Old Skagit Barn

[lovelife65]

Old Skagit Barn.
There're a lot of these old barns tucked away throughout Skagit and Whatcom counties.
Also, a lot of rural poverty. Something I am quite interested in for some reason.

[Shadowman]

In my youth I used to explore old barns and cabins such as these so I know the fascination, once found a little of pups that I took a liking to. My grandmother warned me later that the mother could've attacked me but she seemed to like me as well. The warning put a bit of hesitance my later wanderings though but I'm still attracted to these old structures so your images serve as a chance for me to relive my youthful enthusiasm. Nicely composed.

[Manfred M]

Why did you heavily vignette the corners of this shot?

[Donald]

A very good conversion to B & W.

The question of the vignette is always one that attracts many responses. Many people like a vignette to be barely noticeable, but yet do its job. Others like it to be right out there.

I use them in both ways. But, if I am going to have a dark vignette such as in this image, I wonder if there is value in making larger. Especially at the top, the vignette can look very small and if it was sort of wanting to be there but is embarrassed to be there, hiding in the corner. What I am saying is that it is often better to make it much larger so that you're no doubt that it's there.

If you pulled the centre of the vignette down so that there is less at the bottom and more at the top and it is larger at the top, it can work well in many images.

[tbob]

Quite like these old barns, this one has very fascinating wood grain and is well aged/weathered. The older and more dilapidated these are the more interesting they become

My only quibble is whether it might be possible to differentiate the left edge of the barn from the dark conifer. Currently it melds with the tree and the edge is lost.

[NorthernFocus]

Every time I travel through that area I wish I had the time to pay adequate attention to some of those barns. There are a bunch. You picked a goody for this shot. You really achieved an old fashioned look with the image. I do agree with some of the prior comments about the vignette. IMO if you're going to go heavy then make it even bolder but more realistic(i.e. like an old photo).

...rural poverty. Something I am quite interested in for some reason.

If you are seriously interested that is one thing that is easily achievable

[lovelife65]

Thanks for the comments.

Manfred, Donald yes, the vignette is a little heavy handed. Wanted a bit of a frame of the barn, got a little too much.
Trevor, agree about the conifer and back edge of the barn. I should have spent more time on the shadows back there to draw out the distinction.
Dan, thank you. Part of my fascination I think is we were pretty poor growing up (but my mom is a rock star and held it together). :-)
Also there is a lot of focus on urban poverty, but not quite as much talk about rural poverty. This barn doesn't necessarily depict poverty, they are all over the valley. I would like to spend some more time in "the sticks" to capture the character.