Fun Monday - Photographs

I am your hostess this week and this is the assignment I set you:

Show me your favourite photograph and tell me why it's your favourite.

It can be one you've taken yourself or one someone else has taken, a snapshot or a more professional image. Is there a story behind it? Do you love it for the memories it gives or just because it's pleasing to the eye?

Show me and tell me!

A few people have already mentioned that choosing just one photograph has been difficult. And they're not wrong! But far be it from me to cheat on my own assignment! But if you want to, go right ahead, I don't really mind how many you choose!

I have been able to narrow it down to one. I can't say this image has any particular emotional meaning to me, nor does it evoke any memories. The story behind it is quite simple. I belong to a wonderful online community for photographers, Pixalo, and every month, there is a competition with a theme. The theme for January 2007 was was "Silhouette". I knew immediately the image I wanted to capture - I wanted a man on a horse with the sun setting behind him. I knew the "how" of taking the photograph but had never attempted it before. I grabbed one of my colleagues and his horse, headed for the one and only hill in the vicinity, and started shooting.

Now, when you take photographs, you know when you've got the shot in the bag. And I knew as soon as I pressed the shutter that this was the one. Being a rank amateur photographer, this hasn't happened very often; I set out with an image in my head and that was the image I came home with. Let me tell you, it was an epiphanous moment.



The image won the competition and this was the critique that I received for it:

Man and Horse – the thing that makes this jump out at you is the sharpness of the outline of the subject. Every detail is crisp, there is nothing to distract you about it and it positioning with the shape of the horse from its back leg, up its hind onto its neck and finally off its left ear, almost form a perfect diagonal across the page to lead the eyes. There is some ground and small amounts of shrubs/bushes to set the scene but these are suitably positions so that they will never interfere or distract from the main subject. Everything is backed by that wonderful sky. The shot is not perfect though…the sun is blown out and the picture would have benefited from a second exposure of just that area and a combination of the two. Unlike some other images though Angela has got away with it to some degree because the rest of the image is so strong.

Whenever I struggle with my photography, I just look back at this image and tell myself "you can do it" and it keeps me going.


Now, click on the list of Fun Monday participants in my sidebar and see everyone else's favourite images!