jaysnave Loc: Central Ohio

I am sticking with the original. I too considered cropping some of the foreground horse, but as Dave so eloquently described it adds so much depth and perspective and the leading lines created by the wooden poles attaching the sled add so much to the entire image.

I think the only thing wrong with this image is that when people were looking for an "On the Road" selection they saw horses and passed it by.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

[quote=kymarto]Here's a cropped version. I'm ambivalent about it. On the one hand, I think cutting out the body of the horse on the right brings emphasis to the horse on top the hill, but on the other hand I feel that it alters the compositional balance for the worse--puts the silhouetted horse too far to the right overall. I don't want to crop the cloud of condensation on the left either. It's not bad, but I'm not sure I prefer overall to the original. Both have pluses and minuses IMO.[/quote

Before ruling out the right-side crop, try a bit more...almost touching the back of the forelegs, Could be seen to improve over-all balance...or not...?
To my eye the mass of the right-hand horse in the original version put the whole image into distinct imbalance. With minimized mass it still serves well as a cue to good image depth.

Chacun a son gout !

Dave

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

[quote=Uuglypher][quote=kymarto]Here's a cropped version. I'm ambivalent about it. On the one hand, I think cutting out the body of the horse on the right brings emphasis to the horse on top the hill, but on the other hand I feel that it alters the compositional balance for the worse--puts the silhouetted horse too far to the right overall. I don't want to crop the cloud of condensation on the left either. It's not bad, but I'm not sure I prefer overall to the original. Both have pluses and minuses IMO.[/quote

Before ruling out the right-side crop, try a bit more...almost touching the back of the forelegs, Could be seen to improve over-all balance...or not...?
To my eye the mass of the right-hand horse in the original version put the whole image into distinct imbalance. With minimized mass it still serves well as a cue to good image depth.

Chacun a son gout !

Dave[/quote]

For me this unbalances the image--leaves too much mass on the right, too much sky on the left. YMMV

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

I agree that the horse on the right should be cropped off for two reasons. It is a dark object which draws the eye but is not doing anything to add to the story, and it has a nasty halo around it, which probably came from your attempts to darken the sky. As for the rest of the picture I would say "outstanding". It has action, drama, mystery, brilliant use of light, and great composition. What Minnie thought was a halo around the small horses is, in fact the horse's shadow. He is casting a shadow in his own steam. Excellent!