Hungry Horse

What a phenomenal photograph of a horse. Those of us who own horses or work with horses (or god forbid) photograph horses, understand that they are a complex animal with a myriad of expressions, moods and looks. The traditional horse image is no more original than a standard portrait. Beautiful yes, but original?

 

This photo on the other hand takes an act that a horse performs 23 hours out of every day in the natural environment and makes it art (yes I believe art can have a sense of humor.) Thank you.

This photograph must have taken a lot of planning in order to yield such a perfect execution. I am especially puzzled by the sun, which seems to create a glow around the grass, but not around horse's face. There is also no visible halo around him. If the sun was added in Photoshop, then I am still puzzled by the even overall illumination of the grass and horse's head. This is either a photo-montage, a 3D rendering, or a very-carefully planned photograph.

 

It's a fantastic image, but far from a photograph in my opinion. I'd like to see a hi-res version to compare.

It is very original idea. In this case I would aslo say that is like a cartoon scene. I guess, you took a horse for a walk through that beautiful meadow and at one point you placed your camera on the ground and push the wired switch. In any case, if you didn't do in that way, I would certainly do. It's funny and dear scene. The kids would love it.

 

Best regards from me!

Yes, it looks interesting. Not so many photographers use wide angle lenses, so most of images of this kind, if composed properly, looks original. I can only doubt if central position of the horse's head is the best here, otherwise looks fine with me.

 

To Dave: how did you find that it is a COMPOSITE? I downloaded it in PS and didn't find any borders, cloning spots etc. Could you please explain your observation.

I'm not sure if it's a composite, or a single shot, but Christopher's other work supports the idea, to me, that he could have pulled it off either way.

 

For the sake of argument, if it is a composite, then I suppose it would be one shot for the horse, one for the grass, one for the sky. Or one for the grass, and one for the horse and sky. Or one for the grass and sky, and one for the horse. Or one for the grass and horse, one for the sky. I don't see any other way it could be, other than these options.

 

Supporting the grass as a separate layer, the red circled part (of the top of my attachment) shows what looks like two blades of grass with the previous sky still between them.

 

Supporting the idea that the sky is a separate layer, the purple circled part, is a highlight on the horses face that indicates a light source from the upper left, although the sun is clearly from the upper right.

 

Supporting the idea that the horse is a separate layer, the horses ear, in green, doesn't seem to be backlit at all. Shouldn?t it be? Along that same line, with the sun where it is, the horses face should be in complete shadow. Any lighted area facing the camera would be from some reflection, or from flash. It looks a little too natural to me to be flash, and the area of face lit would have required a reflector too large to not be in the frame. Plus, the flowers do not show the same kind of fill lighting. Was it dodged? I?m not too sure?

 

I?ve taken another of Christopher?s posted photos and corrected the horizon. I can?t imagine how the donkey would have been standing in order to accomplish this shot naturally. The light on donkey?s face, besides, would have to come from the ground.

if you can't see the attachment's included with my previous post, go to the top of the page and click on "read discussion" in the POW remarks.

My guess is that the photo was done with mirrors. One on the ground to give the camera enough distance from the subject to get the flowers, horse, and sky in focus. Plus, mirrors around the ground one to light up the horse's face. Still a really fun photo that gets you thinking!

when i first saw the picture, i just admired it, without thinking all that much about how it was done. I must admit though that i prefer non photoshoped images, but when you see what can come out of it... well...

Forget all the goblegook, it's a shot most would be happy with.

This is a wonderful shot. I love the positioning and all of the vibrance!

This is a great photo. This gets a 7/7 for originality. It's just an awesome composition.

Like all these shots----which (green eyes) i`ve seen in plenty of other places and compititions.

 

They stand out from the crowd,there bright and humorous---got to be winners.

impressive!

the perspective is excellent you feel like your about to be eaten!

The angle of the the horse's head makes it appear to be suspended/fake yet the detail of the grass in the mouth makes it very real. I appreciate the heighth of the grass blades and how the "lean" inward. It does a couple of things, one creates the bug's eye view perspective and it accents the glory of the sun peeking out behind the horse's head creating a focul point on the "star" to the right of it. Very well positioned. I imagine it required patience. Excellent!

I love the perspective!