29 December 2005

Horsehair Frost, December 29, 2005

Horsehair and frost on barbed wire near Ponca, Nebraska, December 2005. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)
Your standard horse photo must be of the animal's eye, as close as possible. I have seen it many times, always with a notarized seal to show that the photographer is adhering to the law. I cheated. The asymmetry of the curved hairs around the barb creates paths for the eye to follow, and the limited depth of field keeps the background from intruding, though there is enough detail back there to keep it interesting as well.

16 December 2005

Driftwood along the Missouri River, December 16, 2005

Driftwood along the Missouri River shoreline in Ponca State Park, December 2005. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)
On a cold December afternoon I went looking for driftwood, or anything else that worked in a riverside composition. There is plenty of texture to work with when you add snow and ice to the beach. Blowing sand adds its own look to the snow. The driftwood too has a lovely patina, not just bone-white branches. The composition is a fore-mid-aft arrangement, though I would like to have the foreground wood just a bit higher in the frame. The gap between it and the middle wood is a hair too much for clean eye flow.