Laughing horse.by
marvinComment by mycelium: Greetings from the Critique Club!
The first thing I noticed when this photo loaded was the white horse. This is good: your intended subject is also your focal point. This is helped by a good use of DOF and isolation of the white horse against the dark background. Good job there.
There are some distracting elements, though. The buildings in the background, and especially the blue in the upper left, do nothing for the photo. They only lead my eye away from the horse, your subject. There is also a lot of empty space on the right, not really being used for anything in the picture.
What this picture really needs is a stronger focus on the white laughing horse. Ideally, I think, the horse would just about fill the frame.
I notice in your profile that your only lens is the kit lens. This isn't in and of itself a bad thing - I use the kit lens all the time. But it's very difficult to get closeups with a maximum 55mm zoom - you'd have to get right up in the horse's face.
A number of commenters have picked up on a conceptual problem with this photo: the scene you have depicted really isn't stationary. The horse's feet look squarely planted, but the face is clearly moving. The photo looks active, not static.
I can easily understand why you might consider this photograph "stationary." Unfortunately, being able to see the link to the challenge theme yourself isn't enough. Before you submit, or even before you shoot for the challenge, think about this:
Is there any way that your picture could be interpreted by someone as not
meeting the challenge, and is it likely that a lot of people will think that way?
You have a good eye for subject matter and a solid camera to take pictures with. Keep snapping and keep submitting, and try to keep your audience in mind. Good luck.
Photographer found comment helpful.
