Archive for December, 2010
Photo Essay: Old Dominion Hounds (November 27, 2010)
Posted by KLM in Landscape, Old Dominion Hounds, Photo Essays, Rappahannock Hunt on December 30, 2010
This photo essay is posted at KLM Images.
Twist & turn
Zigzag
The eye of the viewer can be guided by actual lines in an image, or by implied ones.
These two riders are stacked up on a slanted hillside watching hunting in the lower field. Your eye naturally follows them down starting at the rump of the near horse and then reversing at the lower one. It’s possible the horses are standing still, but the placement of the legs and movement of the tails creates doubt, so you follow the potential movement left and then right, instead of just left along the hillside and out, as you might if the far rider were absent. Read the rest of this entry »
Photo Essay: Rappahannock Hunt (December 11, 2010)
Posted by KLM in Deep Run Hunt, Foxhunts, Landscape, Rappahannock Hunt on December 28, 2010
This photo essay is posted at KLM Images.
Landscapes
Stacked ridges ending in the Blue Ridge (HDR)
I am far from satisfied with my skill at capturing landscapes and am constantly experimenting for better results.
In this essay, I post-processed some of the images for high-dynamic range (HDR) contrast, so let’s look at the results.
Ordinary cameras are more limited in their ability to respond to contrast than the human eye. We see very well in both dim light and blazing sunshine, but for a camera we must choose those conditions in our settings or be disappointed. Depending on the settings, the camera decides to set the exposure to maximize the overall utility of the resulting image, but this reduces the range of absolute darkness and absolute brightness compared to our own vision. The theory behind HDR is to take multiple versions of the same image with different exposure settings, then blend those together so that the overall exposure is much broader than the camera can capture on its own, and closer to what we actually see. Read the rest of this entry »
Photo Essay: Blue Ridge Hunt (November 25, 2010)
Posted by KLM in Blue Ridge Hunt, Foxhunts, Photo Essays on December 26, 2010
This photo essay is posted at KLM Images.
All stacked up
Dense concentration of opinionated hounds
Hounds work well as a concentrated essence since, despite being members of a pack with a common purpose, no two are alike. Here we have two hounds scenting, two ready to roll, and one howling in frustration at standing about. If you could take this in your hand and squeeze it like a sponge, pure “foxhound” would ooze out. Read the rest of this entry »
Photo Essay: Loudoun Hunt West (December 5, 2010)
Posted by KLM in Fairfax Hunt, Foxhunts, Loudoun Hunt West, Photo Essays, Portraits on December 21, 2010
This photo essay is posted at KLM Images.
Cropping for action
All charm and tilted motion
I typically come down on the engineering side of the analysis vs artistic spectrum, and this manifests in my photography as wanting to see the whole scene: the entire horse and rider, the full pack of hounds, and so forth. This is an artistic fault, I firmly believe. I know this because, whenever happenstance intervenes and forces a moving target to be cropped in ways I would never have planned, I am often much pleased with the results.
When I stand too close to the action with a particular lens and try to get something useful anyway, the image is reduced to its essentials. I don’t need to see the top of the rider’s head or the details of the horse’s legs to enjoy this shot. Read the rest of this entry »