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WC468 Window To His Soul
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WC468 Window To His Soul

by Lucy VanSwearingen

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted February 4, 2011148 views7 comments
!A few months back, I did a "study" of all my horses' eyes. This is my closeup of Shawnee, my gray horse you see in my thumbnail. His pupil and iris are streaked and warped from Uveitis - a chronic condition that can eventually cause moon blindness. Shawnee is now blind in this eye, so his pupil is now "moon colored". But, he is so good, he's still humming along like he always has.

This photo was not "retouched" as art. Although it looks posterized, it was not.
All I did was push the structure bar in Viveza to the hilt a couple of times. And up the contrast quite a bit. The scene you see reflected in his eye can be clearly seen in the original. But, I wanted to make a strong statement, as this is an eye fighting for it's life! Thank God, he just went blind and we did not have to remove the eye.

I think all my horses' eyes are beautiful. They all have very big, kind eyes...but this one's been tormented for about 10 years.

I think this eye is a very special work of art unique to Shawnee. This is truly the most beautiful and intriguing of all of their eyes.

Comments

7 comments
Comment posted by Nancy de Flon on February 4, 2011 at 7:18 PM
Lucy, this is amazing. It shows what unusual images can be made without overprocessing. The sharpness, the colors, the reflection in his eye--and thank you for sharing his story as well as the photo.
Registered on June 28, 2010, 61 Posts, 284 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Fach on February 4, 2011 at 7:48 PM
Lucy: This is taking the theme to a fine extreme. Marvelous shot.>=))>
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments
Comment posted by Eva McDermott on February 4, 2011 at 9:45 PM
Fantastic detail and lovely but sad story Lucy.
Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments
Comment posted by Stan Rose on February 5, 2011 at 5:54 AM
I agree with the others--dont think ive seen anything quite like this before. The one bright spot up top is a tad distracting, but the rest is great!
Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments
Comment posted by Lucy VanSwearingen on February 5, 2011 at 10:20 AM
Guys, this isn't posted to make you say, "Oh, sad story".

I think just as in our lives our scars/troubles makes us better...this has produced one of the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen! How amazing that such a bad thing can make a thing of such beauty!

The sky and eyelashes are reflections. The bottom half of the eye--the black and brown that look like a rocky landscape are his pretty brown eye...not a reflection.
Registered on May 23, 2009, 800 Posts, 2042 Comments
Comment posted by Monica Siri on February 5, 2011 at 12:42 PM
Very cool image, Lucy.
Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments
Comment posted by Randy Badger on February 5, 2011 at 11:58 PM
I was struck by the emotion of the photograph, even before I read Shawnee's story. Nicely done.
Registered on January 4, 2011, 3 Posts, 13 Comments