A Horse is a Horse, Of Course, Of Course
18 April 2014 -- 108/365
Smithfield, Rhode Island
Admit it. You now have the theme song for Mister Ed stuck in your head, don't you! That happens to me every time I see this horse standing outside his small barn. I also see him lying down outside this barn quite often, which is very strange since I didn't think it was healthy for a horse to lie down. Of course, my knowledge of horses doesn't extend beyond anything you can learn from the aforementioned TV show. In any case, I really liked the setup of this scene today, and the lighting on the barn really accentuated the faded wash on the doors and walls. The original plan was an HDR waterfall scene, but I couldn't pass up this setting.
Post processing stared with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, adaptive exposure, regions, contrast, boost black, and protect highlights. A levels adjustment and a selective burn was applied in PSE.
Love the B&W tones. I think this picture could benefit from tighter framing, the trees / bushes on the left side of the image don't really add anything to the picture in my opinion.
@klas I see what you mean, Klas. Now that you pointed them out, they do feel like a distraction. I just tried a tight crop on it and I'm not crazy about that either. I'm thinking it would have worked better had I taken about ten steps to the right. That would have kept the entire barn in play, but eliminated those shrubs on the left. I'll have to give that a try next time out out that way. (That horse is almost always out there.)
It 's a great location find...and definitely worth a revisit to capture this image so you're happy with the results. I know I have a dozen or more sites I need to go back to!
Of course you couldn't pass up this setting! I agree with @klas about tighter framing, and might add that the house in the background also distracts from the focal point of this story. Sounds like we're interested in seeing a second image from this great setting!
Gorgeous place! I'm no expert, but I like the trees/bushes surrounding the little stable. I think it makes everything look all prettily tucked in together.
A great capture Ron! Love the composition and how the horse is generally looking in your direction! I've only ever heard of Ed the Horse twice, this being the second time and the first being from my school History teacher. Guess I'll have to look it up! :)
