Photo-Manipulating/ Picture Altering?

[Brigid]

Title change from ‘- shopping to manipulating.’
This is most noticeable in racking/saddle-seat photos, where the people in the stands look as if they should be sliding off their chairs. I’ve seen it in dressage photos as well. Do people ‘not’ ever look at backgrounds??
I’ve noticed a bit of ‘photo clean-up’ on TB stallions’ legs (or they pose them in grass if a ‘maybe’ hoof issue), but I’ve never seen any of the above in a Thoroughbred sales yearling or 2yo. Until this (Picture 15)
“This Speightstown colt consigned as Hip 403 to the Ocala Breeders’ Sales April
2-year-olds in training sale is a half brother to champion Good Magic”
Or maybe that barn and path are on a slope, and the photographer is making good use of it.

Thoughts?

http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/daily-app/…y-20180425.pdf

[LaurieB]

Well, I wouldn’t say they’re hiding much with that picture. The colt is posed square on a peastone walkway. Whether the walkway is sloped or the photographer slanted the lens himself, it’s obvious that the horse isn’t entirely level in the picture. If you think that’s an attempt to “fix” the colt’s topline, it’s a pretty poor one. In my opinion, it’s much more likely to be a photo snapped in haste. (The colt later sold for 700K)

[beowulf]

I work with PS every day.

I don’t see any “shopping” in this picture. Maybe some minor editing/adjustment to lightness and contrast, but no, this is definitely an authentic picture. They aren’t hiding anything. It’s pretty obvious the photo isn’t 100% level.

Judging from the picture itself, it was probably taken during a pretty overcast day. With many cameras, especially digital point and shoots that adjust based on lighting, sometimes the picture can come out a little bled of its saturation.

That’s a handsome colt, BTW.

EDIT: There’s a nice article about Boyd & Steady Eddie (ex-racer) on page 31. Also included some other honorary mentions, and showed their racing names. How cool.

[Palm_Beach]

I don’t see anything wrong with the picture, and who cares what sales yearlings look like in photos anyway? The buyers agents physically look at anything that has a pedigree and they watch it walk, and they send the vet to the repository to look at the xrays. And they go back for second looks if it’s a serious money horse. Plus, many agents go to the farms in the months prior to the sale for private showings of the entire consignment. So there is really not much of a reason to photoshop a sales horse. maybe for an ad in a magazine that comes out months before the sale, but not for something like the bloodhorse article.

[Where_sMyWhite]

I’m with LaurieB and beowulf.

I would agree the ground line and roof line are not level (parallel to the bottom of the photo).

Not sure where I see the “Photoshopping” coming in. The colt appears to my eye to be “unedited”. Might have been a photo taken in haste. Or a photo that needed contrast or other attributes edited.

I put a line (actually piece of paper) under the colt’s feet and a second line along withers and hip. He does appear to maybe, just maybe, be a bit higher in the rear but that wouldn’t bother me given his age.

If I was buying, I’d be looking at the horse in front of me, not the photo.

I don’t think this photo is anywhere near the “Photoshopping” effort you might see in the Saddlebred world where the horse is working “uphill” to emphasis the action in the front.

[fordtraktor]

Dude, it is a 2 yo. They are often downhill because growing. Not that it matters if a TB is downhill if it is fast. Really uphill horses often don’t have the correct action for racing. You don’t want the energy in a racing horse going up, you want it going forward.

[skydy]

Though I have seen some terribly photo shopped pictures of stallions at stud (by people who were probably doing a dis-service to the stallion by doing so) I don’t think this would have any purpose for selling young stock.

Buyers look at their potential purchases, and the ones that have the funds but not the time or expertise to properly examine a potentially expensive auction TB “in person”, have someone do so for them.

[Brigid]

Guess I should said ‘photo-manipulating’ instead of ‘photo-shopping.’
I will change the title, if possible.
But I absolutely agree: gorgeous colt: He doesn’t need his photo ‘tilted.’
I dislike anyone ‘tarting-up something that doesnt need it, covering up faults, etc.’
Don’t care for advertising (because of its inherent) dishonesty.

[LaurieB]

@Brigid

Guess I should said ‘photo-manipulating’ instead of ‘photo-shopping.’
I will change the title, if possible.
But I absolutely agree: gorgeous colt: He doesn’t need his photo ‘tilted.’
I dislike anyone ‘tarting-up something that doesnt need it, covering up faults, etc.’
Don’t care for advertising (because of its inherent) dishonesty.

The thing is, though, that the picture wasn’t taken for advertising. It was an article in BloodHorse Daily about the (then upcoming) OBS April Sale.

BHD did similar articles about many interesting 2yos that were entered in the sale. This colt is half-brother to Good Magic–which is what brought him back from England to be sold. The article was intended to be background color, not to advertise or mislead people about the colt’s faults and/or virtues.

[skydy]

Listen to LaurieB. OP, you are objecting to a picture in an article, it’s not a sales advertisement.

[Brigid]

@skydy

Listen to LaurieB. OP, you are objecting to a picture in an article, it’s not a sales advertisement.

OK. I get that. Thanks! You are both right.
I thought it was a farm ad.

[snaffle1987]

I’ve always wondered if a certain well-known conformation photographer has a “template” that they edit yearling and 2 yr old photos to. They are certainly beautiful photos but the similarities between photos are uncanny

[LaurieB]

@snaffle1987

I’ve always wondered if a certain well-known conformation photographer has a “template” that they edit yearling and 2 yr old photos to. They are certainly beautiful photos but the similarities between photos are uncanny

What would be the point?

[Where_sMyWhite]

Maybe the “template” is how the same photographer stands up a horse for a photograph?

Just because this type of photo always looks “the same”, doesn’t mean there is any “editing”… could be that the photographer knows how to get the same type of photo every time… watching for horse pose, background, etc.

I think you’re thinking zebras when you’re hearing the hoofbeats

[snaffle1987]

@LaurieB

What would be the point?

It’s done a lot in other animal industries. The point would be to give the illusion of perfect symmetry, perfect balance, toplines, legs, shoulder head and neck. It doesn’t take long to scroll through some of the professional photos and start taking note that not every 2 year old available from this consignor could be that stunning. Obviously some things cant be adjusted without making it obvious (depth of heel and quality of hoof) The point would be that when you are consigning to an international crowd; not everyone is there in person. many are bought through agents after clean PPE’s and a good showing under saddle. The photo is what piqued the interest initially and a good photograph of a quality animal can make or break a deal; even in the TB industry

[LaurieB]

@snaffle1987

It’s done a lot in other animal industries. The point would be to give the illusion of perfect symmetry, perfect balance, toplines, legs, shoulder head and neck. It doesn’t take long to scroll through some of the professional photos and start taking note that not every 2 year old available from this consignor could be that stunning. Obviously some things cant be adjusted without making it obvious (depth of heel and quality of hoof) The point would be that when you are consigning to an international crowd; not everyone is there in person. many are bought through agents after clean PPE’s and a good showing under saddle. The photo is what piqued the interest initially and a good photograph of a quality animal can make or break a deal; even in the TB industry

However…nobody would be fooled by the illusion.

Sure, pre-sale pictures are intended to make sales horses look good. And then every buyer or buyer’s agent looks at the horses in person. Many of them take their own pictures–for reference and in the case of agents, to send to absent owners. The professional pictures are a moot point once the horses are available to be seen before and during the sale.

No one spends tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on a young TB because it has a pretty picture–because, really, no one is that stupid.

That’s how the sales work in real life.

[Pronzini]

A bloodstock agent once told me that he hates advertising photos. All attractive ones do is put the horse on the list for pre sales inspection and then the horse better measure up to the photo or the potential buyer thinks they’ve been manipulated. Poor photos can take an OK horse off people’ s list and the horse itself may be harder to sell.

I used photos once in a sales environment because my agent did that with every horse. I paid hundreds of dollars for an absolutely gorgeous photo of a pretty filly and then didn’t sell the horse in the ring because her sire had gone cold. Two years later, I still have her. Photos don’t sell racehorses.

[Where_sMyWhite]

I’ve never bought or sold a horse using photos but I would be inclined to agree.

Horses, especially racehorses, so much more than other species don’t rely on photos. Many other animals are based on “looks” but the horse has to be more than good looks… legs need to be clean, straight, good bone, good conformation or the likelihood is they won’t do their job well. Pretty much most of those “other” animal industries of which you refer are not spending hundreds of thousands (potentially) of dollars on an animal. Racehorses, yup, some sell cheap but the big sales have the potential of selling huge.

Buyers/agents put eyes on the horse as well as having the resources of x-rays, etc to fall back on. If I’m dropping 6+ figures on a horse, a photo isn’t going to do that. That pretty picture is just that, a pretty picture.

[Mara]

I’ve always found it interesting how Darley and a few other studs photoshop ALL of the background out of the stallion photos. It’s a practice seemingly limited to foreign-based breeders.

[LaurieB]

@Mara

I’ve always found it interesting how Darley and a few other studs photoshop ALL of the background out of the stallion photos. It’s a practice seemingly limited to foreign-based breeders.

The good thing about Darley, though, is that if you go to their website and open the individual stallion pages, each one has really good candid shots of the horses and some also have videos. Those pages show a lot more of the stallions than you can see in their official photos.

https://www.darleyamerica.com/