Portrait With Horse

[pcressey]

This was my first attempt at doing a portrait with a person and an animal simultaneously... luckily it was with my mom, so there wasn't too much pressure or anxiety.

I am curious to get some feedback on the overall composition, exposure and all those good things. Would you prefer that I kept the entire horse in focus, or do you prefer the chosen depth of field? Is my moms posture and face okay?

My gripes... I am a little bothered by my moms left hand being chopped... I didn't want to crop it out and take off the belt buckle though. Also the two trees behind my moms head sort of blend with her hair color; there are so many trees up there it is probably impossible to avoid altogether.

I have to tell you, the challenges of getting a good shot with a very hungry horse at 6AM is unbelievable... it didn't even enter my mind driving up to the shoot. The horses relentless efforts to grab anything green to eat really caused my mom to lose her temper and edge... getting the horse to prop its ears, look at the camera and have my mom look relaxed was the hardest part.

Thank you for any constructive criticism!


Beverly & Cooper by PCressey, on Flickr

EXIF Data
Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Lens: Canon 85mm f/1.2L II USM
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 85 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

Shot in RAW, processed in Lightroom 3.4, and touch-ups in Photoshop CS5.

[zona5101]

I think you have done a great job of self-analyzing your shot, The depth of focus is fine and probably the best choice since we want to focus the attention on the mom and horse. The hand is too bad but can't be helped at this point...you could clone out the trees. They are far enough out-of focus that you should have to much trouble moving the grass and bushes over them. She is dead center and you have a little room to try some different crops - first one I'd try would be to go portrait and cut off from outside her shoulders so its her torso and the horses head... Very nice shot as it stands.

[BigFuzzy]

Bruce, I think, nailed it. The main issues I have (which you identified) and I noticed before reading your description as I like to view image unbiased is the hands being cut off.

Second, I think you could have done a bit less of the dead center composition (as Bruce said as well).

I really like your choice of DoF. Don't worry about the trees, not too bothersome and can be cloned.

In the end, I would have gotten both her hands in the shot and put a bit more space to the right. But still, be happy with it.


PS did you seriously ask us if your mom's "face is ok"? heheh.. that's dangerous on a public (and often anonymous) forum !

[Doug Sundseth]

I think your DoF works well here.

Your mom's posture looks like she's holding the horse back with her shoulder in the horse's chest. Given the story, that makes sense, but I don't think it helps the photo. Her expression and the horse's expression work well though. Posed animal photos are hard.

The white balance looks noticeably blue. I think both the skin tones and the horse will look better if you warm the photo a bit.

I'd like to see a bit more light on your mom and the near side of the horse. The light there looks flat and underexposed.

Finally, because of the shooting angle (and perhaps a background hill?) the photo feels tilted. I don't think it is, since the background trees are vertical, but it was one of the first things that caught my eye.

[John Hendry]

Not a easy portrait, It does look a bit cold, and mom does look a bit tense perhaps if you had tied the hourse to a post or fence ?

still nice job

All the best

[pcressey]

Thank you all for the comments, they will help me analyze my technique when I am in the field next time!

@zona5101 & @BigFuzzy - I tried a few different crops, but they all just left an awkward feeling in my gut... unfortunately I framed the picture so tightly it didn't leave any wiggle room. My mom is dead center, but I couldn't find a way to get out of it... I had to make the dims on the image for a 12 x 16 canvas print, and it shifted the subjects more towards center. My mom really wanted the picture to convey her new horse, so I didn't want to crop out the body.

@Doug - Yes, she was definitely leaning into the horse to keep it from moving... I tried to get her to posture up and relax just before I snapped the pic. I will go home and play with my temp tonight to see how it looks a bit warmer; I see the blue mostly in the saddle. I see your point about the underexposure... I wish I had a reflector with me at the time, I could have bounced the light a bit... the sun was rising to the back left (more so to the left). Yes, there was a hill... there was no level ground, and my mom liked the location.

@John - Unfortunately there was nothing around to tie the horse up with... we were on a golf course. The barn had places for that, but the location didn't have much to offer.