Fine Art
May 23, 2024
Along the cowboy trail that hosts the ranches of Southern Alberta, one notices miles of pasture dotted with cattle farms and some cowboys herding the cattle. If you approach one of the cattle farms, more often than not a few frisky cows are bound to greet you way before the rancher does. I assume they imagine you have some goodies to hand out. Two years ago, on my drive across this countryside, this is what I encountered. I took lots of pictures of this meet and greet. Two of them are included below.
I particularly took fancy to the mother and calf image. loved the light and the shadows on the animals and their intent stare. I decided the calf needed to be closer to the mother for the purpose of better composition and to provide a sense of intimacy and need for protection so I took to my trusted image editing software and manipulated the image to bring them close together.
I needed a different background. Searching my library, I found a picture of a shed which I thought would be perfect.
I “stitched” both the images, placing the animals in an appropriate location to make a pleasing composition. The image was cropped a little as well.
The problem with the image is that the shed occupies most of the image area and the cattle are relegated a minor role. I needed the cattle to be the attraction. I therefore coned the picture aggressively to exclude most of the shed. The result was much better.
During the painting process, the distracting bundle of white in the background was substituted with a bale of hay. The shed and the hay bale were painted with a dull colour so that the cattle would demand most attention. I believe I was successful. You be the judge.
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Mohamed Hirji