Its pretty hard for me to think of a place I would rather be than out here on the islands with the wild horses right now. Spring is just an incredible time of the year with life just exploding all around!
This is an image I made this time last year on the islands. The new born foals are a big component of the photography here this time of the year and I am always looking for new ways to capture their delicacy. By composing this photograph in such a way so that moms legs frame the scene, it creates the feeling that you are just catching a glimpse of this newborn that mom is protecting and maybe even still trying to keep secret from the world. Even though all we see here are a set of legs, the placement of the foal between them in the composition is very suggestive and creates a story that we call all understand and relate to.
Imagine this image without those legs. Would it still have the same feeling? Would it tell as powerful a story? Absolutely not. Therefore, any time you are working with newborn mammals of any species, consider what including even just part of its mother in the frame would do for your image. As I mentioned above, what makes this image work is that it conveys a concept that we can all relate to and understand. Having your audience relate to a photograph is the ultimate goal of the wildlife photographer.