WPC 1435 - Labor of Love CRITIQUE: cam20000 has volunteered their WPC Entry to the Photo Critique Forum* to find out what could have done to make it better. Be nice, but be honest as...

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

cam20000 has volunteered their WPC Entry to the Photo Critique Forum* to find out what could have done to make it better. Be nice, but be honest as this will help everyone with their craft. Thank you everyone!

From WPC 1435 - Labor of Love RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/photo_contest_ratings.jsp?pcnum=133

* If you are new to the Photo Critique Forum please read the Section Rules http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-159520-1.html

Pulling weights at the Fair in a contest; this horse got caught up in the equipment & started to panic. His owner came running over to calm him down. The love shown ...and dedication to this "team" was increadble

(Download)

MtnMan Loc: ID

St3v3M wrote:

cam20000 has volunteered their WPC Entry to the Photo Critique Forum* to find out what could have done to make it better. Be nice, but be honest as this will help everyone with their craft. Thank you everyone!

From WPC 1435 - Labor of Love RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/photo_contest_ratings.jsp?pcnum=133

* If you are new to the Photo Critique Forum please read the Section Rules http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-159520-1.html

I love the composition.

I'd like to see the horse's eye brightened and sharpened.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Like MtnMan, I'd also like to see some more work on the eye, and perhaps the crop on the top is a little tight. Are the ears all there in the original?

birdpix Loc: South East Pennsylvania

I am struggling with how to put this without sounding mean because that is not my intent. A photograph like this needs to stand on its own compositionally and not be totally dependent on the caption for it to make sense. The exceptions to this are news and editorial photos that need a caption to explain the context or importance of the scene.

When I look at this photo I see a poor photo of a horse with the back of a man's head in front of it. He could be adjusting the horse's bridle for all I can tell. Perhaps others see it differently.

How could it be improved? Perhaps a different angle that showed the man's face and the emotion on it. Could you have zoomed out to show the people trying to untangle the harness and giving us more context about what was happening?

As it stands, the photo has meaning to you because you were there and understood the circumstances. To the general public, it only has context if they read the caption. You haven't communicated that through the picture.

winterrose Loc: Kyneton, Victoria, Australia

St3v3M wrote:

cam20000 has volunteered their WPC Entry to the Photo Critique Forum* to find out what could have done to make it better. Be nice, but be honest as this will help everyone with their craft. Thank you everyone!

From WPC 1435 - Labor of Love RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/photo_contest_ratings.jsp?pcnum=133

* If you are new to the Photo Critique Forum please read the Section Rules http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-159520-1.html

I rarely make this sort of comment but as I have a distinct soft spot for these magnificent animals I recognize the bond shown here.

It is a moment which I have myself experienced but as it was much in the past I did not at first understand the situation.

The explanation is important therefore even for someone who has been there.

With no explanation the image would possibly be somewhat lacking as a stand alone.

Technically the shot is underexposed and lacks contrast.

cam20000 Loc: NH

St3v3M wrote:

cam20000 has volunteered their WPC Entry to the Photo Critique Forum* to find out what could have done to make it better. Be nice, but be honest as this will help everyone with their craft. Thank you everyone!

From WPC 1435 - Labor of Love RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/photo_contest_ratings.jsp?pcnum=133

* If you are new to the Photo Critique Forum please read the Section Rules http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-159520-1.html

I tried to sharpen up the photo and blurred the frame. I agree that without the caption this photo would have less meaning. I like the fact that the "crowd" is faded exposing just the two showing the bond and trust so strong between them. I would have loved to capture more eye on the horse. A reflection of his owner ( in his eye) would have been perfect.

cam20000 Loc: NH

MtnMan wrote:

I love the composition.

I'd like to see the horse's eye brightened and sharpened.

Thank you for looking and commenting on this photo MtmMan. I sharpened the photo and blurred the edge. I am not sure how to lighten specific areas or the software to use it ..but totally agree. I wish that the horses eye looked larger as it looks small for the picture & a reflection of the owner would have been perfect.

If you have the "software" to brighten/sharpen the eye ; I would love to see it . Thank you , Heidi

cam20000 Loc: NH

jaymatt wrote:

Like MtnMan, I'd also like to see some more work on the eye, and perhaps the crop on the top is a little tight. Are the ears all there in the original?

Unfortunately jaymatt I made a mistake and didn't make a copy. I totally agree with your comment and will back up my originals in the future. Thank you for looking and your comment

cam20000 Loc: NH

birdpix wrote:

I am struggling with how to put this without sound... (show quote)

I tried to sharpen up the photo and blurred the frame. I agree that without the caption this photo would have less meaning. I like the fact that the "crowd" is faded exposing just the two showing the bond and trust so strong between them. I would have loved to capture more eye on the horse. A reflection of his owner ( in his eye) would have been perfect.

I like the composition of this photo but agree that a slightly different angle (more sidewards) could have improved the shot and "meaning"

I will take your critiques into the future and Thank you for comments :thumbup:

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

cam20000 wrote:

Thank you for looking and commenting on this photo MtmMan. I sharpened the photo and blurred the edge. I am not sure how to lighten specific areas or the software to use it ..but totally agree. I wish that the horses eye looked larger as it looks small for the picture & a reflection of the owner would have been perfect.

If you have the "software" to brighten/sharpen the eye ; I would love to see it . Thank you , Heidi

To this retired veterinarian that back-story makes this a definite "grabber" . I think focus and exposure are spot on, given the lighting of an apparently overcast day with barely perceptible shadows.
And i agree about the cut-off ears.

Dave in SD

cam20000 Loc: NH

winterrose wrote:

I rarely make this sort of comment but as I have a... (show quote)

Hello winterrose. Thank you for looking and commenting on this photo. I sharpened the photo and blurred somewhat around the edge. I totally agree that a different angle could improve this shot with cropping not so tight. Unfortunately I made the mistake of not making a copy first. I would have loved to have shown a larger eye on this magnificent beast with his owners image reflecting.

It was emotional to watch. The horse pulling is my favorite part of the fairs & wish the photo could stand on its own. I will think more about how to capture emotions rather then to just explain them in the future. Thank you for your comments :D

cam20000 Loc: NH

Uuglypher wrote:

To this retired veterinarian that back-story makes this a definite "grabber" . I think focus and exposure are spot on, given the lighting of an apparently overcast day with barely perceptible shadows.
And i agree about the cut-off ears.

Dave in SD

Thank you for looking and commenting Uuglypher and your services to these (and other) "magnificent beasts" I agree with the cropping and possibly a slightly different angle to show the intense, emotional support from both the owner and horse here at the fair. Both are dirty,sweaty, solid and Hairy.

As I said the horse got tangled in all the equipment , started to panic and frail ; breaking some of it. He was most defiantly going to get hurt. The owner ran from the crowd grabbing the halter and gazed straight into his eye's, for a one on one eye contact. This calmed the stead immediately. The trust and relationship between this man and his horse was stunning to watch. I wish that it was shown here more without the wording . I will try to make more of an attempt to show in photo where words need no explanation. Thank you for taking your time to look at this photo and add your comments

Nightski

Cam2000 ... before you even explained this, I knew something special was going on between the man and that horse .. by his body posture .. by the way he is holding the horse's face to his .. I knew it was a special moment and you captured it wonderfully. I don't need to see the expression on his face. Now, I may have guessed the wrong expression, but that is what is special about pics like these. Everyone can come away with their own story. Nicely focuse, good use of DOF, and exposed properly. Nicely done.

cam20000 Loc: NH

Nightski wrote:

Cam2000 ... before you even explained this, I knew... (show quote)

Thank you so much for you kind comment Nightski- I love your work ..sometimes we look too close to detail and need to leave somethings up to our own imagination . :thumbup:

MtnMan Loc: ID

cam20000 wrote:

Thank you for looking and commenting on this photo MtmMan. I sharpened the photo and blurred the edge. I am not sure how to lighten specific areas or the software to use it ..but totally agree. I wish that the horses eye looked larger as it looks small for the picture & a reflection of the owner would have been perfect.

If you have the "software" to brighten/sharpen the eye ; I would love to see it . Thank you , Heidi

Happy to give it a try. Please upload using "store original". Working on the relatively small thumbnail usually doesn't work so well.

I will try a couple of approaches. The one I use most often is the radial filter in Lightroom. It lets you set up a selection over the eye and sharpen and brighten it. The selection can be made to be an ellipse and you can angle it when necessary to roughly get the eye. You can feather the selection as well. The second is to do essentially the same thing with a selection in Photoshop. You can also do it that way in Photoshop Elements.