Come on and hit me :)

This section has always been one of my favorites but it does not get many replies. So, here we go, an attempt to get you to look and to give opinions.
I did put this up in the pet section and am not sure why I have not heard a word. I really think critiques are one of the most valuable ways to test out ideas.
So the gloves are off...... hit me!!!

Hey Peggy Sue,

I love it - I absolutely love it. The finished product is so much better than the original. Honestly, the original composition leaves a lot to be desired - what with the crowd, lighting and all. You did a great job putting in a spectacular background that matches what 'should' be. LOL, you improved upon reality!!

Very nice work.

Sincerely,
James

Lovely lovely lovely. I am a big fan of photo manipulation and this is one of the best. Bravo.

One nitpick -- I don't think there are any cactus plants in the deserts of Arabia, so in the pursuit of realism, I would lose the cactus on the right.

Thanks Julie and you are absolutely right - this one was from the Scottsdale show in AZ last month. It snowed and I played around with this image like this at first.


Did not like this much so I am still playing with it. But your comment fits my thinking that I really want to make it the true Arab desert look. I think I need to visit the dunes in Indiana in order to get some images that I can combine with these truly beautiful horses. Road trip

James, thanks for the nice critique.
Your last sentence makes me question, am I trying to make something look real or should the viewer not care if it reality? When we view something called art, should we not put the same questions to photography as a painting?
Sorry, just thinking.......

I didn't see this one in the other area.

I have to say I'm having a hard time picking between the two "after" versions. I like them both for different reasons.

That's a LOT of masking!

Probably not as much masking as you would think, Jim. I'm betting PeggySue probably does a gross deletion of large areas and then refines it by masking. At least that's what I do. Saves a lot of time.

PeggySue - The finished product on this could easily sell as a fine art print. The Arabian people would love it. I know I would. I bred and showed Arabians many years ago in a previous life. Went to the Nationals many times when it alternated between Scotsdale and Louisville. I think it's always in Scotsdale now.

I would love to see some photos of you at those shows. Cannot ever seem to get enough of watching this breed. I too went to them years ago and even had exhibitors booth there with paintings and carousel animals (years ago too Nationals are held in Tulsa, OK now.
It had been a while since I went to Scottsdale and of course this year it had to snow! But it was every bit as fun as Nationals. Tons of great horses!

Jim - Julie is correct. I have tried a lot of masking and I just don't like using it. I use paint brush and erase a great deal - sort of the way I do a painting. I guess you continue with the tools you get used to.

I love the 1st one

For me, in the second one the lightness/brightness of the snow & clouds are competing with the horses for attention.

These are really beautiful and well composed. My only complaint is that the focus is on the back side of the horses rather than the front.
Diana

PeggySue - we do it the same. I rarely mask. I do a lot of erasing. I just feel I get better control and better integration against the background elements I'm using.

I have a print of a Bay Arabian that I got at one of the Nationals years ago. When were you there with a booth?

Good grief - I was in Louisville in 1980 with that display - how time flies....
Went to watch when my geldings daddy went top ten for the third time - Alada Baskin.
Where are you in IL?

Diana, I understand your point and decided to work a bit different approach. Since I cannot turn them around (lol) I thought that maybe our reading the left to right might make a difference. Here is the start of a new look that might help. What do you think?

LOL, yes, I figured you were just working with the angles you were able to get. And you're right, I think this does take a bit of emphasis off of the back side of the one horse since we do tend to "read" left to right. And the horse on the left I think may have more territory in the image? Could just be the switch that makes it appear that way. Good thinking!

I believe I was at the Nationals in '80. I'm long since out of Arabians -- have bred and shown Great Danes for 25 years now.

I'm in Aurora.

For me #2 is the winner but only because I am more of a realist. #1 Is more of a fantasy image, some thing you might find in a child's book (not a bad thing just not to my taste)or a fairy tale. In all fairness though the original photograph did not give you an awful lot too work with, bad light poor composition and bad framing were all to contend with....

Welcome to the forum Geoffrey. I agree with you in the realism format. Generally we can move around our subjects and get a different perspective. But I was stuck like a sardine so I got what I got. That also takes us to the fact that when you are taken with the experience that influences our feelings about the image. Being in the
presence of these wonderful stallions has over powered my objectiveness on this image. Still trying to put make a silk purse out of a sows ear.....(sort of speak)

Thanks for your input and I am looking forward to seeing some of your images.