Big Dipper before Sunrise

This shot took about 3 days. 1 day scouting, 1 day practice shot, 1 day shoot with horse and edit.
At 6am on a late October morning, I fed Junior on the hill under the Big Dipper. I ran back to photo with 1 sec exposures. Junior raised his head and rested between bites, making this siloutte work.

I then used Photoshop to enhance the constellation, which was the only one in the sky that morning, and give the image a painting look. A noise reduction program softened the image, giving it a dreamy impressionistic look.

I've been excited about combining stars with horses ever since this morning! Patience, and the time it took to get this shot, paid off.