Horsing around

[Charles E Hilton]

I am learning how the forum works and this is my second post of an image. Being an equine photographer mostly, I do shoot a lot of other subjects as well and will share in other forums as I have time. This image has had the background removed and a new one applied. I am not sure if many here do this kind of thing but it is often done in my work as I also do ad designs for horse industry people was well as shoot and changing out the background is common.

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[raian]

Fantastic light, or did you post process that effect? I really like it. If you did post process I'd love if you'd share your technique. I have horses and would love to try something like this.

 

[spalding12]

charles
this image is SUPERB
i surely hope that we'll see many more pictures from your very soon

thanks for sharing this one with us

 

[StephanieHelen]

Simply gorgeous!

 

[iudoc97]

Fantastic shot with very nice postprocessing background.
Scott

 

[Charles E Hilton]

The horse was shot as a JPG during a workshop I put on for other equine photographers. I extracted the horse from the background and copied it to a new layer the added a gradient of the same dark blue on both ends with a lighter blue in the middle.

The mane is the difficult part of the extraction but since it is so white that made it much easier. The ruff edges were slightly blurred so that the mane would blend a little better with the background. When I do an extraction like this I use the Magnetic Lasso tool with a feather of 1, again this allows for a softer edge to blend more naturally with what ever background you desire. I clean up the edge using a soft small brush if needed.

I do this kind of thing often as I also create ads for breeders. When I started doing this about ten years ago, I took hours to do what now takes minutes. Play makes for near perfect so I play a lot.

 

[OHcorgis]

Very nicely done! Not only is the shot wonderful, but love the extraction to the gradient background layer. I am still at the hours of work, but the Magnetic Lasso tool is a blessing.

 

[cajun angel]

That is the most gorgeous Arabian I've ever seen! My daughter is gonna want a copy of this beauty! Love every detail, love the background, I'd be proud to have that one hanging on any wall! Stunning! Now gonna go look some more at it.....

 

[Charles E Hilton]

That is the most gorgeous Arabian I've ever seen! My daughter is gonna want a copy of this beauty! Love every detail, love the background, I'd be proud to have that one hanging on any wall! Stunning! Now gonna go look some more at it.....

Dianne,

I love to photograph Arabians but this one is an Andalusian Stallion, One of my favorite horses to photograph at liberty. They are so graceful and beautiful in their movement. I will share others later.

 

[Skittledoo]

I want to doggy ear this particular thread somehow. I've been having a bit of trouble working on removing backgrounds from images. Mine always come out way too choppy and it makes it look poorly photoshopped.

 

[cajun angel]

Dianne,

I love to photograph Arabians but this one is an Andalusian Stallion, One of my favorite horses to photograph at liberty. They are so graceful and beautiful in their movement. I will share others later.

ANd I thought I knew my horses! :redface: He's a beauty for sure though! I've only seen those horses at Mideival Times - I plan on reading up on them! I'm looking forward to seeing more!

When I was in college I made extra $$ by photographing a friend's Arabians. He had a whole herd of them! My skills weren't as beautiful as yours, but it was fun!

 

[Charles E Hilton]

Amber

I want to doggy ear this particular thread somehow. I've been having a bit of trouble working on removing backgrounds from images. Mine always come out way too choppy and it makes it look poorly photoshopped.

Show me an example and I will see if I can help you. I have been doing this a long time. The mane is the difficult part and i do it several different ways.

 

[Charles E Hilton]

Here are a few others the first is a young Arabian Stallion. I have removed the background sue to the clutter. Even when people have these very expensive horses, they often don't have a great place to photograph them.

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

The second one is one that was awarded second place in the American Horse Publishing yearly awards for Open Color. This award is for images published during the year of 2005. The awards were announced int the summer of 2006

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

The third image was taken at a Junior World Barrel Racing event. I was shooting for the event owners to produce images for advertising this event.

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Here is another images of a running horse taken the same day as the white horse. I was teaching a three day workshop for equine photographers in Longmont, Colorado.

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Last is a young cowboy coming in from the range on a heavy snow day north and west of Denver, Colorado.

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[cajun angel]

Oh Charles, I"m drooling all over the place! You are clearly a pro when it comes to capturing our most beloved animal! If $$ were no option, I'd love to attend one of your workshops - just for the sheer fun of it! I'd be so spell-bound by the horses, I'd probably forget to press the shutter button! :redface: Please, post more when ya can - these are pure candy to me!

 

[jaikdee]

Charles,
Gorgeous picture of that Andy. Several friends own them and they are beautiful creatures.
Janet

 

[Charles E Hilton]

I will share others later. I am having to upload them to my web site in a special folder to share them here. I am redesigning my site and will hopefully finish it in September.

Dianne, I just moved from Texas to Southern California. I am not sure when I may do a workshop there in Texas yet but I am in the planning stages to do something in the next 18 months there. I will be keeping the fee for the workshops low so that anyone interested should be able to come.

Janet, I am in Apple Valley now and am always looking for beautiful horses to photograph for some personal projects I am doing, if your friends would be interested, especially if they ride out and there are beaches near, I would love to shoot them and will give them photos for their effort as long as they don't mind me using them for my projects. I still travel a good bit for my business but am trying to slow it down to work on personal images that I want to use in these projects.

Thank you all for the kind comments,

 

[davidwcramer]

Beautiful work, Charles. Those images are definitley winners. Would love to see more. I couldn't get your old site to work, but did enjoy reading and viewing your blog. Good to have you on the Cafe.

 

[Charles E Hilton]

David, I am working on redesigning my site, it should be up next month, I have tried to combine three sites into one. I didn't have many images on either site that were less than two years old. I have so much new stuff, I am planning on many galleries.

Charles

 

[Billh]

This really is beautiful! Horse people must really love your work.

Bill