|
Business
Practice
Safety
and Considerations Ignored
|
©Diane
C. Nicholson |
|
“Let’s
take his gear off and get some liberty shots,” I suggested
to the Warmblood stallion’s owner. The horse was fidgety
and bored of trying to stand still for two hours as we accomplished
the conformation segment of the portfolio session.
Once
loose, he kicked, neighed to any mare within miles, and took the
nearest jump of his own accord. I managed to grab that shot and
was checking the settings on my camera when I heard the obvious
cadence of a gallop. Turning around I found the stallion running
full out, with me very much in his path. I did what any equine
photographer would; I kneeled, tipped my fully manual camera to
the vertical, focused, grabbed the shot, and literally dove, rolling
to the side. I suspect that he was planning to jump me, but I
really didn’t want to find out.
It
wasn’t until later that I realized how very close that was....
As
a horseperson since childhood, I know horses; I know when they
will move next and in which direction, I know when they are spooked
because of a misunderstanding or are lashing out at an unreasonable
handler. And I can often tell if they have a genetic mean streak
as opposed to one caused by a previous trauma.
But
I also know that horses, by their very nature, are unpredictable.
And I am aware that not only does a stallion’s size and strength
make him hazardous but so too does the hefty dose of testosterone
coursing through their veins. That alone can make the behavior
of many of the males of any species somewhat, well, erratic. However,
in this case, I allowed my good judgment to take a back seat.
From
then on, whenever I shot a stallion free-running, I made certain
that one person stayed at my side, to ward off any more attempts
of flattening this rather annoying person, with that strange,
black object coming out of her head. Looking through a long lens,
and continually focusing, I could not judge how close the horse
was. Having an assistant helped thwart future problems.
Safety
though, only works if one uses it every, single time. Seat belts
have saved my life twice, and I would never consider getting into
a vehicle without one. Nor have I ever have allowed my children
to travel without being in an approved car seat, which was installed
and buckled correctly. Yet, some years later, when I was photographing
a gentle Quarter Horse stallion, I allowed my safe practice to
lapse.
|
It
was an extremely hot day, and we were all tired and ready to quit.
The session had gone well, and “Jack” was quiet and
well behaved. A very sweet stallion, he tended to throw the trait
to his offspring. So, when it came time to encourage him to run
the arena in freedom, I wasn’t concerned that there was no
one available to stay by my side. After half a roll of great action
shots, Jack suddenly eyed me; he lowered his head, flattened his
ears, and increased his tempo. He’d had enough of that creature
sitting in the middle of his arena, barking orders at his people,
and now he intended to do something about it!
As
I watched through my lens, my mind raced. I was bordering on heat
stroke and exhausted from getting up and down for the last 2 hours.
And although my body didn’t want to move, my brain set up
a rather inane, internal dialog. “Hmmm...” it said.
“I’m about to be trampled. Yep, I’m going to have
lots of broken bones, and probably internal and brain injuries.”
And then, “My camera!”
Thankfully,
the automatic response area, that which tries to ensure survival,
took over and I managed to stand and put my arms straight out
to the side. Jack, a very agile beast, veered about 3 feet in
front of me.
At
the other end of the arena, his owner’s jaw had dropped to
the ground and it was some time before she was finally able to
yell, “Oh, my God, Diane! Are you all right?” I assured
her that I was, and then we called it a day. On the way home,
the gravity of that moment kicked in, and I started to shake.
All
hobbies and professions have an element of risk. And each of us
decides what is personally reasonable. But when there are simple
ways to minimize that risk, then we are foolish to not utilize
them and to do so without exception. I had always thought that
I learned from other’s mistakes, or at the very least, from
my own. But it was very easy to dismiss the first case as just
a nutty stallion. But the latter slipped by me, and I am extremely
fortunate to have been given the opportunity to learn this lesson,
once more without injury. Since that day, if there are not enough
handlers to have one remain next to me, that horse simply will
not be photographed at liberty, at least not by this photographer.
Diane
C. Nicholson
Twin
Heart Photo Productions
www.twinheartphoto.com
|
Inspirational
Moments . . .
"It
is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how
the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have
done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in
the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,
who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and
again because there is no effort without error and shortcomings,
who knows the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy
cause, who at best knows in the end the high achievement of
triumph and who, at worst, if he fails while daring greatly,
knows his place shall never be with those timid and cold souls
who knew neither victory nor defeat."
*Theodore
Roosevelt
|
One
of my most popular digital retouching requests comes from
show photo clients hoping to use a photo for an ad. Often
background choices at event venues are not optimum for displaying
a horse at his best. To accommodate the client, I have used
Corel Photopaint 9 and Adobe Photoshop 5.5 to accomplish the
seemingly magical task of replacing backgrounds. Choosing
a background photo with the same sun angle makes the final
image more believable and though it does take time, patience,
knowledge of the programs, output files and of course good
original photographs to work from the results are sometimes
incredibly realistic and the client is pleased.
After choosing an appropriate image for the new background,
I focus my attention on the image to be enhanced. Always save
an original copy of both the background and horse photo, so
any changes you make are to a new file. Scanning in the image
as a tiff enables the most photo information to be gathered
and though resolution is important and depends on the final
output the image is intended for, this tutorial explains a
basic method of background replacement using Photoshop. |
 |
First thing I do is make my background color a contrasting
shade behind the layer with the horse image, this is so that
when you have finished cutting out the horse or object you
have a clear definition between background and subject. If
the background layer is white and the horse is white, the
magic wand tool has difficulty in determining the color values
between the two and the resulting cutout will not be clearly
defined. Next you will need to enlarge the picture to 100%
- 200% and cut out in sections, it is too difficult to try
to freehand lasso the whole horse in one try. If you find
you have lasso-ed too close or too far from the subject you
can shrink the mask or enlarge it by pixels and you can also
feather the mask as well so that you don't have a too clearly
defined line and it blends into the new background better.
When you have finished cutting the horse out; save the file
under a new name such as horsecutout in the image programs
native format.....with Photoshop the extension is a ".psd".
|
|
Using
the magic wand select the subject and cut it (you may want
to shrink the mask one pixel when you have selected it so
that you don't get a blue halo around the horse, it only
affects about one pixel but can be noticeable and also you
may want to feather it again one or two pixels. Open the
background file you are going to use and paste the horse
on the new background. Save this file as a new name perhaps,
horseonnew.psd. Pay attention to little details like the
direction and color of the shadows, perhaps cloning a bit
of grass or dust around the hooves may add to the effects.
Adjust the size and position in relation to the background
until you are happy and then combine the two layers and
save as a new image file. A quick tip---If you are able
to cut out the shadow at the time of the original cutting
out do so or else you will have to hand build a shadow using
a freehand mask and the burn and dodge tools.
Lori
Schmidt
Equine
Prophoto
|
The final result! |
|
The
Vintage Image
My
first equine image taken somewhere in the Western USA with
my very first camera, a Kodak Swinger (I think), a gift from
my dear grandma. The camera was completely 2 tone gray plastic
shaped taller than wide. The entire top half was a built-in
reflector to receive the flash bulbs (remember those!). This
was taken at a western "theme" town, probably a
historic site such as a Lewis & Clark encampment, a fort,
a cattle drive destination town or a Pony Express way station.
This driver was I think tuning up to appear for the Barn Dance
advertised on the barn in front of his team.
Kathleen
Wattle
Captive Spirit Photography
"Capturing the essence . . .
for Business or Pleasure"
www.captivespirit.com
|
 |
|
Spotlight:
Behind the Camera
Twin Heart Photo Productions
Diane C. Nicholson
When
I was a young child, my mother would say, “Some babies
are born with a silver spoon in their mouths, but with
Diane it was a silver horseshoe.” Although I can
guarantee that it was not silver, I did enter this world
with a deep understanding, respect and empathy for all
of the creatures on this Earth, including and especially
the horse.
As
I grew, this love was nurtured while I was employed at
Vancouver, BC’s Stanley Park Children’s Zoo,
working with and raising orphaned and injured critters
from hawks and owls to seal pups and fawns. I learned
that even those that some called vermin, have personalities
and an intelligence that, although different from ours,
are nonetheless remarkable. Weekends were spent at the
“flats”; an area of Vancouver zoned for horses.
I
started writing about and photographing the spirit within
the subject, whether human or non-human and eventually
turned the two into a full-time career. My images and
writing have appeared in and on the covers of magazines,
books, and on such things as a feed bag in England.
Kicking
and screaming, I was dragged into allowing my images to
be digitally altered. My husband, Harry, spent the hundreds
of hours necessary to learn advanced Photoshop techniques
and the several other programs we use. As long as I watch
over his shoulder, letting him know exactly how I, the
image’s creator, expect the final result to turn
out, he and I work together to create full-page ads and
new works of art. These include several Wall-Art Prints,
and a growing number of Limited Edition Photo Prints.
However,
in spite of technology galloping forward at break-neck
speed, my camera of choice remains a Nikon FM2 with several
sharp telephoto lenses. These are augmented by reflectors,
a Luma Dyne strobe, and when necessary, studio lighting.
Some of my better known images, such as First Born and
Arabian Night, were taken with an old Pentax K 1000.
I
no longer photograph shows and events but accept only
high-end portraits, stallion portfolios and stock. My
two passions, writing and photography, have merged well
to allow me to illustrate my own stories and articles.
I
am an active member of the Professional Photographers
of Canada, and am currently the only one nationally accredited
in the Equine category. I also co-edit and produce the
Professional Photographers’ Association of BC’s
glossy, bimonthly magazine, In Focus.
The
respect that I have for the horse is given a daily boost
when I spend time with my two; a Thoroughbred mare, Kechena
(a Secretariat granddaughter), rescued from the track
after suffering a broken cannon bone, and her Warmblood
filly, Sahali Raven. They are an integral and lifelong
part of our family that includes our 21 year-old son (now
in Film School); our 14 year-old home schooled son, 4
dogs, 2 cats and 2 birds.
|
Fine Art prints available at:
Twin
Heart Productions
www.twinheartphoto.com
|
|
| Photo
Tip . . .The Eyes Have It!
When
shooting a horse's head, make the eye the point of focus.
Try to position the horse so that the sun (should you be
so lucky as to have a sun!) is creating a catch light in
the eye.
Susan Sexton
www.susansexton.com
|
©Susan
Sexton |
|
|
»This
Just In...«
- An
article entitled "The Importance of Images in Equine Advertising"
has recently been accepted for publications by fourteen equine
specialty publications. Written by Rebecca Baucus, the article
offers information on choosing images to represent equine businesses
and refers to the Equine Photographers Network as a resource to
find a professional photographer in the readers area. If you have
interest in reprints for your publication, please direct inquiries
to Carien Schippers carien@catskill.net
or call 607 865 5215.
|
The
mission of EPNet News is to inspire, educate and reinforce
the importance of integrity and professionalism in business practice.
As
a publication of the Equine Photographers' Network, the EPNet
News does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness
of any information presented. One Horse Productions, the staff
of EPNet News, guest authors of the EPNet News and current members
of the Equine Photographers' Network are not responsible for errors,
omissions or for results obtained from the use of such information.
Any reference to specific products, process, or service does not
necessarily constitute or imply endorsement of such. All photographs
and illustrations on newsletter are copyrighted through the respective
photographer/designer and the Equine Photographers Network through
publishing in the EPNet News .These images are not in the public
domain and may not be posted on personal or commercial websites
or correspondence or used in any manner without obtaining permission
of the copyright holder. For more information on images contact
EPNet News Editor.
Editor: rebecca@rebeccabaucus.com
© 2002 Equine Photographers' Network, All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer
|
Site
design by One Horse
Productions
|
