'Branching' into equine

Hi all, I did a woodland shoot with a friend recently and over all I was happy with the results, I'd love some feedback on what you would do differently. I feel like I'm missing something

urbanfreestyle wrote in post #17977946
Hi all, I did a woodland shoot with a friend recently and over all I was happy with the results, I'd love some feedback on what you would do differently. I feel like I'm missing something

Hosted photo: posted by urbanfreestyle in
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forum: Critique Corner

Yes. In this first one, you're missing part of the horse. That sounds snotty, but I mean it seriously. I think the image would be much stronger if it included more at the left. The horse looks accidentally cut off.

Thanks for the feedback, it was purposefull to miss that bit as i wanted to feel like they were walking into the frame but i take it on-board, will make sure to include it next time to see how it comes out

The jumping pic is my pick. Did you use flash? There is a strong catchlight in the horses eye - I might reduce or remove that.

Seems to me you are using too shallow DOF too much seems OOF - the last could doo with in-focus horse face.

Lighting is very overhead - may be better early or late in the day - or slightly

I would reduce the size of your logo and remve the second line.

Cheers!

Thanks for the reply , i was using a 5 in 1 reflector on gold for the jumping pic so that could be the reason.
So more DOF? would you say that for all of them or...?
The shoot was pretty much mid-day (1pm ish) so lighting was quite harsh. I find it hard to get the contrasty pop you get from direct sunlight on an overcast day / time. Maybe it is just poor technique on my part?

Thanks for the feedback on the logo, i might taker it down in size as i don't want to get rid of the 2nd line.

Only my opinions

The jumping one looks so much better to me and almost everything is in focus.

Shallow DOF is much sought after, but i'm sure isdoesn't always make a better picture.

I appreciate the feedback I get what you mean, I did miss focus a few times, was shooting a lot with my vintage 55mm f1.7 lens (manual) so still learning. Room for improvement

urbanfreestyle wrote in post #17977970
Thanks for the feedback, it was purposefull to miss that bit as i wanted to feel like they were walking into the frame but i take it on-board, will make sure to include it next time to see how it comes out

I like the framing of that one. I don't think we need to see all of the horse. We all know what a horse looks like and can fill in the blanks. I think where the horse is cut off works as well.

I'm not loving the framing on the second one. I want to see more, somewhere. I'm just not sure where.

I think there are some issues as a result of the way the photographs are being rendered on the forum. I'm seeing some weirdness as far as softness and artifacts go.

neacail wrote in post #17990414
I think there are some issues as a result of the way the photographs are being rendered on the forum. I'm seeing some weirdness as far as softness and artifacts go.

Thanks for the feedback, not sure it is the forum to be honest, That lens gives some REALLY weird CA and softness