Skip to main content

On the subject of "Other People's Horses" (and more photos besides)

Other People's Horses explores the obligation of humanity to its' equine companions. Domesticated horses, like dogs, have an existence defined through interaction with humans; unlike dogs, they're often boarded indefinitely with little human contact. A horse that doesn't ride is not a healthy or happy horse. 


    Providing for the needs of these creatures - spiritual, medical, and menu - requires deep understanding of a very alien creature. Horses are prone to inscrutable foul moods no apparent cause,  a serious concern for a creature whose temper tantrums could be fatal. Their physical health is even more inscrutable; horses are perpetually swelling up, shedding weight, going lame, or simply dying abruptly.


    The individuals who work with these creatures require a profound understanding of their charges and a tremendous work ethic. This is one of them. 


















Comments

  1. Heydi's PortfolioNovember 16, 2020 at 7:28 PM

    It looks like horses are a lot of work. These pictures are really good. Most of your photos have a subtle contrast, especially the black and white ones and the last one. The only thing I see and is probably just me, but the second and third pictures seem a little overexposed. My suggestion would be to fix them in post-production. You can convert them to black and white and adjust the brightness and contrast.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Making Not Taking

 Making, Not Taking Photography is not holding a mirror to reality. A camera captures a selected perspective from a point in time, but the truth is a continuum not an instant.  Clever lighting can drastically affect appearance. A wide or long lens distorts space and distance, while the right instant may depict a totally misleading narrative. Fit a wide enough lens, and the smallest among us will tower over mountains; hit the shutter at the right instant, and lies become truth.  I elected to convey my cynicism using an actual mirror - a warped old sheet of silvered glass.. Using mirrors to distort space is popular to the point of being cliche, but rarely are they pointed back at the photographer.  I initially placed the mirror on an easel and  planned remove it in post by compositing a second exposure with neither. Unfortunately, this first attempt was a substantial failure - aiming the mirror was nearly impossible, and the smallest movement from wind moved ...
3 comments
Read more

Light And Color

   Hard light Hard light is fairly simple - keep it small, and keep it distant. The sun in an empty sky is excellent, but it's perpetually gray and miserable here, so I put a flash on a light stand instead. Some ambient light is visible, but it is very flat, so the shadow is clearly defined. In order to prevent reflections, imagine you're photographing a mirror; if you can see a reflection of your light source, you're going to get glare. As a result, I have the flash at a very steep angle to the subject - about 30 degrees, or roughly 8 o'clock.    Rim lighting Rim lighting is simple: put the hard light behind the subject. The sun works well, though it does tend to overpower the scene. This one required substantial adjustment in post, courtesy of shooting RAW. You don't need a fancy camera,- this was a point-and-shoot - but it helps to keep the ISO low. Finished product:  Without adjustments: Broad Light Broad light is easy here - the sky is a uniform gray most d...
6 comments
Read more

Fabricated Fiction

I have minimal experience with motion pictures. One good exposure is difficult; 24 of them severely so; 24 per second, for minutes or hours is beyond me. But I am acquainted with some of the basic: requirements: The traditional CinemaScope aspect ratio is an extremely wide 22:9 aspect ratio. Use of relatively low contrast to keep detail in highlights and shadows is combined with color grading to provide visual interest. Reducing the contrast so ambient light isn't a problem can make the image quite flat; adding color in post is now standard. If light is to be added to the scene, hard light - usually in the form of a fresnel - is more common, especially outdoors. Providing soft light to a large area requires far too much bulk and far too much power, especially with traditional halogen lamps. I live near a minor switching yard that backs a frontage road, so I figured I'd use the trains as a convenient backdrop; they provide visual interest and create a narrative. Unfortunately, m...
6 comments
Read more