Diana Magor, MPSA, APSA
March 2023 - Barn near the Palouse
Original
About the Image(s)
This was taken when we visited the States for the PSA conference in Spokane. We decided to take a trip to the Palouse after going on the official one. This meant we were able to take detours along the way and spend time trying to get a feel for this rural landscape. I liked the shape of the barn and also the colour of the truck, but I decided it might be good as a mono because of the contrast between the white window frames and the dark woodwork. All I’ve done is convert to mono in Lr, then in Ps, I used the healing brus to remove the white semi circle in the bottom left. I put a linear gradient over the sky to increase the contrast there to being back the white clouds and darken the blue. I created a layer to dodge and burn -darkening the corners, and increasing the contrast on the fields behind. The white window frames and the truck were lightened. I cropped a sliver off the base. I think it works in colour and mono. Do you agree?
This round’s discussion is now closed!
16 comments posted
I've seen this barn several times on Field Trips from Salt Lake City with our Camera Club. This rendition of yours is "spot on" as the Aussies would say. Posted: 03/09/2023 17:34:36
Thanks. I am thinking of using it for a landscape competition but Brian thinks it is better for a record competition? Who is right? Posted: 03/10/2023 04:14:12
Is it "either/or"? or could it be both?
If landscape, title is ok. If Record, maybe a change to "Barn In The Palouse"????
Or mention something related to it being over a hundred years old. (1919).....
If either, it matters if you have a good photo to compete in the other....as well as who is your competition. (a la Horse Racing.) Posted: 03/10/2023 06:35:04
If landscape, title is ok. If Record, maybe a change to "Barn In The Palouse"????
Or mention something related to it being over a hundred years old. (1919).....
If either, it matters if you have a good photo to compete in the other....as well as who is your competition. (a la Horse Racing.) Posted: 03/10/2023 06:35:04
It could be used in either comp but this week it is the landscape one. I hadn't decided on a title yet but I take your point. Thanks. Posted: 03/10/2023 09:19:46
Nothing from me but praise. I see your slight crop of the foreground, the dark sky as you usually do. Great subject, and the old truck is a good addition. Oddly, I find that tower on the left horizon good, as it echoes the rods on the roof of the barn. Posted: 03/10/2023 19:04:46
Thanks Steve. I also left the spike in because it balanced the barn ones. I felt the dark sky was needed to hold the top in, otherwise the white areas would bleed out of the frame. Posted: 03/11/2023 05:51:17
Dr Somdutt Prasad
Great image, just a sugestion worth trying, if tou move the orange channel up and the green channel down during conversion, it may make the truck pop out a bit. Worth trying. Posted: 03/12/2023 17:06:55
Thanks. I will have a go again. Posted: 03/13/2023 04:54:17
Very nice farm scene with the the barn, silo and old truck. I like the color, but with the brown fields think that going to mono was a good choice. I would not change a thing, other than to get rid of the power pole and line in the upper left. It draws my eye from the barn. Without knowing what "record" is, I have no comment about which category to enter in. Posted: 03/13/2023 10:18:23
Interesting that you'd get rid of the pole as Steve and I thought it was better left in. Record is any factual photo which has not been materially altered and in our club is usually paired with architecture and can incorporate buildings of any size so a barn would fit. Maybe it is possible to use in either. Posted: 03/13/2023 12:20:08
I see both sides, but I would remove it if it were mine. Maybe that is why photography is an art and not a science. Posted: 03/13/2023 14:24:07
good comment: "art and not a science."
Posted: 03/15/2023 04:02:42
Posted: 03/15/2023 04:02:42
But maybe photography is a blend of art and science. The latter may have changed from chemicals in darkrooms to IT technology but we still need an appreciation of pictorialism and a facility with a computer to bring out what we envisaged when we snapped the shot. Posted: 03/15/2023 05:24:55
What an enormous barn! For me, this image is more of an architecture, agriculture or record image. While the fields contribute to the landscape concept, the barn is just too dominate for this to work well as a landscape image by my definition of landscapes. I agree with the suggestion from Somdutt to try to add some more separation of the truck from the tree and other background. I also find the bright area between the truck and the barn somewhat distracting, so I'd likely darken it a bit more. I'd also brighten the steeples on top of the barn and the "Est. 1919" to draw more attention to them. Your idea to remove the bright semicircle was a good one. Since I dislike utility poles and wires, I'm with Tom about removing that one, but you're correct that it should not be removed in a record image. Posted: 03/25/2023 23:14:31
It really is a photo suitable for both in our club as we accept urban, sea, sky and landscapes, so manmade objects are acceptable. A seascape could include wind turbines/ships etc, an urban could have cars and people in the streets and sky could have an interesting base of beach or buildings so a landscape can have quite large manmade objects. In the end it probably depends on what the picture is up against in that specific competition. I've just used this in our club and although the judge was quite complimentary, it didn't come into the top three placings. He didn't like the burnt out white sky. Posted: 03/26/2023 04:39:36
Nan Belli
Beautiful barn! And great image with the old truck too. I love them both and always looking for barns to photograph. I do like the black and white better but a red barn also makes a great photo. Posted: 03/31/2023 20:27:27