Born Free Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Well, perhaps not entirely free. The barbed wire fence restricts this fellow's freedom to roam, yet he has a few thousands acres of golden fields and foothills to explore. This ranch country near the foothills of the Rockies is famed for clear air, long ridges, rolling grasslands and hills leading to towering glacial peaks toward the west. Small streams interlace the landscape, winding their way through valley bottom meadows of birch, willow and grasses. There is a strong sense of freedom to wander about vast spaces in this area of southern Alberta.

SamB, elihesamian, ChrisJ, riclopes, papagolf21, sleon, jwmunro, chrisnet, sam224, JCG, leo61, Henryk_Bilor, coco, Photo65Net, Tue, Didi, Cricri, Paolo, plimrn, besnard, jafadabret, singuanti, siolaw, jmdaoudal, Clairedelune, FORJP001, axiotea has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Cormac (26449) 2007-01-22 21:37

Wonderful shot John! The horse is very well presented in profile, and I like the way he is offset to one side, with the fence on the other side. This gives a lot of space to enjoy the magnificent view of the fields and mountains. Beautiful!

sothy81 (8496) 2007-01-22 21:49

Nice shot John. Vivid. Great colors contrast. The fence adds really rich quality in it. Wonderful work. Sothy

Roly (1948) 2007-01-22 21:57

Outstanding shot John, beautiful colors and composition. Very cooperative model as well, and the warm colors are superb. I would have cropped the image at the bottom, right where the lower wire hits the left edge of the image, removing the lower band of shade. But that's just a personal preference.

vesalius (857) 2007-01-22 22:26

Hi John,

Beautiful composition of a magnificent animal. The colours are deep and the shot is beautifully exposed.

Take care,

Don

roamermark (1588) 2007-01-22 22:58

Hi John,
Two of my least favourite subjects...landscapes and animals.
This is so well composed and so technically well controlled that I had to stop by and offer my respect.
Cheers
Mark

pankajbajpai (374) 2007-01-22 23:02

hi john,
nice shot,
well composed,
nice pov, well saturated colours,
tfs & regards
pankaj

SamB (1948) 2007-01-22 23:11

Hello, John--
Nice work here. Your composition is nice, letting us look with the horse into the greener grass on the other side of the fence, and letting the lines of the fence, the green ridgeline, and the distant mountains all lead with its gaze to the upper right. The evening light gave you great colors, and the blue on orange scheme works great.
Thanks!
sam

gneufeld (15007) 2007-01-22 23:44

Hi John, This is a gorgeous Alberta foothills shot. I grew up just north of Calgary so anytime I get back there of see pictures like this, I become nostalgic at heart. Your POV is perfect with the horse taking center stage, the fence and grasses in the foreground with a gorgeous mountain backdrop in the distance - it doesn't get any better! Great work and thanks for sharing. Gerald

LCannon (2776) 2007-01-23 0:07

I really love this one John, from the fence angle leading diagonally across to the one puffy cloud right in the center. The horse provides such a strong image, his color and the dark shadows on the grass. Such wonderful glowing color, and then there are those cool blue mountains in the background, simply wonderful!

elihesamian (26091) 2007-01-23 0:17

Hi John,
what a beautiful scene!
the horse,the field and the vast landscape towards the far in depth,the mini clouds ( that shows itself strongly) and all things come in a fine vertical composition by your hands and eyes,a peaceful one,great work and lovely,too!
Best
M

narpad (945) 2007-01-23 0:32

Nice POV and good backdrop of the meadows and hills. Nice use of polarizer to bring out the colors. TFS.

Nick

izmirli (2931) 2007-01-23 1:04

merhaba dear john
beautiful lovely picture.very good light and colours.beautiful nature and horse.well done.
best regards.
gürkan akçakır.

cbrman (18697) 2007-01-23 2:26

Hello John,

Cette image a un seul défaut ! Le barbelé qui retient ce cheval !
J'aurai préferé le voir en pleine liberté dans cet environnement splendide !
Bravo !

A+

Dominique

Graal (57292) 2007-01-23 3:55

Hi John,
fine portrait of horse, beautiful landscape in background. I like the colours and composition also. Interesting note. Good job.
Gr., Aleksander

ChrisJ (69588) 2007-01-23 4:35

Hi John

A superb colour contrast of the ochre browns of the dry grass against the blue sky. I like the dramatic angle & position of the horse, too. Tfs!

papagolf21 (55990) 2007-01-23 5:03

Bonjour, mon ami John,
Libre, ce cheval l'est sûrement. J'ai remarqué une chose, quel que soit l'animal, il a toujours tendance à s'approcher des limites alors qu'il possède de vastes étendues.
En tout cas, la photo est très réussie. Le cadrage très bien pensé.
Une image qui nous entraîne dans les grands espaces.
Amitiés.
Philippe

riclopes (32865) 2007-01-23 5:12

Olá John, I would say that he has enough space to have fun. I love animals, although I don't have time to go to TN, so I allways smile when I bump with one here. He seems not to be afraid of you and may be he would even like to have your hand on his head. Good portrait and fantastic colors on this attractive landscape. The fence, actually don't ruin the image at all and even gives nice perspective lines into the landscape. A pleasant diferent image, John.
Ricardo

markstaples (15670) 2007-01-23 5:22

Hello John
The horse is very well placed in the frame as this allows us to see the perpsective of the fence which crosses the shot in a nice diagonal. Colours are nice and rich, and what a beautiful backdrop. Nice work.
Best wishes
Mark

jhm (81731) 2007-01-23 5:38

Hi John,

The long barbed wire fence care for a perspective,the golden long grass for the colour, the mountains in background for a lovely depth view, but the horse this is here really the eye catcher, excellent taken. TFS.

Greetings from Belgium,
John.

sleon (9350) 2007-01-23 5:43

Hi John
What a lovely glowing portrait of this handsome chap. The colours are so warm and the grassy textures beautifully lit. Stunning view of the background landscape too.
Susanna

feather (49848) 2007-01-23 6:48

Great shot John. I like the way you captured him in profile and the fact he is looking right into the frame and the strong diagonals make a wonderful composition. The distant Rocky Mountains top of an excellent shot.
Kath

carper (64130) 2007-01-23 7:41

very good photo John,
great pov, nice quality, fine lines and great colours, yes I like it. It's well taken and it's nice to look at, well done.
gr. jaap

jeanguy (684) 2007-01-23 7:55

Hi John,

this is a great shot. Colours, POV and horse make a very good scene. Cheers.
Jean-Guillaume

jwmunro (6561) 2007-01-23 8:15

Hello John -

Excellent portrait! From the background it looks like it was captured around the Waterton Lakes area. The composition is right on - I like how your subject is looking into the framed area and I like how the fence is used to divide and lead the eye into the spectacular background. Exposure is spot on with just the right amount of shadows on the horses face. The face does look a little soft but it is OK IMO. Well done!

Thank you for sharing

John

Elaine_Blath (6170) 2007-01-23 10:06

Hi John,

really great one...the moment and POV are fantastic, full of atmosphere...well done!

Take care, Ivana

qpochet (1378) 2007-01-23 10:08

Hi John,

Very nice shot. The colours are just great and harmonious as is the composition. Very good POV and DOF. Wonderful!
Nice job!
Quentin.

peter1892 (3201) 2007-01-23 10:15

Hi John - could this be considered as a 'portrait'? The horse certainly seems to be posing! :)

Excellent composition, as for me there are two subject, the horse & that wonderful landscape. Your viewpoint allows a perfect view of both.

chrisnet (20354) 2007-01-23 10:50

Hello John,
I like this good presentation of the horse. Good framing,colors and lighting. Well captured.
Regards
Christian

Fis2 (45250) 2007-01-23 11:20

Witaj John!
Exscellent shot, good "portrait". Wonderful place. I like the composition and colours. Well done.
Regards
Krzysztof

Albrecht (10916) 2007-01-23 11:29

Hi John
but now captured behind the barbed wire?????
A wonderful landscape and view in the daistance;good colours and sunlight and place of the horse looking away.
take care, Albrecht

sam224 (5851) 2007-01-23 11:35

A very beautiful composition: the horse in foreground is a wonderful fellow and the mix of colours granted by the yellow of the dried fields, the blue of the sky and the mountains in the background gives us a wonderful composition.
Well done. Thanks for sharing

leo61 (42886) 2007-01-23 11:42

Hi John!
Wonderful landscape and nice profile of the horse.There is great depth with the diagonal fence and the mountans in the distance and the colors are very nice too.
Regards,Leo

Gerrit (35493) 2007-01-23 11:45

Hi John,
winter's gone I see. Wonderful summer shot in delicious colours and light. A well positioned horse.
Regards, Gerrit

ndb1958 (9228) 2007-01-23 13:00

Hi John,
what a beauty - the horse and even the fields and mountains. You caught it so well.
As usual great colours and lightning.
Nice composition.
Have a nice week,
Nino

danyy (68040) 2007-01-23 13:14

Hello John,
cette clôture limite sa liberté peut-être, mais quelle vue il a et quel coin fantastique le voit gambader et galoper.
Parfaitement cadrée et exposée, des couleurs superbes et bien capturées, elle poussent à vouloir les découvrir en entrant dans la scène.

Best regards from Liège.
Daniel.

coco (27604) 2007-01-23 13:36

Hi John.

Good this photo. The horse can fill that empty space that could have the photo.
Also the composition, with a good depth and perspective, and the contrasted colours as also the light, look nice.

Well done.

Henryk_Bilor (20365) 2007-01-23 13:36

Hi John
Lovely horse. Good composition and great colours. I like the mountains in the background. But I wonder if the land isin`t too small for the animal, so he search for more...;)
Regards

Photo65Net (43084) 2007-01-23 13:45

Bonsoir John,
I like this clever compo, with great balance between the horse and the landscape.
Colors and perspective are pleasant too.
A nice picture,
JB.

porto62 (1765) 2007-01-23 15:54

Hi John greet one here we really feel the liberty of the horse behind the fence the compo and colours are great TFS,Alain

Tue (25608) 2007-01-23 16:33

Hej John,
Great shot! The horse seems really to enjoy his life in this large fields I think. The placement of the horse in the composition is very good too and I really like the colours. Very good picture, thanks for sharing!
Hilsen,
Lars

MIG13 (0) 2007-01-23 18:14

Hi, John! This pic reminds me of Hollywood Western movies! A nice composition, mixing colours, textures and elements! The horse looks sad 'cause of the fence lol! Nice job! TFS! Greetings from Rio! Miguel.

Didi (35760) 2007-01-23 19:51

Hi John
Freedom is on the side horse witth a very nice background.
Very nice colours indeed.
The shades are not disturbing me.
Cheers.

JCG (24857) 2007-01-24 3:44

Hi John,

The framing and the position of the horse in this splendid landscape are sumptuous. A photograph which would deserve a painting I find. The colors and the light are well managed and the clearness of the image is very appreciable. Me which loves much the horses, it is a very beautiful work, cheer and thank you John.

With my all friendships,

Jean-Charles

Cricri (42853) 2007-01-24 5:11

Bonjour John,
Sympathique image, le cheval bien placé, qui laisse une belle vue sur ce paysage qui donne envie de découvrir, trés belles couleurs, félicitations
amicalement
cricri

Paolo (40651) 2007-01-24 5:37

Hi John, wonderful view with the horse in the foreground, but, for me, with that wonderful view on the landscape and the mounts in the back. the great space of North America!
excellent colours and quality.
thanks,ciao

plimrn (19558) 2007-01-24 9:55

Hi John,
Interesting, isn't it? With thousands of acres to roam, he stands at the fence!! As to the photo, you've captured lovely detail in his strong neck and face. The framing against the beautiful detail of his home is perfect; golden grass, blue water, distant mountains and clear, blue skies!! The angle of the fence and the delicate detail of the foreground grass enhance the photo further. Sorry I'm slow to respond. HLJ, Pat

besnard (30182) 2007-01-24 10:11

Bonjour John
Il est superbe ce cheval à la robe rousse. Celà donne un cliché d'une grande netteté, très agréable à regarder.
Merci pour le partage et bonne journée.
Nicole

excited (143) 2007-01-24 13:47 [Comment]

Show Comment

jafadabret (38997) 2007-01-24 14:11

Une photo, John, où l'animal et le paysage font un ensemble remarquable. J'aime l'or des herbes et la belle robe du cheval. Beau travail !
Jacques

t0mmm1 (5434) 2007-01-24 14:44

Hi John,
wonderful shot. There is something magical in this, but is also something so common to the human behaviour. Despite half universe behind him, he looks over the fence and dream how to reach new horizonts. It's wonderful shot!
Have a nice day,
Tomi

Boots (475) 2007-01-24 18:31

Good work, John. I think Alberta is sadly underrepresented on TE, other than Banff and Lake Louise. The composition with the horse works well, and you can almost smell the grass.

Cheers,

Andrew.

BMYNBR (104) 2007-01-24 19:59

Nice colors, I like how he pops in the picture.
Dave

Ann75 (0) 2007-01-24 22:09

Hello John,

Fantastic shot with such beautiful warm colours. I love the way you captured the horse in profile. The scenery is stunning with such amazing colours and details. Great composition and great lighting! Excellent work, John!

Greetings,
Ann

singuanti (15240) 2007-01-24 22:13

Hi John. Well I guess that's about as much freedom as any non-wild horse has ever had. What a beautiful place this guy lives in! The golden fields remind me of California. The angle of the horse’s head was perfect. Most impressive John!

siolaw (25702) 2007-01-25 6:43

Hi John,
A great symbolic photo, in an optimal light giving warm colors, good choice of vertical framing and fine sharpness...the lines of the barbed wires add perspective and depth
Fine work here!
Laurent

cessy (13647) 2007-01-25 9:25

Hallo John
this horse so beautiful, and you portrait him nicely
the light, the background really beautiful
too bad about the barb, for he must love running free :)

leonorkuhn (13501) 2007-01-25 9:56

Hi John,

Great light here! I think that this horse posed for you. Very nice golden grass, good perspective and DOF.
Well done.
Greetings
Leonor

vincz (19039) 2007-01-26 5:55

beautfiul composition an excellent colours. The fence in diagonal is a great element of the compostion by diving the space ith the head of the horse very big on one side. very well done.

batalay (20704) 2007-01-27 10:00

Hi John,
Again, I can only join the chorus of admirers of this photo and your entire gallery in general. The composition is first rate, with the separate wires in the fence producing a graduated series of diagonals, all extrapolated to converge at a vanishing point. (If you had the corner or edge of a square field, then the lines would converge at a pair of vanishing points, demonstrating two-point perspective.) The colors, the exposure, the horse's gaze at the man in his vicinity, all work in concert to make this a wonderful open-ended piece of art. That is indeed, what good art ultimately is, with different viewers taking away different interpretations. Bulent

jmdaoudal (82) 2007-01-27 13:09

This is a nice story or may be he came just to have a little salt or a sweet..:-)
This is avery attractive horse, in a great landscape.
Jean Michel

Stepan (27167) 2007-01-28 2:45

Excellent close up of this thinking horse : the cloud looks like a thought (as you find them in comics !). Good pov and dof too.
Stéphane

Clairedelune (4883) 2007-01-28 11:06

John, I saw many pictures of horses. I took many pictures of horses. All of them (mine!), very disappointing. :( I always thought that my pictures were not a good tribute to the beauty of those great, proud animals.
Well, yours is just that. You achieve to present us a beautiful horse in this golden meadow so well... I'm jealous! ;)
I suspect that this horse was not alone, seeing the second shadow...
How is it that horses always give us the feeling of freedom? Is it because of what we feel inside of us when we straddle a horse? This feeling is so overpowering (though I almost kill myself once!).
A beauty. Again.
Claire

capthaddock (28640) 2007-01-30 10:10

Hi John - amazing range of focus, the gorgeous backdrop makes a perfect complement to the portrait, the light is also very favourable. Hate to be picky, but if this is in Alberta, why is it listed under BC?

jsbedard (70) 2007-02-01 13:11

I love those natural and warm colors! Great shot! JS

rhizomes (15325) 2007-03-07 14:19

Hi John,
VEry nice view with this horse looking to the right ! I also like the very nice colors.
Christophe

FORJP001 (3819) 2007-03-07 16:07

Hi John,

I just went thru your gallery and was amazed seeing the high number of critiques formulated by so different many experts.

All the pictures are exceptional and choosing the perfect one is quite a hard choice. Finally I opted for this one. The horse is a master of this huge domain; Not to worry the barbed wire is not electrified (Eastern fellows put up some electricity on their wire) and finally two white spots, one on the animal and a repeat in the sky gives this picture a unique composition. Well done.

Jean-Pierre

axiotea (15929) 2007-03-11 13:30

Hello John,
It's beautiful image with the horse wishing to go beyond the barbed wire and in BG the nice view over the mountains. Good choice of vertical format, great light, colors and framing.
Cheers,
Marilyn

robiuk (10763) 2007-04-02 16:09

Excellent shot - reminds me of one
of mine from last summer, but your
colours are much warmer, hence that
fantastic 'summery' feel to it.
Robi

Burberry1 (6041) 2007-04-02 16:17

Hello John:)))) I is soooo good to come back to your wonderful, inspirin gallery!!!!
This wonderful "portrait" is so well taken and with such a great light.
The POV is also perfect.

Great change in your portfolio using the living creature.

The best vwishes from Poland
Agnieszka

IgorDeleze (9247) 2007-07-20 5:14

HEllo John,
Very nice picture, with a strong symbolic touch.
The landscape is superbe.
Greetings.
Igor