A whole Lot of Grass

[Rainforest]

I've been taking time to document the grass farms in the surrounding areas this spring, (as weather allows).. I find the skies are as engaging as the landscapes. To me it is quite pretty. Hopefully the Metadata has uploaded this time - I figured out I have to give it a manual push each time. Any C &C is most welcome.

1.

2.

3. RoundUp ready

4.

Poplar Grove from the same outing as 1. and 2. Re: Brian's comments

5.

6.

[purplehaze]

Susan, I like them all, but have a few observations to make.
#1 The tops of two of the fence posts line up pretty closely with the top of the treeline. An ideal composition might put them lower or higher.
#2 This one appeals to me quite a lot, but I think the vignette might be a bit too heavy. It seems to be lacking in mid-tone contrast, but maybe that was deliberate? or part of why I like it?
#3 I find this to be a nicely balanced composition and have nothing to criticize.
#4 Again, very nice, but the lighter bit of grass in the lower left corner is a distraction for me. Love that line of cumulous cloud in the background and wonder whether it would bear any further enhancement.
Nice set and I enjoyed looking at them.

[Shadowman]

Nice color capture.

[FootLoose]

I don't know about the grass but I do like the skies. I second Janis remarks about these images. In the first shot if you had shot from a slightly lower point, so as to raise the top of the posts above the tree line, you might have given the image a greater sense of depth, too.

[Rainforest]

Thanks Janis for your sharp observations. I won't miss the post height with respect to my background again - thanks!
#1 and 2 were shot about two weeks ago. 2 was fussy for me in PP from the start - my thinking with the heavier vignette was because the foreground was pretty boring. That corner of grass is distracting ;-).
As lovely as these fields are, even the ones that are sprayed with RoundUP which turn gold, I wonder if the world really needs this much grass..?

[Rainforest]

I don't know about the grass but I do like the skies. I second Janis remarks about these images. In the first shot if you had shot from a slightly lower point, so as to raise the top of the posts above the tree line, you might have given the image a greater sense of depth, too.

Hi Greg, I concur on the posts - and didn't even see it at all. It's great having more eyes. The last two were taken on the same day and the clouds were very strange that day.

[Rainforest]

Thank you John, I don't see in B&W very often.

[Glenn P]

Hi Susan,

These are all very nice.
I think that they would be more dramatic with a portrait orientation. I usually do both going with the old adage "When do you shoot landscapes in portrait mode? Right after shooting them in landscape."

[Mike Buckley]

Agreed with all of the above.

About the vignette in the second one being discussed: You added the vignette because the foreground was boring to you. Consider cropping the foreground anytime in that situation as an alternative solution. When you do use a vignette in a traditional landscape style, try applying it only to the land. When also applying it to the sky, you create a situation that rarely occurs in nature and never occurs if the sky is cloudless. You might like the vignette in the land in this image if you eliminate it in the sky.

Consider cropping to eliminate about half of the green grass in the last photo. And if you ever get around to immersing yourself in making black-and-white photos, please make sure you revisit that one.

[Wavelength]

Extremely excellent set of images!!

[Rainforest]

Hi Susan,

These are all very nice.
I think that they would be more dramatic with a portrait orientation. I usually do both going with the old adage "When do you shoot landscapes in portrait mode? Right after shooting them in landscape."

Hi Glenn, You have widened my horizons - kind of ;-). That is a fine idea to take to the field, I'll try it! Thanks much, Susan

[Rainforest]

Agreed with all of the above.

About the vignette in the second one being discussed: You added the vignette because the foreground was boring to you. Consider cropping the foreground anytime in that situation as an alternative solution. When you do use a vignette in a traditional landscape style, try applying it only to the land. When also applying it to the sky, you create a situation that rarely occurs in nature and never occurs if the sky is cloudless. You might like the vignette in the land in this image if you eliminate it in the sky.

Consider cropping to eliminate about half of the green grass in the last photo. And if you ever get around to immersing yourself in making black-and-white photos, please make sure you revisit that one.

Hi Mike, I appreciate the vignette fine tuning tips and I can now see how that crop would be much better for the last one. Yeah, on both and thank you! Funny, I did put the last one through a couple of blk and white filters but the colors out there make my heart sing. I keep intending to go out with a blk and white mindset but so far no real commitment. ;-)

[Rainforest]

Thank you very much Nandakumar, I'm glad you enjoyed them.

[BrianA61]

What area of Oregon? I live just west of PDX and LOVE driving through the countryside viewing the various farms. I am particular to old barns and there are a lot of them around me, which is why #2 caught my eye. However, I agree with previous comments about the vignette. A lighter and more toward the edge would balance out the shot better. Nice composition and color contrast on #3 and #4.

[Rainforest]

What area of Oregon? I live just west of PDX and LOVE driving through the countryside viewing the various farms. I am particular to old barns and there are a lot of them around me, which is why #2 caught my eye. However, I agree with previous comments about the vignette. A lighter and more toward the edge would balance out the shot better. Nice composition and color contrast on #3 and #4.

Thanks much for your comments Brian. The barn shot is between Lyons and Albany on an old two lane hwy. The other two are closer and you will find a wealth of changing landscapes between Silverton and Sublimity, plenty of barns scattered about as well. When the canola fields are in bloom you will find large swaths of yellow, red when the clover blooms and more redwing blackbirds than you can imagine though I couldn't tell you just when. This is the first year I will be able to gauge things in this area more closely and I'm really excited. DO NOT MISS the Dahlia fields if you like flowers and bees later in the summer - it's only about 30 minutes from PDX. If you are interested in reconoitering I'd be game - I prefer to shoot alone but some company bombing around on the back roads with another pair of eyes sounds good. You can send me an email if that works for you and you are not a crazy person. ! Susan
P.S. I added two shots of a Poplar grove that is on the old hwy near Albany that I took the same day - I had spied it earlier and went back for this but had to hold the camera over my head to get this shot - no easy way to explore, but maybe you would have better luck.

[IzzieK]

#1 and #2 I kinda like the greenest of the grass and the clouds here.
#2 is a nice scene too but I guess Trevor from Canada spoiled us too much of his barn shots, mud and slides and snows and autumn lights and all that to savour.
#3 has merits in that you can either crop from the top and get a different view of the same scene or crop from the bottom and give you a clearer view of the same scene. Very versatile.
#4 A little crop from the bottom will not go amiss here.
#5 and #6 I like but I sort of missed the road in between but then this place is from outside of the city, what am I talking about...I have no idea.

[Rainforest]

Thanks a bunch Izzie for your thoughts and review. It is very nice of you to take the time. ..Shooting what's out there when I'm out there.. :-))

[AlwaysOnAuto]

If you ever get tired of too much green grass, send some down south here to So Cal, my lawns could use it.

[IzzieK]

If you ever get tired of too much green grass, send some down south here to So Cal, my lawns could use it.

I will send you some of the rains here if I can, Alan. We seems to have quite a bit lately. In fact the levee near our airport broke again and many people have to help sandbagged around it. It only shut off some of the streets but it did not reach the airport. We were able to salvage only two of our 6 airplanes in the destructive floods of 1993 then 2008 so we were all watchful. Anyway, we have a respite from rain since Friday. Tomorrow will be the start of another over a weeklong of rains again. We had plans of going up last Saturday to go to Eureka to take pictures of the flood rise but we had already reached 2000 feet of the pattern and the wind was too annoying so we went up another 1000 ft and came back.