Stills

I doubt I would have thought to make it colorless and it would likely not have been so appealing.

I'm glad to say this was conceived of and taken in mono. Old tech in every regard. HP5 and a 1960's lens.
 

The pony in the foreground makes me think of Immigrant Song. I keep expect him to start wailing "Aahaaa ah!" Is he sneering? Do rockers get reincarnated as ponies?

Strange reactions aside, I quite like this photo. The subdue tonality and the composition are a grim contrast to what I normally think about ponies.
 

I'm not sure that either of Matt's links would have sprung to mind!

A very interesting pairing compositionally; different to most animal combinations. This is not a scene I would associate with Scotland, whereas in Wales the horse is king and around here nearly every second field has at least one in it, not to mention the herds roaming the various wilder bits of the Preselis. Nor, apart from dedicated logging work, would one expect to see ponies in a coniferous plantation so all in all an unusual shot. I'm not being perverse but I do quite hanker after the subtle colours that must have been in play here although the b/w works well even if the tonal range might be pegged up a quaver or two. But an excellent and unusual study.
 

Shelter, John. Their winter feed is placed in these trees. It is at the head of a sea loch and the winds can be fairly daunting.
 

Surprise Surprise I hate ponies. Around here they are like vermin. The forest is specifically managed to prevent trees growing on the lawns so that maximum grazing for ponies is preserved. Then the French eat them. Are you having a chipping rebellion in Scotland?

That said the position of these two complement each other in a very powerful way. The tone of the front pony stops it from blending into the forest and getting lost but in a subtle way.

My first day out with the E1 was spent pointing it at New Forest Ponies. It was totally unsuccessful. I did not realise that the autofocus was being completely defeated by the horses hair. I wish I'd got something this good.

For the sake of completeness I would have liked the front hooves, not a big deal tho'
 

Rex, yes the hooves are a regret. I have some more composed shots taken later, but they never lined up in quite the same way. I could always 'paint' them in.....

The ponies are tourist trecking ponies.

(I've just noticed a silly sharpening artefact. The black line running up the tree trunk in the upper right isn't really there.)
 

I wouldn't have noticed if you'd not said. I'd probably crop or clone a few pixels on the right and remove the white gap betweeen tree and photo edge..............now you've got me looking.

PS I had to turn up to 400% before it was really apparent.
 

That front pony certainly has Mr. Plant's golden locks and the one in the back's locks are suspiciously like Mr. Page's... Perhaps a few bars of Bron-Y-Aur Stomp rather than the Immigrant Song will be forthcoming.

That front pony has a rather wry smile about it too. I have no problem with the lack of hooves as the legs are melding in with the floor. Not sure that I would like to see the eyes a little more though.

A lot of verticals at work here which makes the back horse appear a little awkward given it's lateral stance.