my neigh-bor

In a neighbor's pasture:

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<B>horse, evening light</B> - Sacramento County California

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<I>Leicaflex SL, 400mm f/6.8 Telyt-R, shoulder stock & monopod,

K64</I>

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Comments and critique are always welcome.

Beautiful, Douglas.

 

In the age of EDIFAFSVRIS etc lenses, you are set a great example as to what one can do with good optics, good eyes and clear head.

Great shot, Doug. It's amazing how the catchlight in the eye transforms what could almost be an abstract grouping of tones into a portrait of a clearly sentient being. The catchlight is far less than 1% of the total picture area but, in my opinion, makes all the difference. Makes me wonder what he's thinking.

<I>"Makes me wonder what he's thinking."</I>

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probably something like "Oats? Clover? Apple core?" Horses rarely think of more than eating and whether the plastic bag rustling in the weeds is going to eat them.

<I>"Horses rarely think ..."</i>

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Make that "<I>Geldings</I> rarely think ..."

Jonathan Davis wrote: <I>"The catchlight is far less than 1% of the total picture area but, in my opinion, makes all the difference"</I>

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Jonathan, I hadn't thought of that before but now that you've pointed it out I agree.

Great to see you here again Douglas. Someone said on another thread that you had gone to another forum. I'm very happy that you are still here.

To any of the newcomers to this Forum, let it be known that Doug Herr

is one of the finest wildlife photographers in the world. (As well

as an all around good guy to Leica users)

 

Jerry Lehrer

Love that Kodachrome look1

Douglas is the best advertisement for what can be accomplished with the 400/6.8 and related visoflex/R Telyt lenses.

 

Can't help humming that tune "momma don't take my kodachromes away". :-)

"To any of the newcomers to this Forum, let it be known that Doug Herr is one of the finest wildlife photographers in the world. (As well as an all around good guy to Leica users)"

 

I had an interesting encounter with Doug in the Nikon forum. Even long before that, I was very aware of his work and the examples he displays in his website.

 

I still maintain that he is a great inspiration in this age of EDIFAFSVRGIS, etc world.

When I was in college, I worked for a horse vet who, after being stepped on for the umpteenth time, said that horses are small animals being chased by a very large animal that is firmly attached at the neck. He once had a mare lie down on him in a stall, pinning him for a good while until someone went and got her favorite goat. Which reminds me - in the old days of slaughterhouses, the horses wouldn't go into the killing room because they could tell that bad things happened in there. So the men would keep a goat, and the goat would calm the horses enough that they would follow the goat into the killing room. They used to call that goat a Judas goat. Hard to tell whether horses are dumb or stubborn or perhaps even smart sometimes.

 

Nice photo. Would be nice to see others.

<B><I>my neigh-bor</I></B><P>

 

I love puns, nice one. Nice photo also.

Great, Doug.

Thanks for the comments and compliments. I'm wondering about a slight crop to 8X10 proportions, trimming only on the right side. Whaddyathink?

Nah, Doug, leave it as it is. It's perfect.

 

feli

Edifafsvrgis? Sounds like a Lithuanian surname. Could you Lett us in on your secret code?

 

Beautiful picture Doug. Wonderful to see your name (and photos!) on this forum

<br>respectfully, could the contributors of this thread please explain why this image is particularly endearing? I am not seeing any of the qualities of light, colour, nor composition that the POW by Francisco Hoyos has, that pulls me into the image. I find all these qualities captured in Francisco's resplendent D70 image, and yet Douglas's contribution strikes me as a nondescript, long-telephoto, image without any connection between subject and photographer, or other contextual quality to relate with.<br><br>

I admit to enjoying birds more than horses, but I don't think that is the obstacle to my appreciation.

Doug,

 

I was thinking exactly the same. The photo is great but there is something slightly disconcerting about the way the hair is ruffled on the right hand side, or perhaps just too much darkness which somehow detracts from the beautiful smoothness and powerful tranquility of the rest of the image. Sorry if this sounds a little bit poetic but I can not find better words.

Why is it a terrific picture? It captures your attention and holds it. It conveys strength, appropriate for a horse picture. And in a clever and fascinating way, Doug has photographed a relatively tiny portion of the animal, not even its whole face, and in so doing he has conveyed the message "horse", which will mean different things to different observers. Somehow, the essence of his subject is felt via that small selective sample.

 

And it ain't trite.

 

Julian

great photo, not so sure about some of the dismissive comments about horses

I think the one eye and highlights off the muzzle really caught my attention. Maybe I need to give my 400 Telyt more exercise. I liked the endearing quality of this photo. And yes, Doug, a crop might improve the composition.

I see this has become a critique thread so ..... I have several observations which I would like to express.

 

First, this is a picture of a horse that looks like a real horse. If you've seen a real horse you know that the colors are horse colors. This fact is lost on some people who don't remember what a horse looks like or have never seen a real horse.

 

Second, photo subjects with eyes need to be pictured carefully, otherwise their eyes will be unfocused, dim, unseeing or otherwise appear to be blind and uninteresting. This horse has something on its mind even if it is only dreaming of something.

 

Third, this picture is definitely unposed. There is no distracting object drawing the viewers eyes away from the subject or an unnatural background that confuses the viewer.

 

Fourth, the image cropping is different and unique as opposed to all the convetionally framed pictures.

 

I failed the test for wine magazine ad writers.

 

Regards

This is a very nice photo Doug. I saw it on the LUG but I don't sign on there. I have seen your work over the years there and salute you sir!

The power in the gaze and the texture carried my attention. I also sort of like the way the light on the upper right connects with what is highlighted to the right of the horses left eye (hope this is not confusing) so NO, leave well enough alone...it works:)

df

Great photo Douglas, here are two shots of my neigh-bor...more mundane composition

though. Delta 100 and M3 with collapsible cron. <P><img src="http://

www.stuartrichardson.com/easton-horse1.jpg"><P><img src="http://

www.stuartrichardson.com/easton-horse2.jpg">