What looks to be a mother and colt grazing on the hillside of Lake Pleasant. They were pretty much everywhere and are a menace. As an invasive species adapted to desert climates, they breed like crazy, out-compete native animals for food and water, destroy the very soil biome and ground itself with their hard hooves which stresses already precariously placed plants, and cause numerous road accidents every year. States that have them wrestle with the problem like they do wild horses - they don’t belong here, but now that they are, people sentimentalize them like few other invasives.
But anyway…I did a b&w conversion here because the animals are about the same color as the dirt. The plants they’re feeding on have gone to seed and those seeds have Velcro-like burrs on them that stick to the donkeys and will eventually fall off when they shed. I played with the orange slider to bring down the luminance so the plants would stick out more.
Specific Feedback Requested
Processing help welcome - I’m still not sure it’s right. Crop too tight? There is a bit more hillside and a small tree that I could include, but seemed too much.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Handheld in the boat
Lr processed for a crop & the B&W conversion. Added texture/clarity to the animals themselves w/a mask and took it down a bit in the background. Also changed black and white points to manage tonal range. The light was hard and direct so I did what I could.
Very nicely done! The crop looks good to me. They are so camouflaged that smaller in the frame is a quandary, and I think the burrs are a significant feature.
I’ve just worked my way along to them and have been very frustrated by the processing. So far I’m deciding to go for the camo look but it isn’t exciting.
Kris, your commentary is a sad fact and it is not an easily managed issue. Your image provides a point with regard to the offspring and the growth of the unrestrained herds.
There is an area in the MoVal here in So Cal that has a HUGE issue as a result of burros and donkeys running free all over the hillsides. Sadly, they move around and have been killed on the freeways and most recently another group of 5 were struck by a commuter train in the San Timoteo Canyon killing them. There have been many other run ins with vehicles too. Again, your image and message is timely and informative.
Thanks @Diane - the camouflage aspect was the conundrum - emphasize or reveal? I went with reveal. Have some with the animals against the sky that I’ll probably leave in color - one shows thick burrs and the other none. Interesting - just luck of terrain or a sign of which donkey likes what to eat?
An interesting and informative image and write-up, Kris. I like your decision to go black and white and try to separate them from the background. I think it works well and the resulting slightly harsh look fits the desert environment very well.
I’m so late in posting a comment. But, congrats on the EP. It’s well deserved.
Black and white was a good choice for the image. I like the crop and the composition.
In Australia, we are faced with the same problems with feral animals, from cane toads to camels. In particular, we have the brumbies. National Park authorities are at present culling the horses in the Snowy Mountain area and Kosciuszko National Park. Around 11,000 of the horses will be culled. Most of these wild horses are descendants of the horses that were bred for our light horsemen in WWI and the Boer War, so there is a lot of sentiment. I am a passionate horse lover but I can see the damage the animals are causing. An animal in the wrong place.
Thanks @glennie - the North & South American continents have a lot in common with Australia when it comes to European-introduced problems, but I hope that the cull helps with your habitat destruction.
I really like it and the inresting story behind it. I also like how the slope gave you a different perspective. About the processing, I am a big fan of B&W. I would brighten it up slightly and add a touch of grain, to break the “converted” look.
