After picking my car up from being serviced late this afternoon, I stopped at nearby Goddard Park hoping to find an interesting shot. I spotted this trio of equestrians out for a leisurely stroll on the horse trails that line the outskirts of the park. As soon as the young girl in the back spotted the camera, she flashed that huge smile and called for her friend to do the same. Oblivious to all this was the person - either mom or instructor - in the lead, concentrating on a text message. Fortunately, her horse had sense enough to stay on the trail.
Post processing was quite challenging on this one. The trio was in a heavily wooded section, so the light was extremely variable. The background was very bright, and both girls were wearing helmets that cast a deep shadow on their faces. I did almost all my processing in Topaz Adjust, starting with a shadow recovery filter. I also adjusted the number of light regions significantly, and played a lot with the contrast. In PSE, I added a brightness and contrast adjustment as well. I'm not entirely pleased with the tones and overall luminosity, but of all the shots I took, this one told the best story, so I'm sticking with it.
