Stuck in a cowboy daydream

Karalee · Jul 25, 2005

I was shooting at a horse event this weekend and saw this man who I thought would make a great subject. Im happy with the picture, but feel like its a little unfinished, im not sure whether its my conversion or maybe its the composition that makes it that way. Any ideas or opinions are greatly appreciated, I just wanted to capture the guy as being who he was, a Montana cowboy.
Shutter speed: 1/1600 @F/11, iso 400. (Camera was set for shooting horses :lol:

)

Thanks for the look!

ShutteredEye · Jul 25, 2005

First this is a great shot.

Second, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but would a little bit of softening make the "daydream" part jump out, or is it too cliche? LOL

Nikon Fan · Jul 25, 2005

Really great eye one this one Kara! I like it a lot, the clouds really add to the drama.

A few suggestions:
- Next to his arm there is a small black dot, looks like a bit of dust although it could be a bird way of in the distance, but for some reason it keeps jumping out at me. Should be no problem to clone out in PS.
-I like the compostion with him being on one side, but I would say a little more room on the left side of him may have helped a bit. Not too much, but enough room that he wasn't bumping into the side of your frame

Just curious as to what the color version of this looks like, you don't have to post it if you don't want to though

terri · Jul 25, 2005

Love it, girl, you have the empty space in the direction of his gaze - it works beautifully. Your contrast is spot on. It's very effective. :thumbup: I *think* I'd like to see some more space above his head....but if I did I might decide your version here is better. :lol:

Great job, Kara!

Alison · Jul 25, 2005

I think the conversion is spot on! Composition wise I'm with Amanda, just a bit more on the left hand side might change things a bit. I love all the empty space in the direction that he is gazing, it works really well. Did you crop this or will you have some extra room to play with to try other compositions?

Karalee · Jul 25, 2005

No this is the full frame, as soon as I saw it the other night I thought to myself the same thing about the left side.

What had happened was he had come to stand beside one of the jumps out on the course, and I was in the grass with a couple of other photographers waiting for the horses to come by when I saw him, I started snapping this and then I heard the trot of horse feet haulin towards me very fast. And as soon as the horses had left he took off

so it was the only one I got.

Ill get the color version up in a little bit, I liked it but it didnt have enough emotion for me.

edit:

heres the color version

Eww and Ive just noticed my sensor needs cleaning.

Alison · Jul 25, 2005

Still a great photo though! I've done that many a time, try to crop in camera only to notice later that I've gone a bit too far. I like the color version, but the b/w stands out more to me. Great shot!

terri · Jul 25, 2005

AlisonPower said:
Still a great photo though! I've done that many a time, try to crop in camera only to notice later that I've gone a bit too far. I like the color version, but the b/w stands out more to me. Great shot!

Agreed - this one wanted to be a B&W. :razz:

JonMikal · Jul 25, 2005

i agree, the b&w is the choice. how good are you in PS? i've seen this crop senario many times and with patience, you can add space to the left. if you're not up to it and want to see what others can do, put it up in the challenge area. just a thought. i love your shot...very nice capture!

Nikon Fan · Jul 25, 2005

Thanks for the posting the color Kara, I agree with the rest, excellent choice by going black and white!!!!

danalec99 · Jul 25, 2005

Hi Kara,

Nice shot. I have been coming to this thread several times since you posted this picture.
I'm not bothered about the left area. It is the black sky on the top which is a major distraction for me. It is just a bit too dark for me. I was also wondering if showing his full hand (right) would have made a difference.

Out of these two, I like the colour one better!

Karalee · Jul 25, 2005

Thanks everyone for the comments and what not. I wish I had gotten the hand on the jump

I guess it just wasnt in the cards.

Dan, I can understand what you mean. For me, it was a personal decision, Ive always liked bw landscapes with the dark skies that look like theyre closing in on you, and the way it contrasted with the hat just had me. Thanks for taking the time to comment though, I really admire your bw work, so this was great for me.

photogoddess · Jul 25, 2005

The only thing that I can think of is that I would have liked to have seen this with the camera moved up a bit. Aside from that (which I may not have liked), I think this is awesome. Nice work Kara. ps - I prefer the B&W version myself.

Tuna · Jul 26, 2005

Beautiful B&W composed and converted very nicely. I would like to see it without border and title - as the image is strong enough to stand alone without these things and, in my opinion, they (particularly the title) distract from that strength of image.

Well done.

Tuna

cso · Jul 26, 2005

Love this in B&W. Doesn't work so well in colour. Love the broken frame on the left. I don't agree that you need room on that side. Very nice use of space, head leads to the left, and cloud lines are flow with line of sight. The only thing I might try is to crop the top down to break the frame with a tiny bit of his hat and get rid of that black space