Regrouping

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-20240915-_A1_2254-Aspen Farms-ARW-Edit.jpg
-20240915-_A1_2254-Aspen Farms-ARW-Edit.jpg2048×1394 1.34 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

There’s a fairly local horse training facility that has two 3-day eventing competitions scheduled each year. My wife and I went to the Sunday session a week ago and the “training” class was doing the cross country, which is my favorite. The last time I went, I noticed the expressions of the riders, so this time I took my birding setup and concentrated on the faces of the riders. This horse had just “refused” the jump I was photographing at and the rider looks like she’s taking a deep breath before going around and trying again (they made it the second time).

Specific Feedback

I’m not a “people” photographer at all, but I was trying to catch her expression at just the right moment. Did it work?

Technical Details

Sony A1, FE 200-600 @ 524 mm, tripod and gimbal head, f/9, 1/800, iso 4000. Noise reduction with DxO PureRaw 4, Processing in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 5938x4040. Taken September 15th @ 9:11 a.m.

Critique Template

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  • Vision and Purpose:
  • Conceptual:
  • Emotional Impact and Mood:
  • Composition:
  • Balance and Visual Weight:
  • Depth and Dimension:
  • Color:
  • Lighting:
  • Processing:
  • Technical:
2

You caught two good expressions!

3

Looks like she’s having a rough day, not just on that jump. I agree with @Jim_Gavin that the look on the horse’s face is interesting too. Nice clear image Dennis.

5

Hi Sandy. I realized when I started processing that I should have backed off a bit on the zoom to get more of the horses’ faces in the images. My wife doesn’t care about the riders-she just wants to see the horses, so I disappointed her this time. There will be another event next June!