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A cowboy leads his horse up a grassy hillside during sunset. Photo taken near Shell, Wyoming.

A cowboy leads his horse up a grassy hillside during sunset. Photo taken near Shell, Wyoming.
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upload_dateFeb, 2016

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Awards

Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 22
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
2020 Choice Award
Contest Finalist in Orange Is The Color Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in A Horse And I Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Silhouettes And Negative Space Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in The Power and Grace of Horses Photo Contest
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Spring Selection Award
People's Choice in The Golden Hours Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in Covers Photo Contest Vol 27
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Superb Composition
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Absolute Masterpiece
jdmarks64 minabagheri Tewa_27 qweqweqwe meganeliseblice paulhomer Harrison_mn +85
Top Choice
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Outstanding Creativity
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Genius
RHRatcliffe Stellasview terrysigns13 Shelli-BBPCHGO TanyaJTimmons1967 xyxy78i

Emotions

Impressed
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10 Comments |
Hedde
 
Hedde February 15, 2016
Excellent silhouette! Really liking this!
mwagstaff
 
mwagstaff February 25, 2016
Thanks for entering this photo into my 'silhouettes challenge'. I'm almost at the point of having to pick a winner out of 100's of entries, but at least wanted to say "I love it" and it's in my top 5 shortlist. Much editing, or is the shot pretty much as you took it?
chelseatischler
chelseatischler March 02, 2016
Hi - just sent you a note about this. Sorry for the slow response, I've been off the grid photographing in the Serengeti for the last few weeks. Not much editing; I deliberately photographed the scene a bit overexposed to preserve data and then brought back the color in post to what we saw. Thank you so much for considering my image!
jimhelmick
 
jimhelmick February 27, 2016
Excellent catch. Looks like the end of a hard day.
DutchTouch Platinum
 
DutchTouch March 12, 2016
Beautiful capture of the feel of the American West!
JDLifeshots
 
JDLifeshots March 12, 2016
Great capture! Congrats.
joycealicesmith
 
joycealicesmith March 12, 2016
Great capture! Congratulations on winning People's Choice!
ttelfair
 
ttelfair June 23, 2017
Love it!
Arisdaeng
 
Arisdaeng June 27, 2017
coolllll
MRueffer PRO+
 
MRueffer August 06, 2017
Superb
nrj_19
 
nrj_19 February 11, 2018
In love with this photo! Congrats!

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#silhouette #usa #cowboy #animal #horse #orange #sunset #companion #mammal
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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken at a ranch near Shell, Wyoming in 2012.

Time

The image was captured at peak sunset color, around 5pm.

Lighting

My goal was to capture the silhouette of the cowboy and horse walking up the hill in warm, rich sunset light, but the light was still quite strong on the horizon. In order to cut down on some of the sunlight, I moved to a lower position on the hill in order to avoid actually having the sun in my photo, thus washing out the background. From the perspective of a lower camera position, the sun - which was already low in the sky at the time - was actually blocked by the hill, and I was able to achieve a nice silhouette. With a lower camera angle, the silhouette of the tall grass also played a larger role in the composition.

Equipment

I used a Canon 1Ds Mark III with a Canon EF 100-400L IS USM lens. I photographed the image hand-held at 1/500 sec, f/8, and ISO 200.

Inspiration

When I captured this image in 2012, I was pregnant with my daughter and was experimenting/practicing with some personal work while I still had the ability to travel. I've always been drawn to the culture and lifestyle of the American West, and I worked with ranchers during my trip to build that part of my portfolio.

Editing

Yes. This image has been cropped and I have removed a dust speck in post processing. In addition to that, I deliberately overexposed the photo in-camera in order to preserve as much data as possible, and then I brought the exposure down again in post. (I do this because there is more image data in whites than in blacks). I did increase the saturation and warmth, but only to bring my raw file back to how the sunset appeared.

In my camera bag

When this photo was taken, I was just starting out in photography and didn't have much equipment at all; in fact, I just recently sold the camera that I used to create this image. These days, however, I have an ever-expanding arsenal of Canon gear. I use a 1DX Mark II, 5DSR, 5D Mark III, EF 200-400 F/4L (wildlife only), EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L, 70-200 f/2.8L, 24-105 f/4L, 17-40 f/4L. When photographing clients at home, I normally use my 85 f/1.2L, 50 f/1.2L, or 35 f/1.4L, all Canon. I also have a Canon 100m prime/macro lens that I use from time to time.

Feedback

In order to create a silhouette with great color, you need to put your subject in front of a light source without clipping the highlights. In a scenario with relatively bright light like the one for this photo, try adjusting your camera's position and/or angle with respect to the light source to block out areas that may be too bright or causing lens flare (like the sun, for example). While it is true that there is more data in the whites than in the blacks, you can lose the highlight data completely if certain areas are too bright. There are many ways to create great silhouettes in lots of different lighting scenarios, however, so I offer this more general advice: Consider how the "feeling" of the composition changes with respect to changes in light quality, light quantity, light direction, camera angle, distance from the subject, etc. How do all of these factors contribute to your image's impact? Control what you can control. Don't be afraid to get on the ground or step on a stool; change your perspective to get the shot that YOU want.

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