This is how I amuse myself in a snowstorm- I go out and photograph horses. This wasn’t my idea, it was my good friend, Lisa’s. She was a former student of mine and like many of them (okay, all of them) they exceed me eventually. Lisa’s eventuality took about two and a half minutes.
Riva running- winter
So we met at a friend’s house and commenced blasting away at a horse called Riva. I started doing my standard running horse shots (autofocus, wide open, high ISO, fast shutter speed), Lisa started doing her nonstandard, entirely compelling, completely, uniquely Lisa shots. Check out her horse photography at lisacuemanphotography.com and you will see what I mean. We had the horse run at us a couple of times (standing near the other horses helped-horses don’t like being by themselves) and then stand as we shot away. This is the best running horse image I got.
As we were shooting, we noticed another horse, Haley, standing nearby. Haley has a wonderfully long mane andforelock (the hair on her face) so I started taking close-ups of her face using the same settings- wide open, high ISO and fast shutter speed- and the same lens- the Nikon 28-300mm. I was shooting with a high ISO because I was hand holding due to the deep snow and need to quickly get out of the way- of a large running horse!
I like both images of Haley. The difference between the two is in the processing. In Lightroom I slide the the clarity slider to the positive side (around 40) and on the other I slid it to the negative (around 30). Negative clarity is a great way to soften details. It works to enhance fog and eliminate wrinkles and exaggerate soft focus. And besides it is fun to play with.
The most important processing I did to get these shots is the decision I made to tag along when Lisa called and asked if I wanted to play outside on a snowy day. No point having a camera if it sits in your camera bag all the time!