[Stephen Hampton]

The two best mares I have ever raised, conditioned, and trained. Sonrisa; bay paso fino, and Twiggy; black quarter horse.

http://sunshinedixieland.com/magnumopus.html

Have published original photos for comparison. Scroll down to see. In the color inversion, the brownish tarp is roughly the shape of an american alligator head. There are many such (10+feet long) on the St Mary's River where I have often ridden these horses. Work and pleasure, beauty and danger. Thanks everyone, for viewing, and please comment. All feedback is greatly appreciated.

[Jeanne G]

Hi Stephen,
I'm totally out of my depth on art and photography, so this is a totally unqualified opinion. I don't like the sidebbar pic at all. It looks photo-albumish. The blurred backdrop of the field and trees is interesting. It has a muted look like certain era of paintings, while the horses stand out in stark and solid relief.

Your horses are absolutely beautiful. I was trained to ride english and western when I was young by a horse trainer who knew all the ropes and taught me just a tad of them. I wasn't allowed to even ride until I'd learned to care for the horses, their hooves, grooming, saddling etc. I admire anyone who is expert on it all and isn't intimidated by these magnificent creatures. I've been bucked, poggo-sticked, reared, and treed. I never really got over my intimidation of them and they always know it.

Jeanne

[Stephen Hampton]

Thanks, Jeanne. Horses never forget, and they can read body language much better than most any human. I rearranged the two photos
Have a great day.
Stephen

[ross hamilton hill]

The first photo is just OK, the fence is a big minus, the second photo is really ordinary, blurry and lacking much of anything. I like your enthusiasm but really you should be able to do better.

These don't do your lovely horses justice.

[Michael Cantor]

What Ross said. The horses are wonderful. But this isn't a horse appreciation site. The photos are totally ordinary snapshots, poorly cropped, background conflicting with the shot, no tension, no particular interest as photographs.

[Sharon Passmore]

I only see one snapshot. What's up with this? This is Eratosphere not Instagram. I am being blunt with you because I know you can at least TRY to make art from the image.

[Rick Mullin]

In a sense I should recuse myself, primarily on the basis of my previously stated thinking that we should have a separate critique area for photography, which is utterly different from painting, drawing, music, dance, drama, and cinema. And from poetry.

That said, I don't know what is gained over a straightforward, especially black and white, photograph when you get into all the compu-futz. What you have shown us are truly horses of a different color. But why are they a different color? When Der Blaue Reiter painters picked their emblem and moniker, they were looking to a painting in which color defined a world in a way in which photography cannot. It wasn't a push-button definition.

[Sharon Passmore]

Rick, I would love to have another forum for photography, but I hardly think Alex will add another art forum when the one we have uses 1 page to display the last 100 days. The solution? Post post post. I see, on FB, that you have some lovely new paintings up. *wink*

[Stephen Hampton]

I agree Rick, mostly. Having, cared for, conditioned, and trained these horses; the photo is merely one image of years of such work. Not being a gifted painter, poet, writer, etc; I'm happy to have the tools of today's high tech to experiment with such images; and to produce and publish what strikes, interests, or moves me in some way - be it good, bad, beautiful, or ugly (as my life is). Thank you for viewing and commenting. I have much respect for you as an artist, based on your works you have shared on this forum.
Sincerely,
Stephen

[Lorraine Pester]

Stephen,
I have come back a number of times to this photo of your beloved horses. I finally can articulate my thoughts about it.

First, just based on the color scheme of the abstracted photo, I rather like it. I almost always try the inversion just to see what happens with my own photos. But...this becomes just a shot of two horses, ghostly and pale. And that's ok if that is your intention. But I am a big fan of Chinese brush painting and the thinking behind it; for this technique of painting, the artist looks for the essence of the subject. In your case, it is two horses that you know intimately. If I were taking the photo or manipulating it, I would first ask myself what I want to say about these two particular horses. Are they friends? Do they frequently find themselves in each other's company by choice? And when you consider them, what makes them individuals? I'm not as interested in what makes them fit the generic label 'horse' but rather what makes them uniquely themselves. Is it the eyes, the line of the back, the way the coat feels? I've never been around horses so I know little about them. I can get the information about 'horse' from many different sources, but I can only get the information about these two horses from you. You figure out what you want me to know from the photo, and show it to me. For me, then you have a more successful image.