One on of my workshops to photograph the beautiful white horses of the Camargue in southern France, we had a photo session with a stunning Lusitano horse. It was done in an indoor arena, and I was able to completely control the lighting which is what makes this portrait so visually arresting. I used one spot light to the left and a little behind the horse, and a blue spot above. The trick to great lighting isn't necessarily knowing immediately where to place the lights. It's in recognizing great lighting when you see it. The black background dramatized the shot, and I was able to achieve that look because I could close the large arena doors and there were no windows at all. The horse looked like it had just come from the beauty parlor -- what a magnificent subject. My settings were 1/100, f/4, 2500 ISO, and I hand held the camera and 24-105mm Canon lens.
2 Comments
Aug 20, 2017, 2:25:52 PM
Jim - Thanks for your comments, Steve. The reason there is noise in this picture is because I shot this a few years ago with the Canon 5D Mark II and the ISO was high -- 2500. I had no choice since it was quite dark and horses move. With my current camera, the 1Dx Mark II, the noise would be minimal. After I read your comment, I applied Neat Image software to the original hi res file and that eliminated the noise.
Aug 20, 2017, 2:16:43 PM
Steve Telchin - Nice going Jim. I am a big fan of yours.Great photo but have to admit the first thing I noticed was the noise. I think a lot of amateur photographers have this thing about noise but the public at large does not.