Table portraits 4.

So this bunch is from the same photo session as the previous one; from April 2020. This time the horse is my GG Valentine, alias Namu, and the bridle on her is just an average snaffle.

In these, the sad atmosphere has changed to something better, I think. And in some of these photos the background - my worktable - looks a bit like some kind of city scene near a lake or pond at night? I don't see why anyone could ride horses in such an environment, but at least it could look like a world... Unlike my table could in color.

I think this was the time when I finally discovered the focus spots and how to use them... I have had this camera since 2013 and it seemingly took me seven years to realize such a basic trick which helps you with the composition. Pfff. Have been crazy with it since.

The bridle seen in here is one of my earliest with tongue buckles. It may be the one I made specifically to fit this mold and to be the model's personal bridle. At that time I had already learned to make split crownpieces, but I didn't like the idea of placing the noseband hanger under it, so I constructed my bridles of that era a bit weirdly: the loose hanger was on top of everything and held the bit. I could ask, why not? But I can say, after starting to cut slots in the splits and putting the narrow strap through it and to attach it to the noseband instead of bit, my bridles have been a bit better to use. They stay symmetric a lot better.

Yippee, a crooked noseband. They exist in real horse world so I'm not too disgusted.

I really don't know what to say about these... All are just headshots which I tried to be artistic with...

Heavier editing on this one.

The remaining photos were taken as sepia.

I sometimes try if I can give an illusion of a different head and neck position by twisting the angles... Not sure how successfully.

So that was that batch... Choosing what to include and what to reject from blogging was a lot of work. It always is. The next photo batch will be from April 2021, and may contain less tack and more simple backgrounds and of course no fullbody shots. There is no space for that on my table, unfortunately. 

Table portraits 3.

And the table portrait/art photo series will continue. This bunch is from April 2020, and as I look at these, I can see I may have tried to redo something from the previous batch. 

Focusing on the eye is surprisingly difficult, especially if you also want to focus on the tack...

I will only splat a few best of the colored pictures here. They aren't that interesting really... And the light coming from the side instead of front is definitely an issue, which also made it hard to pick the photos to post.

It's those black and white ones that I am more into posting. Should not be surprising at all.

This time there is a rider doll, which may be the main update to this batch. The previous one had no rider or reins at all. 

The contrast is set to be as extreme as technically possible already in the camera. When I get to edit them afterwards, I only hone them a little bit further; I want there to be technically pure white and pure black in every photo.

Focusing on the bit, to criticize the misuse of bits, which is way too common in this world.

I see, cropping the ears off from the frame makes an effect. Or then it doesn't.

I could just snap this kind of eye closeup mess photos all day and never get the shot I hunt for! And I could still continue, because detail photos are fun.

As usual, I've just been experimenting with different angles, focus spots and composition to find THE exact right shot I want... And I usually am unsure if I have found it or not. This is why I can have so many photos from the same angles and lightings and other settings. I don't really like to look at this kind of repetitive photo bunches, but that is what there is behind one or two "good" photos that are posted into an online art site. 

Then I get enough of the monotony of what I do with the editing, and want to play with colors, and also the Curves tool. With the latter I can dig up details from the darker areas which otherwise could be just solid black. 

Dark, cold violet - my favorite color - for the shadows, and slight yellowing for the highlights. The curves tool allowed me to make the shaded areas more visible and thus control the contrast a bit better.

Probably one of my favorite shots of this whole bunch.

Favorite color in use once again! I cropped the ears off.

When I critically judge my own photos and edits of this bunch now, I can say the best pics are above this sentence.

...although I kind of like how the leather shines in this one.

Slight yellowish/brownish tone added.

Model horse hobby is why I am aware about all the weird stuff happening in the American side of horse cultures. I still cannot (and never will) see saddleseat or the TWH show riding as anything normal, so of course I try to - loosely - redo that and some of my drawing scenes with the models I have handy. Verdades, or Salinero, is a dressage horse... It sure doesn't turn well into a upside-down stepping show horse, but I can try. Some photos show the illusion better than some others, and of course the fightmore bridle hints that I only try to miniaturize my own fiction which actually doesn't repeat the real world stuff too exactly.

Curves tool used, and then adjusted the colors so that shadows are bluish and highlights yellowish... And while I usually do not want to do too drastic editing to these, with this picture I decided to go crazy and edit the eye further. Gave it a visible eye white and then changed details of the shine in it.

The next bunch appears to be a series of nearly similar shots, which still have some minimal differences I personally notice... And which I have developed further by editing more than a little. Now I don't even know why I had spared so many of these... And which ones are the best ones? I don't know. Comparing nearly similar photos is hard so it doesn't really make any sense to show them all. Let's have just six of them.

Then two last photos, which to me don't seem very artistic. Instead they look like "behind the scenes" shots, which I try to take most of the time.

Proof that I don't always tighten the flash nosebands to the extreme? They help keeping the bits in place... Or not.

The next bunch, which I will post separately, is from the same photography session. At least you don't need to see more Verdades heads with a fightmore on it... For a while.