Diptych Motion

Sometimes it takes two images to tell a story. When I am paid to create pictures I know one thing is guaranteed: I will have some degree of control, over just about everything. When I go out seeking pictures, that’s seldom the case. Today is a great example. The lighting under the tent sheltering the ponies from the sun, giving a flat and cool cast to the scene. With the exception of this delightful boy, most of the children were disinterested at best with the experience. This beautiful blue eyed pony, with the matching harness, seemed to mirror the malaise of his passengers…until this particular little boy got aboard. After looking at wider shots where the boy and the pony were included in frame, the realization hit me and I knew what I needed to do. Closeups of both fills the bill. I shot at a very slow shutter speed to blur the background and capture the excitement of the boy’s ride, using a 4 stop ND filter to help me do so. I chose a higher ISO and shutter speed for the portrait of the pony, so I would not need to remove the ND in case another action opportunity presented itself. No other moment matched the one already in the can, so I left. I did not notice until I began to process, filter and finesse these two images that the eye color of the boy and pony match almost exactly. Such is the stuff of serendipity; a wonderful example of lack of control and the happy moments which present themselves when I show up. Perhaps it was the hot sun or the couple of beers I had while waiting for these moments, but as I leaned in to shoot my close-up of the pony, I’m almost sure I heard him say, “Hey man, it’s a job…just make sure you get these baby blues”.