Red barn in fall

[marten]

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[juliadebeauvoir]

Are you sure you haven't been to Wisconsin lately?
It looks like a scene here in the Heartland. I really like the greens against the red of the barn. And your framing with the tree branch is just right--not too little or too much.
Understated beauty is the best.

Nice one,
Kim

[David]

I think this is beautiful. It makes me think of Robert Frost. Have I got that wrong?

[Danté]

Lovely image, which would in my opinion be really stunning with a little more warmth to give the barn an edge over the foreground. Always difficult with worm colours in the forground, maybe you could cool them a little more with an editing programme and lighten the barn. Just a thought, it's a lovely image, and my comments are in no way meant to dilute that fact.

thanks

Danté

[marten]

Thanks dudes, and dudette. Washington has some pretty rural areas that definitely feel like the heartland: there's quite a bit of farming in the valleys and heading east of the cascades you'll find yourself in apple country. I wish we had tasty corn like they do in the midwest.

Dante; I might take you advice and either warm up the background, or lower the saturation in the foreground.


prost

[cameron]

I think this is pretty damn fine. The colour of the barn, the framing effect from the tree and the autumnal colours make it a winner. If I had to constructively criticise it I'd say that there was 1 leaf too many in front of the barn (lol). Do you set shutter speed and aperture manually or do you use a pre-set mode? I'm interested because I'm trying to raise my own photography to the next level.

C

[marten]

The branches in front of the barn have always been a bother: next fall I might sneak over the fence with some pruning shears . I prefer to shoot manually, even though it takes a little longer. It depends on what type of photography your doing. The new digital slrs, give you many automatic features that offer an easier transition from your typical point and shoot. If you are shooting people or things in motion, it is helpful, and faster, to stick with the auto settings: auto-focus, fixed aperture/shutter speed, iso setting, and others. You can also set the camera to shoot multiple frames per second; giving you a better chance of getting a good shot. It's all a matter of preference, but once you get used to the settings, you might experiment using the camera manually - it's a bit more like shooting film and you have more control. The auto-focus is a nice feature in low-light when it is hard to see if something is in focus or not. If you are looking to get into dslr cameras, the Canon Rebel XSI, or Nikon D90 would be excellent choices. The Canon is cheaper - as are Canon lenses - but the Nikon can shoot HD video.

Here's a site worth checking out:

http://www.dpreview.com/

and for side by side camera comparisons:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM


take care,
marten

[Arcadian]

When I first looked at this image, I wondered is it about the "red-barn" as per Title or the dark branch -- it is in the middle of the frame; there must be some importance for this POV, that the photographer had undertaken. Otherwise there was a risk of it being a typical post-card cliche image ( nothing wrong with this; I think a personal/unique style to image making is what makes a image fresh and strong amongst all the every day visual pollution one sees in the environment)

And here is in the strength of the photo, red-barn slightly of center to create a dynamism and that branch introduced adding another dimension ( dialogue ?) to that image.

It works.

Cool sea-rattle dude

[cameron]

Thanks Marten - that's helpful. I actually bought a Nikon D40 about six months ago to do my Lit Norfolk photographs. Initially I did everything on auto but now I'm starting to experiment with some of the other options. I've recently discovered the aperture mode where I set the f stop and the camera automatically sets the shutter speed. This has already produced some interesting (softer) landscapes. I've also started to use a tripod so that I can set big apertures with correspondingly low shutter speeds. Here is a night shot of Norwich cathedral which I took last week.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26476877@N04/3050503146/

I know the spire's a bit wonky. I kept getting hassled by cars driving through the close.

Almost as much fun as writing!

Cam

[David]

Great pic, Cam. We walked though the close with our friends in July, on kind of a dull evening, still daylight. Very atmospheric.

Cheers

David

[marten]

Great shot: photographers can be very thankful for Catholicism. The D40 is a nice little camera. I shoot the rebel xt and am trying to justify getting the new 21 megapixel Canon 5DMkII. Probably will have to start panhandling on the weekends to afford it.

One thing that is fun, if you have the tripod setup, is to shoot car headlights with a long exposure time. Or try shooting moving water. I prefer shooting hand-held; especially on longer treks where a tripod is kinda cumbersome. You might be interested in trying a monopod: in low light situations they can help avoid the inevitable camera shake encountered if you were going hand held and using slower shutter speeds. The ISO settings can also be increased to make the camera more sensitive to light, but the image will start to show more image noise the higher you go. My images start getting noticeably worse after 800 ISO.

happy shooting!

marten

[cameron]

Thanks Marten; I have a monopod on my xmas list. Moving river water is on my list to try. However, most of the rivers in Norfolk move too slowly to make this interesting. Some of the mill pools might work though!

ISO sounds a bit too technical for me at this stage - but it's useful to have an explanation of what it is.

Cheers
Cam

[Arcadian]

I was flipping the pages of a book about Minor White's photography; US poet and master photographer ) a book by Peter Bunnell called: "The Eye That Shapes".

I beheld a black & white photograph; circa 1963, of a "barn with a drooping branch" composed almost in the middle of the frame.

Now which do I prefer, your colour emulation or the masterly original ?

A lot of questions sprang up like a babbling brook:

Should we try and emulate; copy master art works ?, if we do, can we surpass the art work with our rendition or are we a poor imitation ?

Some say, there is no harm in copying an artwork work, if only to appreciate the effort and aesthetics. In fact an emulation of an ideal aesthetic might be the way to go for your development as an artist and your future productions: it will no doubt have "you"; your essence in them...

I like your colour barn, but something about Minor's black & white photograph, that I keep returning to.

So you know my answer

Arco

[marten]

Damn...I was hoping no one would recognize this as a copy of Master White's patented photo. Knowing your answer; however, is a real load off my mind.

[paisley]

marten in Seattle,

I like your barn. I will find one of mine to upload one of these days. Love the stone on red, yep.

Suzanne