Old Skagit Valley Barn

[lovelife65]

Generally barns are better in B&W, yet the colors of the red barn, green grass, clouds, sky meant I took a chance keeping it in color. Some of the sky is a bit over exposed, so needs work. So many old barns to go shoot. I really love the Valley.
Thanks for looking

-Sharon

[Shadowman]

Nicely exposed.

[NorthernFocus]

There are some great old barns around there. Color vs B/W can be a dilemma. I'm not crazy about the choice of crop. Not sure that the grass merits equal space with the sky.

[lovelife65]

There are some great old barns around there. Color vs B/W can be a dilemma. I'm not crazy about the choice of crop. Not sure that the grass merits equal space with the sky.

Thank you . Yes, I thought about the grass and fully agree. Really should crop and bring the barn closer. Always appreciate your feedback.

[madcrow]

+1 for Dan's comments.

[lovelife65]

Thanks all, honestly re-looking at the image .... there are far better old barn subjects in the valley. I see many that merit a photo over this one . Going to work on that.

[AMBTL]

This is a beautiful shot Sharon. A very picturesque location and great colours. The angle is very good, but I think I would be tempted to try a rule-of-thirds composition, perhaps a much wider focal length and more sky, but a little bit closer to the barn, to get rid of the brown leaves in the foreground.

[lovelife65]

This is a beautiful shot Sharon. A very picturesque location and great colours. The angle is very good, but I think I would be tempted to try a rule-of-thirds composition, perhaps a much wider focal length and more sky, but a little bit closer to the barn, to get rid of the brown leaves in the foreground.

Thank you Tom, and agree with your thoughts.

[Wavelength]

Such a beauty..... Yes, the horizon bisects the image at middle, which can be avoided by proper cropping; but i feel those fallen leaves in the foreground has a role to perform in this image; so you have to sacrifice either fore ground or a bit of sky or leave this as such

[ucci]

Well seeing as I am an ornery old cuss, I am opting for a Big Minus 1 for Dan's comment. Purely my personal reaction to your post. I really like the balance of the sky and the grass with the old barn. Sometimes I feel that cropping can detract from an over all scene. I guess we have to probe your mind with pointy probes to find out whether we are meant to be looking specifically at the ruins of an old barn as the main subject or a rural scene, part of which is an old barn. I am opting for the latter.
Anyway having probably ruffled a few feathers and maybe having come a cropper I best be off before I end up in more trouble
And in parting, I like old derelict buildings!

[tbob]

I quite like old weathered barns and this is a beauty.

Cameras have a nasty tendency to make clouds blue/purple and not "real". You can correct this in post processing; actually it is quite amazing how aggressive you need to be in desaturating and darkening.

With your permission I will post an version as an example. (apologize in advance for the brevity of any posts and the paucity of description of what I did; I broke my right thumb 12 weeks ago and typing is still a very painful and clumsy effort)

[LePetomane]

I love old barns. I would like to do a road trip and take shots of these old structures one of these years.

[bnnrcn]

Very nice Sharon I would crop it from the top for a better composition. I wouldn't crop from the bottom, because IMO those shadows on the green and leaves in the FG add to the image.

[lovelife65]

I quite like old weathered barns and this is a beauty.

Cameras have a nasty tendency to make clouds blue/purple and not "real". You can correct this in post processing; actually it is quite amazing how aggressive you need to be in desaturating and darkening.

With your permission I will post an version as an example. (apologize in advance for the brevity of any posts and the paucity of description of what I did; I broke my right thumb 12 weeks ago and typing is still a very painful and clumsy effort)

Agree. Should have worked a bit on the colors of the clouds. MOST of the time my fuji does a good job and I don't have to. So absolutely, work away it will be great to see a pro at work
BTW: Never been to your area of BC. Would love to check it out.

[lovelife65]

Such a beauty..... Yes, the horizon bisects the image at middle, which can be avoided by proper cropping; but i feel those fallen leaves in the foreground has a role to perform in this image; so you have to sacrifice either fore ground or a bit of sky or leave this as such

Thank you Nandakumar. I went back and forth, as I felt the bright green grass was very pretty and so Skagit Valley in the winter. I think some of the sky could possibly go.

[tbob]

a "pro" is a bit more than I am. Post processing is not my forte and I still have problems making my vision match the outcome.

I process in Aperture, so rather than do a full description of slider levels I will discuss intent. I use NIK plug ins; quite valuable.

The workflow
In Aperture Straighten the horizon a bit.
Adjust the midtones and a bit of an S curve applied Increase the saturation overall a bit, had to then decrease the red and green saturation to bring them down to be more real. I also liked weathered red and I wanted to keep that aspect.

Into NIK Vivesia Select multiple areas on the dark underside of the clouds as one group and the lighter sky as another group
Also select the roof as another group.
Darken the roof a very small amount
Desaturate the underside group and saturate the lighter sky group , darken both; increase the contrast and increase the structure in both . Make the dark underside less warm

Back to Aperture; Make the purples more blue than red. Desaturate and darken the underside clouds even more. Darken the blues a bit more
Do a bit more of an S curve
Crop a bit

Submit for your approval

[DanK]

A very nice capture, but I agree with several others that it would be better to crop. My reaction was similar to Binnur's. I'd get rid of much of the sky (it doesn't add all that much, and the mass distracts from the barn). I started by leveling the horizon, then I cropped off a chunk of the sky and a bit from the other edges. This happens to give you pretty much a rule of thirds composition, although that wasn't my goal. Here's a very quick and not so precise crop. I didn't edit in any other way. See what you think.