Wild West

Well, better light or a more dramatic sky would have been nice, but it was still hard to beat this scene. This is the Rio Puerco Valley in New Mexico, a beautiful, empty area full of eroding badlands and big volcanic necks. I doubt the horses were wild, but they were certainly skittish and didn't seem to get a lot of attention.

C&C always welcome, though the only thing I can imagine making much difference is getting those horses to show up in some evening light.

We work with what nature gives us, and you hit it big here. The comp is really effective, makes the image effortless to enjoy. Great job!

Yep! Nice capture Jackson, I like the bit of edge light on the horses backs.
JK

Nice image, well composed. Why wouldn't they be wild horses?

Well this is certainly a wildly awesome image!

Nice work Jackson. It might benefit from a contrast boost, but it's certainly a beautiful image as it is. This was taken not far from where I live. I'm pretty sure the horses belong to a rancher in San Luis.

Thanks guys! Dave, I doubt they're wild basically because of what Jim said: it is ranch country, in fact there was a ranch headquarters pretty nearby, and I just haven't heard of wild ones being in the area (though I'm no expert on the state's wild horse areas). Even in this small version, you can see a good sized stick tangled in the white one's mane. They may not be wild, but it seems like they get to have most of the fun of being wild.

Thanks, Jim. I did bump contrast some in ACR, but I'll play with going a little further. Are you getting snow in your neighborhood?

It's snowing a little, but it doesn't look like it''ll amount to much. If you're ever down this way again let me know. Maybe we can get in a day of shooting.

Nicely done, Jackson. I've been wanting to explore that are for years.

Very nice. The horses aren't too common in our forum, but they're a great addition here.

The horses add a lot to the composition, and the white one is nicely defined and looking towards the camera. The other horses are unfortunately a merged blob and could have used some posing direction.

Is that Cabezon Peak, south of Cuba? I don't know where the Rio Puerco is located.

Great comp! Really show their environment.

Thanks guys! Adam, if you ever want to head down that way, let me know. There's plenty to explore. Bill, that's Cabezon all right. It's the first of numerous volcanic necks in the area, and the only one that's really visible from the highway (here's a somewhat wider view). And yeah, if the white horse hadn't posed so nicely, the others wouldn't work at all. Very obliging horse.

It's quite possible they are wild. There is a photographer who runs wild horse workshops in that area of New Mexico.