Gerard Blair  


Cornfield in Winter by Gerard Blair

February 2021 - Cornfield in Winter

About the Image(s)

I see cold, a picture of the horizon which appeals to me because that makes it an image of where we stop seeing.

1/160 f/32 ISO 400
Canon EOS 6D Mark II - Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC USD Macro


This round’s discussion is now closed!
11 comments posted




Dan Mottaz   Dan Mottaz
Hi Gerard, I definitely see the cold too. The subtle Blue cast gives that feeling. The horizon is also where our imaginations start.
The slight upturn of your left side horizon and the slight downturn of the clouds on the left drive my eyes in that direction. Fortunately you have an element of interest in the telephone polls on the right that balance the composition. To me, it's a pleasing effect.
I find the vehicle tracks in the foreground and the shrubs beneath the polls distracting. I made a crop that eliminates the tracks. That seems to make the horizon stronger. Unfortunately, the sky becomes very dominate which is not what I think your image is about. I'm not thrilled with the crop, but I thought it might help give you some ideas so you can take the shot in your own direction. I also cloned out the shrubs and sensor spots.   Posted: 02/02/2021 08:56:58
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Gerard Blair   Gerard Blair
(Group 79)
Out damned spots, out I say - must I another camera buy? And yes, my wife disliked the tracks as well. I call it life on the farm but it seems it distracts and that is never a good thing   Posted: 02/21/2021 21:59:32



Robert Atkins   Robert Atkins
Hi Gerard, perhaps the pandemic is starting to get to me, but to me this image has a post apocolyptic feel to it - the dead crops, the sense of an abandoned winter place, the power lines seeming to lean and leading off to nowhere, the sky a color I don't think I've ever seen in a sky. Even the tracks in the foreground seem to suggest man was here before but now there are just tracks. I found the image emotional - a bit depressing, but emotional. I know that is not what you were going for although "cold" which you were is definitely correlated in part with what I felt. I didn't resonate with the horizon - there is nothing to pull me to that. I want to look at many things in this image, but the horizon is not strongly among them.   Posted: 02/10/2021 19:24:51
Gerard Blair   Gerard Blair
(Group 79)
Robert, I cannot tell if your distress is a positive statement on a successful image or a cris de coeur that it should be banished from sight. I suspect the latter (thought tactfully stated) and will reserve this image for the next Mad Max exhibition.   Posted: 02/21/2021 22:04:00
Robert Atkins   Robert Atkins
Gerard, I had to look up what cris de coeur meant - having done that, that is not what I had in mind at all. I think your image would be easy to dismiss if one were looking for a conventional landscape - one which more often than not is about beauty. I don't like it as a conventional landscape. But I do like it as something less conventional. It makes me think. And it has emotion. As I look at it again, I perhaps would characterize it as conveying a chaotic feel. So, unlike the others, I would not eliminate the tire tracks or the power poles - they add to that sense of chaos. If you clean that all up, then pretty soon you have a conventional landscape which is not as interesting to me.

I find your images often make me think a lot, and question whether I tend to look at images with too narrow a filter. They make me want to experiment and question assumptions in my own photography.   Posted: 02/22/2021 18:45:36



 
Hi Gerard, I like your image. Being in upstate NY, I am very familiar with this type of scene. I think that you captured the sky and clouds perfectly. The shade of blue sky looks unreal (in a good way). The snowmobile tracks in the foreground run from left to right and are perpendicular to the long rows of corn in the background. The succession of telephone poles give a sense of depth and scale to the image. Great shot!   Posted: 02/15/2021 02:42:20
Gerard Blair   Gerard Blair
(Group 79)
Emily - if I am reading this correctly (and not just hopefully) I think you see the tracks as I did: as a fracturing of the verticals. I am please you like the image.   Posted: 02/21/2021 22:14:19
 
Hi Gerard, you are correct, and you said it much more eloquently than I did.   Posted: 02/21/2021 22:16:58



Dale Yates   Dale Yates
(Group 87)
Hi Gerard...Excellent image. I too feel the cold as portrayed here. I like the overall sharpness and DOF in this image (I am impressed that you are able to use an f/32 aperture with little to no noticeable diffraction). The corn rows provide both good leading lines and a good pattern for the viewer's eyes. The power poles on the right (which I generally do not like) does provide a good balance to the image. I agree with Dan that the horizontal tire tracks in the foreground can be somewhat distracting. Also, to me, some of the blue color of the sky appears over saturated. Nice work!   Posted: 02/20/2021 12:04:50
Gerard Blair   Gerard Blair
(Group 79)
So - the sky color is clearly a "feature" of this image - and I had not appreciated this problem; thank you all for raising it. I think I got lost in the contrasting while trying to bring out the sky.   Posted: 02/21/2021 22:09:30



Cheryl LaLonde   Cheryl LaLonde
Hi Gerard
As I am late to the party this month, everyone has already touched on my thoughts.

I would remove most of the tracks and spots. If we going for a bleak cold look, maybe black and white would portray that better.

On a side note, I recently watched a presentation from a club member about shooting black and white for a while. I am trying that and have found it really helps me focus on the light in the scene. Next Month I will be submitting black and white. Looking forward to everyone's comment.   Posted: 02/27/2021 13:36:55
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