Horse Carriage

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I was standing where he was going to park while I was taking pictures.

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I've been wanting to take a picture of a horse-drawn carriage since visiting Central Park in early spring. I saw a photo in a magazine of two people riding bicycles through a park. It was a close-up taken very low to the ground. I thought it would be perfect for a Carriage photo. The image incorporates some of the elements that I wanted for the photo.
The image has only been cropped. I did notice that after looking at this image a number of times my eyes kept being drawn to the decorative plumage on the horse's head.

[pschlute]

I think your choice of wide angle lens and low stance works very well here.

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I think your choice of wide angle lens and low stance works very well here.

I didn't put a lot of work into taking this picture but thinking about how to construct a picture of a carriage showed me how much work could be required. I thought about finding the right location and setting up for the carriage to pass by. I thought about how it would look during the different seasons, weather conditions, and different lighting conditions during the course of the day. I even imagined how it would look in the early morning fog. All of this made clear to me what is meant by a photographer creating the picture in his mind first. If I lived on 5th Ave across from the park I might be inclined to do it. Then again If I could afford to live on 5th Avenue who knows what I would be doing. I wouldn't be me. I would be someone else. Thank you Peter for looking and commenting.

[Manfred M]

+1 to what Peter has written. The low down shooting position and the wide angle lens (that has distorted the horse's head) are definitely two elements that have resulted in this being a strong image.

The other part that has worked well for you is that the horse and carriage block out much of the background and the (likely) distracting elements in the background. What is can be seen is quite minor. The paint stripes on the road do a good job adding something to break up the plain asphalt surface.

Well done!

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Thank you Manfred for your insightful comment. I cropped out the distractions and leveled the image using the little bar in front of the driver as a guide.

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I have a daughter who is an equestrian and a therapeutic riding instructor for kids with special needs. I sent her this image and she said that any horse person who sees it would be appalled because the horse is clearly in distress. She determined that by the nostrils and position of the ears. They have tried to ban horse carriages for a number of years. You would have to be a horse person to see what they are going through.

[royent]

Could the horse be in distress because a person has suddenly crouched down in front of it and is pointing a camera at it?
Although horses used to traffic aren't usually spooked easily

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Could the horse be in distress because a person has suddenly crouched down in front of it and is pointing a camera at it?
Although horses used to traffic aren't usually spooked easily

Good one Roy, I will have to ask my daughter. I was standing in his parking space and in his way.

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Roy, I asked my daughter about that. She said, "Maybe, you never know."