Can you tell I live only 30 minutes from a capital city?

[Soozie B]

I really have the best of both worlds. The "big smoke" is half an hour away and yet this is what I am surrounded ... all of these shots are within a 10 minute drive from my house

Its actually amazing that the farmers stay afloat, with all the derelict buildings I keep finding in the surrounding paddocks hehe

C&C welcome as always please

1.


Country Road by Soozie_Lou_B, on Flickr

2.


Scenic view by Soozie_Lou_B, on Flickr

3.


Old Barn by Soozie_Lou_B, on Flickr

4.


Old Hay Shed by Soozie_Lou_B, on Flickr

[Donald]

I think that road in the first one has massive possibilities. In which direction does it run - North/South; East/West? Thinking about where the sun would be. A B & W into the light just after rain. I can see it now.

I fell that, in the others, the fact that we have no detail in the sky makes them a bit flat. Again it feels like there are distinct possibilities with those old buildings, but they need the right light

[Soozie B]

Thanks Donald,

The road runs east to west (or there abouts). You are correct about the sky, today we had a very non descript day where there was no sun, no detail to cloud cover, all we had was grey. However, like you I saw possibility and will go back (now that I have the pics as landmarks) and have another go when the weather is a little more .... well anything other than flat grey!

[rtbaum]

Soozie, I find myself in a similar situation. 30 minutes southeast and I am in Minneapolis, 30 minutes northwest and I am sitting amongst 5300 sandhill cranes staging to migrate to Florida. A block away and I am watching trumpeter swans an Hmong farmers harvesting vegies. Ya gotta love it!

[Soozie B]

Hi Randy

You certainly do, as I said ... best of both worlds.... lucky us :-)

[Ken Curtis]

#1 has a color cast which makes everything look somewhat sepia toned. I would try increasing the contrast in photos #1, 2 and 4. That should help cut through the haze and provide more detail in the scenes. Another thing you might want to try is reducing the amount of sky showing in #1 and 2. When the sky is uniformly colored, with no special interest, it often does not contribute to the image. By cropping it off, the viewer focuses more on the interesting parts of the image.

#3 seems to be a special image that benefits from the similar tones and colors of the building siding, tree trunks and grass. It is a very soothing image. I would try cropping off the left side beginning at the right side of the light showing through the missing board on the siding. I would also try cropping down from the top closer to the roof. The two trees form a visual frame to keep me focused on the colors and shapes as mentioned in the first sentence.

My two cents...