Just another old falling barn

[lovelife65]

It's where I live (well, Anacortes isn't rural barn land, but Skagit County is). Until I get to a city, it's what I got.

[Manfred M]

Overall you have crafted a very solid image here Sharon. B&W and old barns generally works quite well. I like the way the texture of the wood is complemented by the texture in the sky.

Not knowing the scene, I don't know what you had to work with, but I do find the the crop on both sides is a bit tight. I suspect that you pointed your camera upwards a bit as there are signs of perspective distortion. I think the old barn is in enough trouble all by itself, without the camera positioning making it look even closer to collapse.

[tbob]

When first read your commentary I thought you meant this was your domicile; the best you could get until you moved to the city.

Interesting that the builder elected to use horizontal boards on one side and vertical on the other. I am used to some fairly lax rules in building farm outbuildings This seems a little beyond that.

[Manfred M]

Interesting that the builder elected to use horizontal boards on one side and vertical on the other.

I had wondered about that too, Trevor. The structural strength of the barn comes from the framing, beams and roof trusses, so the direction that the boards that are used as facing makes no difference structurally. One can definitely see some framing on the face with the horizontal boards.

While I can't tell for sure, the horizontal boards look like they may have been "shingled"; which is inherently more water resistant than the vertical boards that have been butted together. If the horizontal boards are used on the windward side of the building, that would make sense, as this would be the part of the barn that would be subjected to the rain most frequently.

[Digital]

Sharon, this is a nice photo. I too, liked old barns. Years ago I drove around Carroll Co. looking for old barns. I found one, and photographed it a lot. It is somewhere stored on my external hard drives.


Bruce

[lovelife65]

When first read your commentary I thought you meant this was your domicile; the best you could get until you moved to the city.

Interesting that the builder elected to use horizontal boards on one side and vertical on the other. I am used to some fairly lax rules in building farm outbuildings This seems a little beyond that.

Thank you for your comments. LOL. Luckily, we are doing a bit better than living in an old barn, but hey one never knows what the future holds.
I think many people (I am speculating here and maybe unfairly) fear poverty and that leads to anger at those struggling. Of course, there was just a big old giant drug bust here in WA State through several counties.... hence my being careful on where and for how long I venture to capture rural scenes in the area.
I wonder if the differences in boards are from previous repairs to the barn?

[lovelife65]

Thank you for your comments Manfred. Some of these scenes can be tough because they can be on very narrow roads and in some cases logging traffic (this was the case). I can pull off at some areas and walk back, but even that is at times risky.
I may have tilted the camera on accident, or maybe a correction in lines lead to the distortion. Thank you for your critique.
ps. yes, the crop is too tight. There was too much junk on the right side.

Overall you have crafted a very solid image here Sharon. B&W and old barns generally works quite well. I like the way the texture of the wood is complemented by the texture in the sky.

Not knowing the scene, I don't know what you had to work with, but I do find the the crop on both sides is a bit tight. I suspect that you pointed your camera upwards a bit as there are signs of perspective distortion. I think the old barn is in enough trouble all by itself, without the camera positioning making it look even closer to collapse.

[Shadowman]

What you got is pretty good, nicely framed.

[NorthernFocus]

Nice shot of an interesting old building. Interesting temporal contrast between the mercury vapor lights and the rest of the building. Yes the crop is a bit tight. But I know most of these old barns have a bunch of junk/trash/old vehicles/etc all around them and can be nearly impossible to isolate. At least two sides were clear enough to get a decent shot.

[FootLoose]

Well, it was worth the risk, Sharon. That is a nice photo, well processed. You cropped tight to exclude the rubbish but I was thinking how well-kept the area is to the right of the barn.

[lovelife65]

Thanks for the comments.
Often I’d like to include the other things as it tells more of the story.
But often that’s frowned upon so clipping it out is needed.

[Manfred M]

Thanks for the comments.
Often I’d like to include the other things as it tells more of the story.
But often that’s frowned upon so clipping it out is needed.

That's always the challenging part when framing an image. The main subject is the important part of the image, but some of the other elements can also play a major role. The trick is to ensure that they complement the story without taking over and confusing the story line.