North Dakota Hay Field

[Noel Carboni]

Just after a hay harvest in rural North Dakota. Most of my panoramas are all about the details, and frankly this image is not particularly pretty in thumbnail form. I've blatently broken the "don't center the horizon rule", and Roman might say I could have used a gradient filter to lighten up the bottom some. But... There's a silver lining to the clouds here: Click on the image and enjoy wandering the high resolution version. :)

Canon EOS-20D, ISO 200, 28-135 lens @ 85mm, f/11, 6 portrait mode shots stitched in Photoshop CS3. I had 4 more images to the right of this scene, but they didn't add much to the image so I left them off.

http://forum.ourdarkskies.com/gallery_images/1215226433/gallery_131_16_98239.jpg (http://forum.ourdarkskies.com/gallery_images/1187720921/gallery_131_14_1174922.jpg)

Enjoy!

-Noel

[David Kennedy]

Noel,
I think my greatest concern with this image is that, as you say, the details have to carry it. As such, the framing of those small details is really important, and I feel that you've cropped the image too tightly on the bottom edge--far too closely to the fence on the right and the base of the left-most telephone pole. Also the edge of dark grass to the right of that pole distracts attention and prevents my eyes from moving into the image.

I believe the landscape could use some more post-processing in the way of added contrast; additional work in Selective Color might also help bring out the greens and yellows that are presently somewhat muted.

[Robert Amoruso]

I am going to agree with David that the FG needed to be looser and cramping up the fence and telephone poles.

Clouds look great and I would have liked to see more of them. Overall, a wider angle (perhaps 50 or 60mm) in portrait could have added more top and bottom.

[Arthur Morris]

I am not a big fan of hay fields in midday light so this one does not work for me at all. I do love the clouds; a pano with clouds only might have been striking. At the very least, you needed to include lots more above the horizon...