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DaveCurtin

The Alpha

Captured in: Corolla, NC.

Here's one I wanted to share with you from my recent trip to the Outer Banks... During my stay, I had a chance to ...
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Captured in: Corolla, NC.

Here's one I wanted to share with you from my recent trip to the Outer Banks... During my stay, I had a chance to photograph a herd of wild horses living on the beaches of Corolla... The horses seen here are wild Spanish Mustangs, and are unique to both Corolla and Currituck counties in North Carolina.

These two horses had just broken off from two larger groups, and initiated a brief battle for supremacy -- not to mention act on their desire to impress any prospective mates. By the end of their tussle, it became pretty apparent which one was the alpha.

I understand these types of battles are quite common along this stretch of beach, especially considering May is their typical mating season... Although these types of battles can result in injuries to one or both of the involved horses (mostly from kicking or biting), often it just leaves one horse taking a very long walk of shame.

It was a pretty amazing opportunity to see these guys living so freely on the beach, and have a brief glimpse into their behaviors in the wild.

* * * * * * * * * *

"The Alpha" is a non-HDR image that was processed using a combination of ACR, Photoshop and various Topaz Labs Plugins (Adjust, AI Clear, AI Sharpen, Denoise, Glow, and Impression).
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Canon EOS 7D Mark II

settings

Aperture f/11 ISO 200 Shutter 1/500 Focal Length 400/1

location

Corolla, North Carolina, US

upload_date

Feb, 2020

Views

395

Likes

+53

Awards

Winner in Wonderful horses Photo Challenge

Peer Award

+18

Top Choice

Absolute Masterpiece

Superb Composition

Magnificent Capture

Outstanding Creativity

All Star

Genius

Superior Skill

Emotions

Impressed

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

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Top 10 rank week 1

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Top 10 rank week 1

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Top 30 rank

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Top 30 rank week 1

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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo during a recent trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I was fortunate to have an opportunity to photograph a herd of wild horses living on the beaches in the town of Corolla... The horses seen here are wild Spanish Mustangs, and are unique to both Corolla and Currituck counties in the Outer Banks (OBX).

Time

My friend and I made it to the beach for sunrise, but the horses didn't work their way down to the water until well after 9am. This particular shot was captured just about a half hour later.

Lighting

The sun was beginning to get a bit strong at the time the image was captured, but fortunately there were some thin clouds around (in the right parts of the sky) to help diffuse the light a bit. My hope was to photograph these wild horses right at the golden hour, but they definitely had other plans. As it turned out, I'm so glad that we waited around as a herd arrived for a late morning photo op.

Equipment

This image was captured handheld with a Canon 7D Mark II and an EF 100-400mm lens at a 400mm distance. North Carolina law requires that you stay a minimum of 50 feet from the horses, so it's important to have a long enough lens when trying to photograph them on the beach.

Inspiration

I was inspired by my friend who had previously been to Corolla to photograph these wild horses. I saw some of his photographs from that trip and knew I had to see the beauty of these creatures first hand. He joined me for a visit on this one particular morning, and it was an encounter that I'll never forget.

Editing

I typically will do a number of post-processing edits on my images, but tried to keep this shot as close to the natural scene as possible. My main processing work included noise reduction using Topaz Labs' Denoise AI and sharpening with the Topaz Sharpen AI plugin. I also tweaked the exposure (dropping the intensity of the highlights and opening the shadows a bit), color tones and contrast in Adobe camera raw. I made some additional changes by employing adjustment layers in Photoshop along with a few spot healing brush edits as well.

In my camera bag

My primary camera is the Canon 5D Mark IV DSLR, but I had rented the 7D Mark II for this trip. I had a number of different wildlife subjects that I was interested in photographing while in the OBX (birds, bears and horses), and the FPS count on the 7D was a good bit faster than my 5D Mark IV. I had a number of different lenses with me as well, including my standard go to's: EF 16-35mm f/4, 24-105mm f/4 and 70-200mm f/2.8. I also love my EF 100mm f2.8 prime lens which I enjoy for macro photography. I carry a Manfrotto carbon fiber tripod that's always with me, and with a Platypod max for a different, low to the ground perspective. I also never leave home without my variable 10-stop ND filter to help with long exposures or a polarizing filter -- you just never know when a shot is going to call for it.

Feedback

I'm always learning something new when it comes to wildlife photography, and by no means do I consider myself an utmost authority on the subject. You'll find me attending a wildlife photography workshop way before I'd be leading one. That said, I do know that when you're trying to photograph wildlife you must pack your patience along with your gear. I had this whole plan to photograph these horses with a backdrop of pastel colors in blue hour, then with the rising sun in the background, and finally basking in the glow of golden hour... Unfortunately the horses were a no show that early morning. I had done my homework before arriving... I spoke with a local expert, looked online for info on their daily routines, locations, normal feeding schedules, seasonal habits, etc., to give myself the best possible chance at success. It just didn't work out exactly to plan and I needed the patience to stick around to see if something else would materialize. In this case patience produced a late morning opportunity that I never expected, but will always remember.

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DaveCurtin

The Alpha