free... Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

here, the same character you might have met earlier: this time, he's showing off in full gallop. he was running around us literally like a little puppy. :) what you see in the far background is a herd of cows belonging to a local quichwa tribe. the white spot is a tourist 4x4 visiting lagoon limpiopungo. i thought about cloning it out, but decided to leave it in the end, for the sake of reality.

i was not sure, if i wanted to post this one due to the horrid light. however, the more i looked at it, the more i liked the ambience myself.

--
general information: larger and smaller herds of wild horses (i guess, they would be called mustangs in the US) roam the paramo in cotopaxi national park. if feeling safe in their numbers they seem not to mind human presence, but smaller groups tend to keep their distance, like the fellow in this foto.

a different angle on the same horsie: this time with slightly different light and cotopaxi in the background [as requested by Henk (Floydian)]. ;)

belido, steliosk, fulvio52, Floydian, scobert, lucasgalodoido, daddo, trekks, PixelTerror, ifanik, cfreire, avene, plimrn, isabela_sor, Charo, noborders has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

belido (16411) 2008-04-14 10:33

Hi Kristaps,

very impressive scene. The wild horse on the green field is an eye catcher and he's right to be happy on a place like that. Very good work!
Regards,
Carlos

Greg1949 (8507) 2008-04-14 10:42

Kristnaps, nice catch; a flying horse. Scenery is awesome and the horse with all it's feet off the ground is great timing. Detail and color is awesome.

Greg

Hunkar (4690) 2008-04-14 10:54

An excellent scene with good composition..

mesutilgim (36733) 2008-04-14 11:10

Hi Kristaps,
Wonderfull capture with great graphical effect.
Amazing the lonelyb horse, riding in the frame.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

steliosk (4784) 2008-04-14 12:05

wow!!!! I love this shot!!!! you caught this in the air! How did you do it? Probably you waited for a while to capture this!!

Lovely saturated green colour, and great placement of the horse. BUT the timing is the most remarkable this scene has :)

TFS + Take care my friend

Stelios

fulvio52 (8314) 2008-04-14 14:01

Hi Kristaps,
awesome scenery, menacing skies, a mustang caught in full motion... for all I know this could be Wyoming. Love those brilliant yellowish greens, great display of lighting.
Excellent job!
Cheers,
Fulvio.

velocista (881) 2008-04-14 15:04

olá, a great landscape photo! the wild horse running in this vast place is a good image to ilustrate the freedom idea.
pedro

Floydian (30970) 2008-04-14 15:46

Hi Kristaps,
Four legs from the grass, great timing, or maybe luck. But whatever it is, the action is right in it. The light is not bad at all. Okay it's not magic, but no need for such a picture. It's about the horse in his natural surrounding. It would be perfect and worth a green star when the Cotopaxi was just in front of him to the left, but to be honest i like it already as it as.
Regards, Henk

[2] +

scobert (5333) 2008-04-14 16:17

Hi Kristaps,
I remember this free spirit from an earlier post of yours. I agree with Henk that your lighting is not as bad as you think it is. I'll take this soft overcast light over the washed out midday lighting that occurs with clear skies anyday. Your composition is excellent! I like the way that the hill slopes gently to the right and the very nice "s" curve of the stream. The clouds are very good also. They are dark and brooding enough to be quite interesting and they add to the mood of this photo. You positioned the running horse perfectly. This is a great photograph and one that you should not underestimate!
Stan

[2] +

Waylim (10747) 2008-04-15 0:12

Kristap,
I was in Ecuador but didn't go to Cotopaxi, I heard it's beautiful, but I'd seen many other area that look very much like this. Big open field with big view of the sky and mountain. Beautiful country it is. This image is great with nice open plains with free spirit. Great captured with good clarity and sharpness. Composition, colors and light are also good.
Way

daddo (11328) 2008-04-15 3:48

Hi Kristaps.Looking at this horse I think of the wind, free and speedy. Lovely shot- a metaphor for freedom. Nice light even though the sky is overcast.Regards. Klaudio.

jonathan_hart (22576) 2008-04-15 3:59

a beautiful scene, the horse running free
nice landscape, well framed
regards
jo

lucasgalodoido (16601) 2008-04-15 4:26

Olá Kristaps,
bélissima foto essa, realmente passa uma grande mpressão de liberdade, com esse cavalo contrastando com a grama. Belo trabalho.
Parabéns e Abraço!

trekks (14282) 2008-04-15 5:19

hello Kristaps

I would say the gloomy sky gives a different kind of atmosphere to a view like this. The light intensity is adequate for a nice exposure to give details. The horse is definitely drawing my attention in its gallop on the plain.

I still remember your Ecuador shot of horses, lying on the grass to shoot.

tfs, bill

PixelTerror (86060) 2008-04-15 6:03

Hi Kristaps,
Ah, another "icelandic" image I see !
I like in that one the motion from the running horse and the feeling of wide empty space, considering the weather you achieved a good rendering here.
Have a nice day JY

Tobias__Ortmann (2589) 2008-04-15 8:51

Hi kristaps
very nice shot great contrast object with the horse good colours and nice composition
great picture
Toba

Wandering_Dan (3219) 2008-04-15 9:12

Hello, Kristaps -

This to my mind is a very strange view of Ecuador, since it looks so flat I think more of Mongolia! Great capture of the horse in hight spirits, but in a way I like the WS better, not just because you got a hint of the mountain, but the sky is more interesting in that shot. But they are both very good.

Best,
Dan

batalay (20882) 2008-04-16 6:46

Hello Kristaps,

An actions shot in such a lovely setting! The horse here indeed looks wild, and somewhat short-legged. On the other hand, the image in the alternative (different angle of the same horse) suggests almost a thoroughbred.

Warm regards, Kristaps,

Bulent

ElAprendiz (7370) 2008-04-16 13:27

Hi Kristaps:

The Andean landscapes in South America, offer myriad nuances, usually various forms of geography, with a lot of textures green.

I must consider, among shrouded mountains, that this is a significant plains for grazing and breeding horses.

The photo apart from having a large depth of field, has a beautiful composition, very dynamic and sharp. Excellent, friend.

John

gunbud (27819) 2008-04-16 18:05

Hi Kristaps,
Great action shot with the beautiful horse seen in clear focus and great detail. The small river really fills this treeless landscape very well. The grey sky gives this image a somber feel.
Regards, Tom

ifanik (20536) 2008-04-17 6:42

Very very beautiful picture my friend Kristaps
Very nice colours and POV
Beautiful horse
Best regards
Nick

cfreire (11647) 2008-04-17 7:05

Hi Kristaps,
Wonderful shot! This wild horse running freely for this beautiful green lowland under a sky loaded of clouds, with the a mood of a storm that approaches, it is wonderful. Good POV, colors and framing. Well done, Best regards, Consuelo

avene (10946) 2008-04-17 7:25

as others have noted, you've caught the perfect moment when the horse seems to be flying. the dramatic sky fits well with the overall mood of urgency in this photo, although having seen Stan's WS on another photo from Cotopaxi, I keep thinking that a panoramic crop might emphasise the "running" part of this shot even more.

best,
K.

ThomasL (417) 2008-04-18 4:28

Hi Kristaps,

Great shot, with beautiful colors! I like the simplicity of its composition. The running horse is a great additional element. Maybe you should 've sharpened just a little bit less (because you can see a thin white line on the borders). But well done!

Greetings,
Thomas

danyy (68672) 2008-04-18 7:28

Bonjour Kristaps,
je suis sensible à certaines atmosphères, surtout celles où les nuages emplissent le ciel et donnent des lumières qui sont plus difficilement exploitables, mais bien plus interessantes.
Une belle scène de monde sauvage dans des couleurs naturelles.
Best regards.
Daniel.

delic (6735) 2008-04-18 13:02

Forget about the portraits, Kristaps, show us more of this wild stuff. Beautiful contrasty backdrop for the galloping horse. Terrific composition. Regards,
Hakan

bracasha75 (22031) 2008-04-21 13:56

Hi Kristaps
O yeaaah...realy free.This is one unique image with excellent message
Bravo
Cheers,Braca

denisn72 (6979) 2008-04-21 14:09

Hello Kristaps
This galloping black horse near the river is amazing. The landscape surrounding him is stunning. Great contrasts and colours. The herd of cows far away create a nice atmosphere. Well done!
Best regards
Denis!

plimrn (19602) 2008-04-22 14:10

Hi Kristaps,
The one you chose here, has a wonderful balance lacking in the photo for Henk, I think it's the curves of the river, the hill and the clouds or maybe it's just the river and clouds. In any case, the mustang is clearly showing off for you presenting himself with flying mane and tail. I love it!!
HLJ, Pat

archimatica (13262) 2008-04-23 14:36

Great shot.
Pure nature and freedom.
Regards
Renzo

sagar (2307) 2008-04-24 7:51

Hi Kristaps,
Splendid!!!! Its a masterpiece. The vastness and the energy of the galloping horse looks really wonderful.
Very well composed.
Regards,
Sagarneel.

isabela_sor (42097) 2008-04-24 8:08 [Comment]

Show Comment

Bluejeans (32173) 2008-04-27 8:26

Ola Kristaps ,
Que linda foto um cavalo selvagem a correr livre nestes campos verdes , gostei muito do rio a cortar o prado , bom contraste de cores , boa luz , parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

faubry (32281) 2008-04-29 2:36

superb photo with a free atmospher, i like this alone horse runing.. thanks
francine

Angshu (33627) 2008-04-30 0:38

Hello Kristaps
Yes, I well remember this character from your earlier post. While I would still prefer the earlier post because it's more dramatic, but this is, my any yardstick, an enviable effort. Your timing is very good with the horse having space to gallop into. The dark clouds create a different type of mood here. Thanks for posting this for us to enjoy, & I do agree with Kristine about the pano format. Very good work my friend!
Best Regards
Angshuman

Charo (31671) 2008-05-17 7:51

Hola Kristaps,
Una bella imagen en la que el movimiento es palpable. me encanta ese caballo corriendo con sus crines movidas por el viento. Magnífica toma.
Cordialmente
Charo

wolf38 (12719) 2008-08-01 10:55

Hello Kristaps. Freedom purely. Who could symbolize this better than a horse. You realized this topic photographically outstanding. My acknowledgment. Best regards, Wolfgang.

noborders (14199) 2008-09-25 5:07

It's splendid, the horse seems not to touch the ground any more... I saw recently a similar scene in east Turkey where horses were roaming free in a village but the surroundings were very different, here the tones add to the atmosphere of wilderness. Horrid light, you write ? I had not noticed, I don't agree !
The other photos that you mention are also great (here, I would have cloned out not the white car but the bright spot that I see under his belly, probably due to sharpening - a detail, really !)

Kristaps, please forgive me not to answer directly to your suggestions that I find very useful : often I would answer too late to such remarks and you would not notice them any more, that does not mean that I'm ignoring them !

Best regards and compliments for this one,
Cath.