Equine Portrait

[theraven]

Critique welcome.

All natural light, stood in front of a dark barn and used spot metering, then levels in Photoshop to darken the background.


Morgan by Raven Photography by Jenna Goodwin, on Flickr

 

[The_Traveler]

Come on now, you can't be looking at this.

There is no detail in any of the white areas and you should be seeing that before you ask.

 

[theraven]

Come on now, you can't be looking at this.

There is no detail in any of the white areas and you should be seeing that before you ask.

Don't be an ass.

So how do I keep the dark background and the details in the highlights?

 

[sscarmack]

I think its fine. I don't mind the blown out highlights. Great shot

 

[The_Traveler]

Perhaps it's an English custom to insult someone and then ask their help.

Since I will attempt to be multi-cultural, I will respond.
One exposes so that the highlights won't be blown out and then the shadows must take care of themselves.

 

[theraven]

Perhaps it's an English custom to insult someone and then ask their help.

Since I will attempt to be multi-cultural, I will respond.
One exposes so that the highlights won't be blown out and then the shadows must take care of themselves.

It was a joke (I am rolling my eyes),

So what if, as in this instance, I want to keep the background dark, how do I deal with the light?

 

[amolitor]

Depth of field is a bit too shallow (the forelock is very very soft, which looks wrong) and the highlights are blown which, I have to say, is a bit of a mystery to me. As Lew suggests, spot meter the white areas, then give maybe 3-4 more stops of exposure. That should protect your highlights and let the rest of the picture go where it will.

Honestly, though, this looks more like a post-processing disaster than an exposure problem. The white parts of the rope are well within range, I cannot believe that the horse is THAT much whiter. Also, where is the mane? Is that white blotch where the mane ought to be an erased mane, or is the mane all brushed over to the far side to expose a white area on the neck? That would be, frankly, an odd choice. Horses have manes, you should show the mane in the picture, I think, although I am no expert on equine portrait standards.

The pose is nice, the light's nice. I like the rim lighting effect on the ears.

 

[amolitor]

Keeping the background dark, and not blowing out the highlights, are NOT in conflict with one another. They both suggest "less exposure", so I'm not sure where the problem lies.

 

[theraven]

Me neither, I will give it a re-edit tonight, there is a possibility that something has gone awry!

The reason the mane is on the other side is because she is coloured, she just looks bay if her mane is the side of the camera and she is beautifully coloured, so it needs showing. Difficult to do when just her whole head is brown!

 

[amolitor]

There's still something funny there on the back of her neck, shouldn't I be seeing the crest of her mane, black, running down the back of her neck? It really looks like some somehow managed to paint over it with white, somehow. Maybe there's some "dodge" layer or something that's showing up as white.

 

[theraven]

There's still something funny there on the back of her neck, shouldn't I be seeing the crest of her mane, black, running down the back of her neck? It really looks like some somehow managed to paint over it with white, somehow. Maybe there's some "dodge" layer or something that's showing up as white.

No her mane is brown and white too! See on her neck how it goes up brown then turns into white? It does that with her actual mane! Changes colour half way up.

 

[Geaux]

tbh, I wouldn't even go back to re-edit it. Blown out highlights are bad, but image is soft/oof and to me, that's the worst part of the image.

 

[tirediron]

The good: Nice composition, good perspective. The not as good: Blown highlights, missed focus. I can't check the EXIF data right now, but if you don't have already have one, get and carry either a smart-phone DoF calculator, or a set of paper tables, and, until you are experienced enough to judge accurately by eye, get in the habit of checking the distance and setting an appropriate aperture. The point of focus actually seems to be in the area of the bridle. Use a single AF point and place it over the eye (DO NOT use 'focus and recompose'). You've said, "All natural light" in a way that I take to mean that it is somehow superior by virtue of that fact. The end result is a good photograph; whatever you need to do that, whether bringing in more light or standing on your head is what you need to do. In this case, additional light would have greatly benefitted the image.

I would not bother trying to save this one, rather use it as a learning experience and taking the critique from this thread, head back and try again. It's a start, but it's not quite 'there' yet!

 

[Derrel]

Come on now, you can't be looking at this.

There is no detail in any of the white areas and you should be seeing that before you ask.

Don't be an ass.

So how do I keep the dark background and the details in the highlights?

In keeping with your flippant tone to a man easily old enough to be your grandfather, I'd put it in Bri' ish English for you and say it's utter rubbish. The whites are so blown out that you needed to explain what was lost in there, verbally. I couldn't tell if there was mane or neck in there or what. I'm not trying to be an ass. It's just terribly overexposed. And it's badly out of focus. I would re-shoot it.