2011 FOAL PHOTO CONTEST
T e annual Foal Photo Contest is one of our favorite issues, though deciding on a cover winner is always challenging. T is year, we got a bit worried when, by mid-June, we only had a few entries. Had the economy put such a strangle on the breeding business that there were just no foals this year?
Just when we were about to throw our hands up in disappointment, foal pho- tos started fl ooding our in-boxes. It was like Christmas morning every day! Apparently, many foal owners and amateur photographers wait until the last possible moment to shoot their photos, hoping to capture that cover-worthy shot when the foals (and their farms) look their best: all shed out and with plenty of green grass. By the contest closing date, 369 photos were submitted, representing
97 diff erent foals from a variety of breeds. Several were cover-worthy and all were just darn cute. T is year’s entries came from throughout the country and Canada. De- spite the reduced number of breedings, Maryland stallions still remain popular. T is contest is open to any foal born in Maryland or sired by a Maryland stallion (but foaled elsewhere), and apparently word is spread-
2010 Grand Champion
ing among owners of Maryland-breds that their foals are eligible for T e Equiery’s Foal Photo Contest. Twenty-nine diff erent breeds as well as countless crossbreds were submitted to this year’s contest. As has been the trend for several years now, the photos submitted con- tinue to improve in quality (lighting, crispness, clarity) and composition. On this page, you’ll see our top three picks for this year’s cover. Each photo presented T e Equiery staff with some challenges in terms of pick- ing the ultimate winner. As you peruse the foal announcement pages, you’ll see photos of the diff erent breeds that were bred right here in Maryland, from T oroughbreds to Hanoverians, Arabians to Appaloo- sas and even some rare breeds such as the Gypsy Vanner and American Drum Horse. T ere is even an Icelandic cross! T anks again to all of you who sent photos! It is great to see such won-
derful horses bred right here in Maryland. Don’t see your photo in this issue? All submitted photos will be posted
by the end of August on
equiery.com. Go to Archives and look for the “Breeding” section.
When we fi rst saw this photo of Paprika (T-Pain x Pepper) taken by Maria Anselmo of Boyds, the eyes and face of the mother donkey instantly engaged us. Of course, this is the “foal photo contest” and the foal is a little lost under mommy, so we fi rst put this photo aside as a runner-up. However, after we cropped the photo more tightly, positioned the photo on a “mock-up” of the cover with the masthead (T e Equiery logo) behind the dam’s ears and then framed the image with teasers, it was clear that this image, hands down, was our August cover.
Reserve Champion
Honorable Mention Afi At fi rst, this photo by Tawna hi h b
King (Brandywine) of the stal- lion Maxamillion’s last foals (Maiden Heir, Montage and Mi Amor, all Rheinland Pfalz- Saar International foals) was
our fi rst pick for the cover. T e photo quality is almost perfect and it has all the technical aspects we look for in a cover; color, crispness, clarity, and composition. T e photo follows the guidelines of classical art, in which subjects are often composed in groups of three. Initially, this photo was the winner for the cover, and we moved
T is is another great moment with our donkey friends Paprika and
Pepper. Of the two images of this mother & foal moment, this photo has the better composition and makes for an incredibly engaging cover. T e way the moment of action intersects right in the center of the pho- to, the way the lines converge–that is what a graphic artist wants when created a magazine cover. Alas, the foal is just a smidge out of focus, a titch blurry, a blurriness which becomes amplifi ed when enlarged for the cover and would have been accentuated on newsprint.
www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580
forward with layout. T e Equiery masthead behind the foals’ heads with teasers in the bottom right of the page made for a pleasing, well-balanced cover. What we didn’t expect, however, was that the white chest on the center foal would end up created a visual hole (a “white hole” if you will), which drew the eye right in. Alas, the eye saw nothing else but that darn white hole. What makes for a stun- ning portrait does not necessarily make for a good magazine cover, and we, regrettably, had to test some of the other photos to see how they worked with the masthead. Of all the photos that we received for the contest, this is the best portrait, the best image. It just didn’t work on the cover.
AUGUST 2011 | THE EQUIERY | 23
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