David, most impressive. I love the sunlit BG, but the feet in the shadow bothered me a little bit, so I tried running it through Photmatix as a pseudo HDR (had to convert back to 16 bit to be able to do this)
Please keep in mind I'm working with a small jpg, but I hope I didn't mess it up too much :)
Sweet shot David. The yucca shadows, BG colors, and mesa in the BG scream wide open west. Beautiful animal and I love the texture of that fuzzy winter coat.
I think this is one of my favorites of your horse images to date. I like it a lot. BG accentuates and contrasts with him so well. I understand was Fabs is talking about with the bottom but do not like the result. Dodging it or better yet a masked curves adjustment could be used. I do like the definition in the hair of Fabs' version though.
Thanks everyone. Your comments are much appreciated. Fabs, thanks for the rework. I think your version is too strong, but going in the right direction. There are spots of early light that barely show on the foreground and his lower legs. I'll work to bring those out more, but leave some of the shade in for contrast and anchoring. And a little more sharpening on his body will help to bring out his coat texture.
David,
I second Robert's comment. This is the best I have seen of your images. Very nice. Impressive colours, lot of details. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi
I really like this one David. Wonderful subject in great light and the inclusion of enough background to give a sense of location. I agree with lightening the shadow part of the image (and there are numerous ways to do so). Its always nice to have a willing subject.