Moon Dancer #13061

The Story

In the coolness of the desert, a rearing horse is silhouetted by a rising full moon as night comes on. From this high ground in the desert hills, this stallion is the king of all he can see. He stands there at the height of his power and vitality as both protector and leader.

Most of the pictures I create aren’t digitally stretched as far as this one, they usually stay true to what was seen through the lens. This one, however, is a digital composite using pieces of several original photographs along with some digital painting. The picture was pre-envisioned and then built up layer by layer, ending with a few stars tapped in against the blue sky.

Here in the studio, a typical picture goes through a fairly set digital workflow from one end to the other. The course doesn’t change very much. For a nice change, I wanted to get into Photoshop and stretch a little just for creative fun. Most of all, I was trying to make a story, one that would make a viewer ask questions and have thoughts about this picture. In short, I wanted to combine images around this rearing horse to spark a little enjoyable imagination in the viewer. Most people enjoy a story, even a short one like this.

The rearing horse is a real stallion too, one I’ve photographed often. He’s actually white, not black as in silhouette. You can see more pictures of him in the gallery Winter Snow Horses One.

Location: it’s imaginary, a fictitious place, but let’s say this is the American southwest. Composite picture and story © Andrew Dierks