Gray Horse in Tall Grass
Lots of horses in our area, but a few stand out due to color and stature.
This was not the horse I set out to photograph. This gray mare was quietly munching on tall grass in a field on the south side of town—town being a few dozen houses beside South Prairie Creek. I was on my way to see if a certain palomino was out in its pasture further along, but I could this horse out of the corner of my eye and figured the palomino could wait. (When I went drove by that pasture afterwards, the palomino was nowhere to be seen, reinforcing the idea that you should grab what’s in front of you.)
A very gentle-minded beast, which looked at me but stood his ground. He did start flicking his tail, which is caught in the shot above. Clearly an older horse, but beautiful and serene in his demeanor. I’d have needed a carrot in hand to get more attention, I suppose.
Shot with the Canon 200-600 lens at 200mm focal length. I let the brightest parts of the mane and tail get slightly overexposed; it makes them glow. Nothing all that special technically other than the long lens; it’s just nice to have animals like this around where we live. I feel very fortunate.
One more shot with head up, tail down, and the brightness on the mane and tail more subdued to demonstrate my point: the glow really makes the first photograph shine, so to speak. Sometimes, the ‘best’ exposure isn’t the best photograph. Although I do like this shot; it shows more of the horse’s personality: curious, not easily ruffled.
ISO 100, 1/160th second, f/8
Did you notice that the top photo has more warm grays, and this second one has cooler grays? I adjusted the white balance to be a little toward the blue for the second one. Do you prefer the slightly warm or the slightly cool shot? The difference is so minor it might not be easily noticed, but I think that such subtle shifts affect our view of a photo.