Horse Pic

[dod]

For obvious enough reasons I wonder if you'd be kind enough to critique this please. The harsher the better

 

[neos]

hi dod, it's a lovely pic, but i wonder if you have one whre the body of the horse is visible in the area to the right. I think that may be more balanced. Also think it might be a bit on the light side, almost losing detail in the fringe.

Wonky horizons are a pet hate of mine, but others may disagree.

But nevertheless, as i said, it's a lovely pic and ideal for the purpose it was taken.

 

[SammyC]

Background is a bit dull. Maybe nothing better was available but you possibly could have lost the barn (or whatever it is) from view.

Good bit of horse action there none the less.

 

[CT]

Sod's Law says it was going to be a white (OK - grey) horse for your first assignment. One of my early assignments was a series of pictures of a black Porsche and I forgot to allow extra exposure for that in the buzz at the time. The customer was happy enough, but the shots could have been better.

It's a nice shot mate, and thankfully, customers aren't as critical of our stuff as we are ourselves - I'm sure she'll be pleased with it and you've nothing to reproach yourself for. You're just tending towards over exposure around the top of the head there and you've done a good job with the processing. If you could just bring out the contrast a little between that bit of white mane falling forwards from between the ears and the underlying grey forehead it would be spot on.

You've got the angle much the same as I'd have done, slightly below the horse's eye level, but as this a close up portrait shot I'd have gone for a completely none distracting and as plain a background as possible , either totally against the sky or totally against the green foliage and as oof as possible - not for a combination of the two.

You've left sufficent space to the right of the horse for good composition, but as Neos mentioned that same space looks a little empty towards the bottom of the pic. If you could have moved to the right and got the horse's shoulder in shot with his head turning to look at you, you'd have had perfect compostion, but hey! this is working with animals! It can be very difficult if not nigh on imposssble

The more you do this stuff the more you realise that background is everything, and you become very aware of distractions like that building on the right when you're framing your shots.

I've only been this critical because I know it's what you want mate. It's a good first job well done and I'm sure the customer will be very pleased with it! :thumb:

 

[dod]

Thanks guys. Taking everything that's been said into account what's your views on this manipulation. This is a rough and ready edit, poor selection etc. But does the principle improve the picture, does it look un natural etc?

Thanks for the critique

 

[Marcel]

It looks unnatural in that, as you say, it's a rough and ready (and therefore very evident) selection. All down the horses left side of the face (ie our right), is now blurry and out of touch with the rest of the face, and the ears look like a rough cut.
However, I like the background though, much better.

One thing I would suggest, regardless of the cutting, is crop the dead area down the right hand side, or at least some of it. It's making it a bit unbalanced for me

 

[CT]

Doddy that's a seriously big job you're contemplating! To get that background looking realistic, natural and not too uniform is going to be difficult. You're also going to have a lot of difficulty retaining the whiskers and eyelashes etc. It's a good pic as it stands, and I'm not peeing up your leg - it is! I'd leave well alone. What you could do is lose that building on the right. Other than that just use selective feathered masks to get the pic how you think it looks best. You can subdue or increase background brightness etc, to you own tastes.

I just had a quick, and I mean quick, bodge at your pic. I've lost some of those stray hairs between the ears and down the mane just for a tidier look.

 

[CT]

I woudn't crop it on the right, you just don't have room but you could try slightly cropping at top and bottom which daft as its sounds might reduce the impact of the space a litle but remember to retain the 3:2 ratio if you're going for a 9x6 print.

You're worrying too much - the pic is fine, don't knock yourself out.

 

[dod]

the pic is fine, don't knock yourself out.

My wife just gave me that verdict as well Basically she says that she would be happy with it, and that's an achievement

And you're right, selecting the whiskers is a BIG job, especially if it's to look natural against the background when finished. To be honest I'm not sure that I've got the skill to do it properly.

Marcel, I prefer the green background as well, unfortunately this time I'm going to leave it and put it down to experience for the next time, if there is one.

Thanks all

 

[Marcel]

CT's right, the pic is fine, and if I were you I'd be pleased.
As long as the customer is happy, that is all that matters.

I suggested removing the green bit as I was trying to be, I suppose, overly critical. But criticism is a subjective thing. One man's steed is another man's donkey, so to speak It's horses for courses...(Sorry I'll stop now).

 

[dod]

As puns go, neigh bad!!

You were right to suggest it Marcel, I've learnt a lot from this one photo, thanks