Morning Horses

[ACArmstrong]

I shot these Friday morning on my way to work. There must've been a mare who was "in season" somewhere in the vicinity, because these two males were fighting almost the entire time I was shooting them.

Of course, I could've kicked my own ass, because the bright sun didn't let me see well through the viewfinder of my F717, and I didn't notice til halfway through that I had inadvertently set the white balance to flash photography.

Sony F717 - F/2.8, -1.08OEV

[SmartWombat]

I like the two horses better than the one, the action makes the picture.
You've captured the breath which gives a sense of where the motion has been, very nice.

Was the other picture processed in photoshop to get the soft focus, or did you use a filter?
However you did it, I like that effect.

[ACArmstrong]

I processed the second pic in photoshop.

[PuckJunkey]

I think to get the fight shots right, you need both horses full in, or, zoom in a lot more if possible. That said, I actually like the second "peaceful" shot the best and the softness actually works so your post-processing paid off.

[darkrainfall]

I would have to agree with PJ on this one, while I do like the two horses, if does seem as though you need both of them completely in the picture, or you should zoom in a bit more. It's a decent pic, just needs a little perfecting. The second is very peaceful, you've done a good photo shop job with it and I like the lighting.

[ACArmstrong]

Thanks for the advice. I didn't have a telephoto with me and most of the fighting happened to far from me. This shot was a lucky pan that caught the two take a nip at each other about 15 yards to my left.

Where would you crop the first photo to make it a better overall pic?

[kkraczek]

Thanks for the advice. I didn't have a telephoto with me and most of the fighting happened to far from me. This shot was a lucky pan that caught the two take a nip at each other about 15 yards to my left.

Where would you crop the first photo to make it a better overall pic?

I'm guessing something like this? It kind of takes away from the idea that they're fighting, but it's still a nice photo.