An Old Shed

[Donald]

I was allowed out to play this morning. I went to a location I'd looked at a number of times before for an image, using the Sigma 120-400 for a very long shot, of the Tay Bridge, with the River Tay flowing under the bridge towards the estuary, past the city of Dundee and into the North Sea. I've put up a number of images that bridge on here in the past (they're on my own website in this gallery). What the journey confirmed for me is that there is not a shot there - at least not the one I had hoped there would be.

So, even to that extent, it wasn't a wasted journey.

But then there there is an old cattle/hay shed that you look down on as you drive along. The road is quite high above the river at this point and the shed is way down below.

What I liked was not just the shed itself, but the lines and patterns in the surrounding fields. that's what I wanted to try and bring out in the final image.

What do you think? All comments welcomed.


40D, Sigma 120-400 F4.5-5.6 APO DG OS @ 214mm. ISO 100. 1/6@f11.

[Geoff F]

Everything is there, and correctly positioned, but somehow it seems a bit 'flat' to me. At least in monochrome.

I'm not sure what should be the main subject. The old shed looks OK, at least if it was cropped closer. But at the moment, I'm finding it getting a little lost against the darker areas in the upper half of the image.

The whole scene appears a little 'top heavy'.

The basic idea is fine though.

[Plumcrak]

Donald, I see what you mean by "lines and patterns". Nicely seen AND captured.

[kdoc856]

I am quite intrigued by dark roof of the shed atop the gapped walls of the white shed being echoed in the dark, horizontal field atop the vertically striped lower field immediately beneath. This could be even more emphasized (if you have any interest) by a crop of the small layer of light toned field at the top. Regardless, the similarities between fields and shed give a great harmony, and fits well with the use of low contrast, through which you may have lost the "pop" but gained the harmony, and I think it works very well.

[AB26]

Hi Donald,

The composition is pleasing to the eye. My eye is drawn to the pattern directly behind the shed.
In B&W I am always looking for rich tones and high contrasts. Only my personal preference.

I think this is a keeper.

[oleleclos]

Love it. But it's so LIGHT Donald?

[DanK]

Very nice textures and angles. I realize it is rule of thirds, but it still seems top-heavy to me--the expanse of fields draws my eye away from the shed. Even at the cost of losing some of the lines and textures at the top, I wonder if it might have more impact if you cropped a bit from the top.

[annie5154]

Very nice capture Donald, I also like the lines they give more to the image. I do agree with Geoff about the top though.

Well done for seeing it.

Anne

[Mike Buckley]

The shed actually gets in the way of the rest of the image for me. I wonder if you could try capturing the lay of the land without it and use more contrast and dodging and burning to emphasize the various segments of the image.

[Donald]

Thanks to everyone above for taking the time to comment. As always, they give lots of food for thought and, without hopefully compromising my own vision, make me reflect on what I thought were the strengths and weaknesses of the image.

[terrib]

I like the image. I really like the different angles and textures in the field and the fence line. I love the shed. My eyes are also drawn to the wandering tractor lines on the left. It reminds me of stories my husband tells of daydreaming and watching the hawks fly while he was driving the tractor and then being hit in the back of the head with whatever his dad had on hand to bring him back to reality... and straight lines.

[Ken Curtis]

I think you've got a wonderful image here, Donald, and I wouldn't change it one bit. I love all the lines formed by the barn, fence, tire tracks and field boundaries work. The empty fields are great because there is nothing to distract the eye. I admire that you noticed this scene and stopped to photograph it.

[Donald]

Terri, Ken - Thank you for adding comments.

A bit like your husband, Terri, I remember one of the hardest tasks about driving tractors as a relatively young kid growing up on a farm, was keeping it dead straight, especially when ploughing. Get it wrong and it was very visible for all to see.

[Melkus]

I like it just the way it is or maybe just a bit darker

[dutyhog]

I like this shed, and the lines that lead to and around it. I'd be tempted to crop off the top to be lower than square, removing the lighter top section. G