horse portrait light question

This image was shot in late afternoon shade with no direct light or flash. Does it work? I switched over a month or so ago and bought a 58 noct. Been playing with it wide open at 1.2. Comments appreciated on light and over all visual impact.

Thanks.

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The light looks good all except for the jaw. There the light is blown out and it draws my view straight to it, even when I try to look at the eye. The triangle of background in the top left corner also draws my attention, but that is a composition matter and not lighting.

I don't see any blown-out areas. I'd like to see the rest of its face though. Exposure looks good. More DOF would be nice too.

At about 8 o'clock from the eye there is a blown out region...not fatal but if you are looking for perfect, it is a flaw. Conceptually though it is an interstint shot though. Keep on with this.

Thanks everyone. The blown out spot isn't blown out in the sense of pushed to white, it is a high key and due to being the only surface getting direct light from that side. Every other surface is perpendicular to the light source. But I agree. It looks blown out and I thought about burning it down. Truth be told I want to re-shoot in better light and the stable is down the street. I was going for the wide open look as I get familiar with a new lens.

Light is good, DOf is the issue for me as well.Its a strange frame for me, either its the eye and forelock that is in focus, of the entire head.I like seeing the horses muzzle. He looks a bit startled as well.

DOF was a choice I made at that moment due to the nature of acquiring new gear. The horse came to me and was checking me out and mostly because I was near the hay feeding area! I had to continually move and trying to lock a focus manually on a moving target is well ... and exercise in futility.

jetcode wrote in post #14835818
DOF was a choice I made at that moment due to the nature of acquiring new gear. The horse came to me and was checking me out and mostly because I was near the hay feeding area! I had to continually move and trying to lock a focus manually on a moving target is well ... and exercise in futility.

Bring treats next time

Last time I did that I got a lecture from the owner of a different horse. Apparently a horse can eat itself to death. The digestive tracks are very different from humans and an over fed horse can die. I don't remember all the details. Obviously a little snack here and there is possible however from a liability standpoint I do not want to be the one responsible for an animals demise.

In terms of light the light is flat due to the shade. The next step is to mix light from shade with late sunlight hopefully in some pattern reflecting the shape of the trees the sun is coming through.

Joe, a slice of apple.not a tree:p They even have alfalfa cubes, perfect for horses.

Hand feeding horses can be dangerous to the person if they don't hold their hand flat. (I have been a horse owner for over 40 years.) When I was 8 years old, my first pony bit off part of my finger when I fed him a treat with my hand cupped. You learn very quickly what not to do. Plus many horses learn to nip from hand feeding. As far as the picture, I agree with Flo, zoom in on just the eye, or the whole head. Horses are a real challenge for me to photograph too!

I like it! Almost like a scary movie or something waiting to the fightened looking horse to have something happen to it!