Shire

Lesley Jones

Otherwise know as Zooey
Do you have one image that has wasted more time than you care to remember? Well, this is mine. I was feeling a bit down and needed to get out with the camera. More than that... I needed a photograph. I'm not sure how I ended up at the local hop farm. I think I was after the old shire horses and their wonderful old stable block, complete with cobbled floor, wooden tack room and not forgetting the oast houses and the dusty interiors with the odd shaft of light shining through.

Well, it wasn't like that any more. Instead I found a cheap and nasty children's playground. The old stable block had gone and there was no access to the inside of the oast houses. I was gutted. The shire horses had been stuck in new stables made from breeze blocks. Then things got interesting. I got talking to one of the girls and mentioned that when I had my Arabian gelding, there was a girl in our yard who bought one of the Whitbread shires as a riding horse. I sometimes got to look after the shire as he used to take liberties with the girl's father who cared for him. The hop farm was the home of the Whitbread shires and they had only ever sold one like that and the grey in front of me was his brother.

The stables were very dark inside, but I eventually got a few photographs and that's when my problems began. I trimmed the image very slightly, but didn't understand at the time that my new CS5 crops AND RESIZES at the same time. Having worked on the image, I discovered it was half the size it should have been, but any attempt to redo it has only led to disappointment. I'm not sure I am entirely happy with this and my husband will testify that I pick it up and put it down again on a regular basis.

Shire.jpg
 
Brilliant story to go with a brilliant picture.
Despite your need in wanting to redo, or maybe re edit. I think its a blessing in disguise!
I think it's perfect!!!! And I don't think there's much more I can say on that note! :)
 
Very abstract yet still clearly a horse when your brain has got things sorted - very cool

The detail in the coat is super.
 
Ah, thank you gentlemen! You know - I think I can finally put this one to bed. I've nearly posted it in here many times and then deleted at the last minute. There was something wrong. I had removed the tonal contrast from the top right hand corner in an effort to move the focus to the lit area. I put it back last night and it seems to have worked. Back to cleaning litter trays now :)
 
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