrait amid Colorado high mesa prairie.
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Behind The Lens

Location

This area is currently an open pasture area for an adjacent, not for profit horse stable. This pretty one was enjoying the lovely, October afternoon romp between the major roads and commuter rail line Northwest of Green Valley Ranch housing development, near Denver International Airport and Pena Boulevard. This field will likely disappear under retail and residential development creeping in on three sides.

Time

On the way home from work, I stopped and watched this pretty horse enjoying the warmth of a late fall afternoon. The low angle sun was almost ready to disappear behind the Colorado Front Range ridges to the west.

Lighting

This late afternoon, ruddy, low angle light was created great red tones for the red toned coat. as the setting sun was preparing to drop behind the ridges of the Colorado Rocky Mountain Front Range. Also, the borderline Golden Hour light provided wonderful tones to highlight the tawny, dry prairie grasses across the pasture.

Equipment

I was using my Sony Alpha58 SLR with a post purchase, 55-300mm, f/4.3-5.6, Sony zoom lens. I was standing just outside the pasture's3-strand, barbed wire, while this one cavorted about 50 yards into the field. The added magnification came in very handy to get up-close for enough details and limiting the amount of open prairie landscape included in the image.

Inspiration

I was looking for opportunities and caught this cavorting horse by following the maxim, "When shooting in one direction, turn around and shoot there, also." I had spotted a hawk perched on my side of the road and had shot a series of him in the treetop. Looking behind me this pretty one was romping around the open section of pasture. I watched and photographed him for several minutes, while waiting for him to get used to me in the area and to approach me.

Editing

At the time I was using Picasa for most of my post work, I cropped in about one-third to remove the barbed wire fence and to reduce the foreground negative space. I also brought up the reds and saturation to separate this pretty boy from the bokeh sky and clouds background.

In my camera bag

ly carry either one of two SLR cameras or my Android phone as my work requires covering large areas of Colorado on a daily basis. This day I was carrying only my Sony Alpha58, my 18-65 mm f/2.3 Sony kit lens, and my Sony 65-300mm, f/4.3-5.6 zoom lens. The day had been quite sunny so additional equipment would have been too much to carry for low likelihood of use.

Feedback

Be prepared and look all around. I had carried my camera for several days before the hawk opportunity was noted and I stopped. As I finished several shots of him, I turned around, observed this horse and a couple of others cavorting across the street. After turning around and parking, I did not rush out. From hunting deer, I had learned to be deliberate and to move slowly and smoothly, when approaching animals. Take time to observe, if possible, and plan what you will do.

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