Old Maine Farmhouse Revisited - Series

[pasusan]

Hello all - here are a few photos from our trip to Maine and a stop at the Olson Farm where Christina Olson lived with her brother. Christina and her house were an inspiration to and favorite subject of the painter Andrew Wyeth, who is one of my favorite artists. The house and property are open to the public as a private museum.

My original photos of the house already had a distinctly monochrome look as the cedar boards and shakes were very weathered and mostly grey and dark grey to black. I thought they'd be good candidates for B&W conversion...

The main house has a kitchen, then a woodshed attached.

Front of the house:



Detail of the front of the kitchen with the woodshed to the right:



Rear of the house:



The kitchen and woodshed:



Detail of the kitchen - that's a sort of storm door covering the regular door:



Detail of the woodshed:



**As always C&C welcomed and appreciated.

[Mike Buckley]

Now that I have seen these, I'm really surprised that you used the photo of the rear of the house as your stand-alone photo in your other thread. For me, the first photo of the front of the house is by far the best one of the series and is very nice. It has the best composition, provides the best indication of size and environment, and thanks to the anchor in the front yard, establishes a connection between the sea and the people who lived there. The loan (almost lonely), comparatively diminutive bench adds a special touch.

The second best image for me is the one showing the kitchen and woodshed.

All of the photos are very nice conversions. Well done!

Noticing where you live, I hope you'll eventually show us some photos of the Wyeth family's properties, as I'm sure you've been there, perhaps many times.

[kdoc856]

I'll second Mile's comments. Good choice for monochrome conversion- it really highlights the many different and yet congruous textures of the sidings, doors and window coverings. Nicely detailed via good exposure and contrast control

[pasusan]

Mike - thanks very much for your comments. I'm glad you like the new images. Why did I pick that rear shot for a stand alone? I was just going through my old photo albums of our trips with my new PP software and when I saw that picture I thought of what is important in a B&W image - texture... And I thought a close up of the wood showed the texture better than a far away shot. But... I do see that the series gives more of an overview and a sense of place.

Kevin - thanks very much for your comments - I'm glad you were able to check these out...

[ShaneS]

Lovely shots Susan. I was lurking on your other thread but wanted to say that this is a nice series. Number one really stands out as others have said and I wonder if the "detail of the front of the kitchen with the woodshed to the right" would be improved by eliminating that slice of background at the top and possibly adding some on the left (if you have any to add...).

[pasusan]

Hi Shane - thanks very much for your comments and ideas... That image is not one of my favorites - I just included it for the detail. But - I went back and looked at it again and tried different crops - and I think this one probably does the job best:



Thanks for making me look at it again... Susan

[Andrew76]

Very nice, Susan. This one has a great feel to it!

[ShaneS]

Susan, I like this crop and think that it is an improvement that allows the viewer to get caught up in the detail of the texture. You now have a three shot series of windows and doors with great texture

[Karm Redland]

Hi Susan. Really like first photo. Picture and words give me a sense of the house's size, setting, and historical importance -- makes me want to look at it. Photos two, five, and six are interesting. I would play with even tighter crops of their windows and doors.

Karm

[pasusan]

Andrew - thanks very much - I'm glad you checked out this new thread.

Shane - I'm glad you like the new crop - thanks again for your comments.

Karm - thanks very much for commenting and for your advice in my previous thread.