A horse on a rainy day!

[esteffi1]

Hi everyone!

This is my first post and first upload in the critique section. I have just recently begun my interest in photography and this is a photo I took of my friends horse on their property. Camera is my Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm lense. F5.6 with ISO 200. I can't remember shutter speed sorry. No flash and also not sure of exposure.

I am interested in hearing what you think about composition, lighting, colour and anything else you feel the need to comment on and just general feedback.

Thanks in advance

[ihsankhairir]

First of all, welcome to DPS!

I see several problems with the photo.

Composition-wise, you need to keep the horizontal line perfectly horizontal, unless you meant to tilt it, which I think is not the case in this photo.

The head of the horse should not be smack in the center. Maybe you can recompose the shot so that the head of the horse can be a little bit off-center to the left. You can read up on Rule of Thirds, Golden Spiral, Golden Ratio and other rules of composition to get a better understanding of why this is better.

Another thing is the title. It mentions rainy day, but I see no element of that sense in the photo, not even a cloudy or overcast sky. Maybe you can either change the title, or use a neutral density graduated filter to make sure that the sky is not overexposed or overblown.

Also, with regards to shutter speed, etc. If you don't remember them, you can just right-click on your photo file and check the properties. go to summary > advanced tab. This is assuming you use Windows XP.

Hope that helps!

[esteffi1]

Originally Posted by ihsankhairir

First of all, welcome to DPS!

I see several problems with the photo.

Composition-wise, you need to keep the horizontal line perfectly horizontal, unless you meant to tilt it, which I think is not the case in this photo.

The head of the horse should not be smack in the center. Maybe you can recompose the shot so that the head of the horse can be a little bit off-center to the left. You can read up on Rule of Thirds, Golden Spiral, Golden Ratio and other rules of composition to get a better understanding of why this is better.

Another thing is the title. It mentions rainy day, but I see no element of that sense in the photo, not even a cloudy or overcast sky. Maybe you can either change the title, or use a neutral density graduated filter to make sure that the sky is not overexposed or overblown.

Also, with regards to shutter speed, etc. If you don't remember them, you can just right-click on your photo file and check the properties. go to summary > advanced tab. This is assuming you use Windows XP.

Hope that helps!

Hey, thanks for the welcome

Thanks so much for your feedback - It really helps and I'll be reading into the rule of thirds (have never read up on it before) and looking at changing the title too! I didn't even notice the sky not representing what I saw on the day.

Thanks again!

[photog1107]

That is the great thing about DPS... there is something to learn just about every time you post. You'll open yourself up to a whole new world in no time.

I would say that in this case, compositionally, if you are cropping the horse so that you don't show the whole body, which becomes, in essence, a "portrait" of this particular horse, (given that there isn't any other action or dynamic going on), you'd be better served by cropping for a vertical in this case. That will look more like a purposeful shot.

Other than that, check your settings, as it appears a little soft (not sharply focused) and it could be because it was hand held at too slow a setting. If you are hand held make sure you are steady and shooting at 1/60 or more, depending on your focal length. (longer lens, higher shutter speed.)

Keep shooting!

[bayberry]

I agree with the above comments. The only thing I have to add is that I also see distortion which is caused by too short of a focal length. Distortion is a big issue in equine photography so it's important to always photograph them with a long (close to at least 200mm) focal length (unless doing an image completely in profile).

[Michael_2010]

The problems with composition have pretty much been addressed. Another thing to consider in the future has to do with the horse's eyes. One thing you will notice about wildlife photography is that the photos that really pop always have the eyes in sharp focus. Try to move to the left or right until you get some light reflecting in the horses eyes and get a tight focus on them. That can turn the mundane into something especially appealing.

[esteffi1]

Thanks again everyone - the feedback has been of great help and I'm going to use the tips on some shots I plan to take today of my pooch! Also hope to put a new and improved photo of the same horse up in critique section in the near future