Saddling Up

[DrJekyl5]

I am fairly new to all of this, but eager to learn. I worked cattle this last weekend and got what I think are some decent shots. Let me know what yall think of this one.

[Robert_Lay]

The horizon is not level - it tilts down at the left.

Afraid I'm not much of a judge of saddles or horseflesh, so I will pass on the issues of "interest" and composition.

The lighting seems to be in your face and to the left.

Off to a bad start.

Not much good that one can say about a backlighted subject.

[tonydee]

Yes... to get the shadowed areas bright enough to see, you've overexposed the sky and made it a featureless white. If you really wanted to shoot from that side, you might have angled down onto the subject more so the shot didn't include any sky, but you'll still get a dull, flat shadowed area and some very bright or blown highlights. Best thing is to shoot from the other side.

Another issue is that you've effectively divided the picture into quarters... a generally better composition rule of thumb is to divide things into thirds - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

Cheers, Tony

[Nathan]

An option you could consider in situations like this is to expose for the sky as you would normally and use an ETTL flash to properly expose the subject.

[tonydee]

An option you could consider in situations like this is to expose for the sky as you would normally and use an ETTL flash to properly expose the subject.

So true, I'm often too lazy to take my flash (no built in on a 5D), so I've internalised the thinking of the flash-less... sorry to have omitted such good advice, and thanks for chipping in.

Cheers, Tony

[DrJekyl5]

Thank you all for your advice. Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

Scott

[Flo]

Wish the horse had been facing the pasture, that would have given me interest in what would be happening? The Bg really doesn't help, but you know that already;)

Any more horse shots?

[howaboutnow]

Hmmm... I'm feelin' the saddle and rope, but what about the rest of the horse? Had you maybe included the horse's head it would of been more interesting. Also, the background you have here is not complimenting your subject!!

Do you have anymore to share?

[GMHY]

Hmmm... I'm feelin' the saddle and rope, but what about the rest of the horse? Had you maybe included the horse's head it would of been more interesting. Also, the background you have here is not complimenting your subject!!

Do you have anymore to share?

Agree that the wooden structure behind the horses does not help.
Would also look better if the second horse had his head more upwards, especially when you deliberately crop out the head of the frontmost one.

[DrJekyl5]

To tell yall the truth, I did not really have the time to think this shot through. I was saddling up, getting ready to head out, and I wanted to take a picture of the new saddle. The horses were tied to the trailer, so I didn't have an option at the moment on sunrise placement. I was just hoping the picture would turn out decent on the fly. Given yalls advice, and the limited shot setup time, it seems that the best option would have been to open up the shot to include the entire horse (crop during PP if needed), expose for the sunrise, and fill foreground with flash. I am trying to figure out some way to carry my camera with me on horseback with it out of the way and protected, but have quick and easy access when needed. This is the first time I have had the camera out working cattle, and it got very very dusty. I used a UV filter and did not change lenses the whole time. I really enjoy working western type photography, but I do not have the extra cash to replace my camera or lenses from this type of abuse. Any suggestions? I am hoping for a time when I am not working to be able to go out and ride and just take photos.

[Nathan]

clear plastic bag and rubberbands to give your XSi better protection from the elements... or get body armor or something similar in case of bumps. It'll make it a bit cumbersome, but you are in an awfully dusty and potentially risky environment.

[DrJekyl5]

Here's another couple of pics from the week. I tried to PP these with a antique look to offset some of the blown highlights and shadows. My wife took the one of us pushing cows, so I can't take credit for that one. I would appreciate your take on these as well.

[tonydee]

I like these two... first one keeps the focus on the young boy's outward experience by not letting the viewer get too caught up in his expression, and while the fence can hide an eye here and there, making it harder to see the cattle which are the most interesting thing for me in the shot, the second one is still nicely composed and balanced, with a few elements (poles at right, fence between the two riders on our left) running into the photo and accentuating the distances. I normally argue fiercely for having things "grounded", but in this case cutting into the fence above ground doesn't bother me for some reason. I think the rest is compelling enough to pull the eye beyond the fence easily enough. Like the dusty feel of both. Cheers, Tony

[howaboutnow]

Nice composition on the last 2 you shared! I like how the boy is framed, and didn't realize what he was doing until I scrolled down, lol. The last one is very nice because of how the 4 men are behind the cattle, same distance apart!

[matonanjin]

I am going to be the contrarian here. First off, I do not like the composition of the boy branding. I think the arms in the upper left are distracting and I think if you had more of that guy lending direction it would have been better. I also think that unless you know what branding is, it is going to be difficult for the viewer to know what the dark blob is at the end of the branding iron. I do, because I spent a lot of summers branding on the Rosebud rez. Sorry, jmho.

I love the last one. As someone mentioned, the equal spacing of the four riders really give some spatial symetry (sp?) to this. The fence in front really gives you an idea of what is going on. I think it would be really easy to clone out the vehicle in the upper left and the closest telephone pole on right which would help. The toning on this really works.

Lastly and also conversely I like the first one. The late day sun, backlighting, give this a sense of day's end. I think some different cropping and curves adjustment to bring some more "snap" and attention to saddle would help. I think a wider crop with the entire horse would have been better if you can do it again. Or a tighter crop at the point of the horse's shoulder (I know that you know what that means:D) would be better.

Definitely print out the last one and hang it on your wall.