Galloping away

[byork]

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Cheers
Brian

[Josh-H]

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Cheers
Brian

Really like the dynamism and movement in the horses - as well as the drama in the sky - I would crop it a little tighter - particularly on the left to emphasis the power and speed and movement of the horses.

Great capture.

[jasonrandolph]

I like the sharpness.  You used a fast enough shutter speed to completely freeze motion.  Nicely done.  Composition-wise, I was a little bothered by the houses right above the horses' backs.  I realize that sometimes you can't frame a fast shot like this, but I would've tried to set it up to the houses were either in front of or behind the horses.  Also, I think the Rule of Thirds would have worked well here.

[francois]

Really like the dynamism and movement in the horses - as well as the drama in the sky - I would crop it a little tighter - particularly on the left to emphasis the power and speed and movement of the horses.

Great capture.

Agreed! There's too much empty space on the left.

Otherwise, it's very nicely done. Congratulations!

[byork]

Thanks for all the comments...here's an amended version. Lost some of the dramatic sky in the top left when cropping left side, so took a little off the top as well to balance up.

What do you think

[Josh-H]

Thanks for all the comments...here's an amended version. Lost some of the dramatic sky in the top left when cropping left side, so took a little off the top as well to balance up.

What do you think

I think thats a much better crop - again - great shot.

[Randy Carone]

Beautiful final version!

[byork]

Thanks Randy.

[jasonrandolph]

I agree.  Much better.  But it was already good!

[kenlip]

I agree.  Much better.  But it was already good!

The image can be greatly improved by some selective burning of the roofs of the barns above the horses' backs and of the whole barn on the left.   If you can reduce the distraction of the barns, you will have a definite wall-hanger.

Ken

[RSL]

Brian, I like the cropped shot but there's a color cast -- too much red and yellow in it. Bring it up in Photoshop, bring up Levels, select the middle-gray dropper, and click the underside of a cloud -- not the lightest part or the darkest part, but a part of the cloud that's middling dark. Here's what you'll get:

[attachment=14210:Galloping_away_1.jpg]

[byork]

Thanks for the tip Russ....went back to the raw image and reset WB, it is a much more natural look. I have to put my hand up and confess I cranked up WB in an attempt at more drama and to give the horses a "glow", especially the chestnut at the rear. If people don't like it, then it hasn't worked  . Oh well, as they say, do not be afraid to make mistakes...for this is the way we learn!

Cheers
Brian

[RSL]

Thanks for the tip Russ....went back to the raw image and reset WB, it is a much more natural look. I have to put my hand up and confess I cranked up WB in an attempt at more drama and to give the horses a "glow", especially the chestnut at the rear. If people don't like it, then it hasn't worked  . Oh well, as they say, do not be afraid to make mistakes...for this is the way we learn!

Cheers
Brian

Brian, Actually I like the "glow" very much, and especially on the chestnut. The problem is that because there are clouds that you'd expect to see as middle gray, the color cast jumps out at you. I guess what I'd do is see if I could get a decent selection on the horses, save the selection in case I need to come back to it later, make an adjustment layer with the selection and then see if I could bring back the glow just on the horses. It'd take some tedious work but it might be well worth it.

It's a fine shot in any case.

[jasonrandolph]

Russ, I like your adjustment.  It brought out a detail I missed in the original... the numbers on the horse in the foreground.  Better crop too.  With all that said, I think the original capture was still quite good.  The detail in outstanding.

[RSL]

Brian, The color isn't coming through properly on this posting, but this is the kind of thing I was talking about. Using the Quick Selection tool I was able to pull a pretty accurate selection of the horses, make a masking layer, and then increase the red and yellow saturation just on the horses. To do it right you'd have to work on the original .psd. In the copy I have here the horses are almost the same color as they were on your original -- before the global color adjustment, but they don't look the same once the result is on the web.

[attachment=14237:Galloping_away_2.jpg]

[byork]

Russ, had a go at that myself yesterday after reading your suggestion, also using the quick selection tool. This is what I ended up with (hope the colour comes through okay).

[RSL]

Russ, had a go at that myself yesterday after reading your suggestion, also using the quick selection tool. This is what I ended up with (hope the colour comes through okay).

Yes! That's it. The color came through very well and I think you've got a real winner with this version. Congratulations.

[John R]

All these versions are a diversion. No, seriously, one can quibble and negotiate certain aspects, but the shot is great not matter how you nuance it.

JMR

[dalethorn]

This is a really tough one.  I like the sky better on the last than the first, but, the natural yellow tint in the grass on the first is mostly gone now, and the color of the horses has gone from a wee bit too red to slightly greenish brown.  So I was thinking - about half of that shift away from red would be about perfect, except the sky which looks great now.