A New Foal
It’s a New Year and time to reconnect with the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge. So how àpropos that we are starting fresh with the word “New.”
My new just happens to be old, however. One of my 2015 goals is to travel back in time into my photo archives to resurrect images that have been overlooked, ignored or otherwise lost in the whirlwind of creating new images.
In 2014 I pressed the shutter on my cameras more than 21,000 times for work and for play. Only a fraction of these photographs have been processed, and even fewer have been published.
I hate to admit this, but some haven’t even been seen yet. There were days in the field when I was so pressed for time after shooting that I would simply scan the files for the winners, ignoring all of the others, in my quest to quickly write and publish the press releases.
This photograph was taken last April, on the day this foal was born at Skyland Farm, and is one I’d skipped over until now. I processed the photo in Lightroom and used Macphun Intensify Pro to emphasize the foal’s fluffy coat.
As is traditional in the race and sport horse world, this colt named C’superman celebrated his first birthday on January 1. He’s now considered a yearling, and this year he’ll start training for his future career as a show horse.
Will he become a winning show jumper like his sire Copperman and dam Cirena? Or, will his talent be discovered elsewhere, perhaps as a show hunter, dressage horse or eventer? Only time will tell.
Tricia Booker Photography 
Oh what a darling! Such a wonderful gloss to his coat too 🙂
Thank you, Sarah! I plan to photograph him more often this year, to document his journey. He is a cutie!
Oh I shall look forward to seeing them 🙂 Important year for a horse!
A handsome one. It’ll be interesting to follow a horse from the beginning in their development.
He is a cute one! I hope to share some of his more pivotal experiences this year. There won’t be a lot of exciting milestones, but even the small steps are still fun to document.
So what and how much of it did you pay to his mother to provide that perfect background? 😉
It’s an amazing picture and the background makes it even more interesting. 🙂
LOL! I’m glad you like the background. I did spend some time working on that aspect with software since I didn’t want him to blend in too much with her 🙂
Yes. In my opinion, the background is one of the elements that make the photograph as outstanding as it is. Without it or with a different (more trivial, such as a barn door) background, it would be less captivating. It’s this tone-in-tone, rarely seen in wildlife or animal photography, that made me look closer and longer. And it adds to the story, as you might have taken from my comment. I instantly assumed the horse in the backgroung being the mother. 🙂
This was a show stopper! I love his newness, his ears, his nose, that the background and frame is the body of his mother. This is a wonderful photo and I’m so glad you found him in your archives and explained to us what you used in post-processing. Thank you!
Thank you, Renate! It’s always fun to see what will happen when you have the time to experiment with software. I had skipped over this one at first because he kind of blended in with the background of her coat. Intensify Pro has some useful tools to create more of a texture on his fur. Always more to learn!
I’m going to check out Intensify Pro because that little foal definitely stands out! Beautiful work, Tricia. I’ve had fun today exploring your website.
Best to you, Renate
The photo definitely needs exploring and then exploring again! Is the colt in front of the mare’s rump??? No!!!! And then there is mane in the upper right. What part of the mare am I looking at??? Yes, I too assumed it is the mare…….and then back to the perfect little face. Thanks Tricia!!!
You’re seeing the mare’s shoulder area, with the mane at the top of the withers! I know it’s kind of hard to decipher, but his face was so cute that I wanted to see if I could make it work 🙂
The alert stance , the ears pricked, the large kind eyes and that gorgeous colour make this young fellow a winner. I look forward to following his journey.
I do love his cute face and the markings! There’s nothing better than a horse with lots of white!
I agree..
Beautiful! I would love to see the “before and after” if your photo processing. The image is definitely a stand-out!
Good idea, Sue! I’ll be happy to show the before and after in an upcoming post.
Lovely portrait–joyous days ahead for you in the New Year.
Thank you, Sally! Best wishes to you for the New Year, as well!
This is a wonderful shot Tricia, I just love it. Having the colt stand out with the mother as background was a brilliant idea for the composition. Definitely a keeper!!