Horses in the snow

[mjs1973]

More shots from my morning drive. Is the white background too bright/distracting?

[SmartWombat]

The background's not distracting, but the foreground is - to me anyway.
#1 the twig & the fence
#2 the twig
#3 the fence
#4 the fence doesn't intrude so much.

Youve set yourself a really hard target here, with the exposure range between the snow and the horses, particularly that dark maned one !
On my monitor, I can't see the detail in the horses (that I know ought to be there) in #2.

My favourite would be #1, without that twig.

[readingr]

Hmmm!

Picture 1 Excellent need to get rid of the twig - bit of PS! otherwise a good clear photo.

Picture 2 The twig again and the horse is a little dark

Picture 3 I think you can lose the twig to the side but not to bothersome the rest is a good clear photo

Picture 4 It seems a little flat it may have been better to give it a bit more DOF so that it looks as if there is some depth. Otherwise a good photo and the fence is ok

[mjs1973]

Thank you for taking the time to look, and comment. I hate that damn twig too!!! I had a hard time with these guys. The dark horse, the white background, the twig... not to mention that I had my 100mm lens on and they kept coming closer to me and making my composition a little tighter than I wanted. Also I was standing on a road slightly above them and looking down. I was able to get low enuf to get almost eye level with them but it was rather uncomfortable, not to mention cold... Oh well, all in all it was a great learning experiance!

Thanks again!

[mjs1973]

Here are some quick edits.

[mdmc]

Here are some quick edits.

I like the first one due to the depth of field, but a straight on shot doesent seem to flatter the horse. maybe a wider lense?
the same horse with head turned is very nice. get rid of the snow/ice that looks like spittle.
As these are portraits, catch lights would be an improvement.
KUDOS for braving the cold!
I like these,
Mark.