Out to Pasture

Another from my warm-up day at Van Hoosen Farm. The seat is from an old mower or rake, I think. (Pretty much the whole thing was there. I just can't remember what it was.) The dairy barn -- now a museum of sorts and the site of temporary exhibits -- is in the background.

nine exposure HDR at 1 EV increments, Nikon D3s, ISO 200, f/13, 105mm macro lens

processing

• Photomatix -- tone mapping for good histogram
• Adobe Camera Raw -- Recovery, Clarity, and some color tweaking in HSL
• cropped from all edges for composition
• Topaz Simplify -- preset based on BuzSim with reduced saturation
• Levels & Curves, masked
• two Flypaper Textures -- masked off seat
• Nik Color Efex -- Skylight Filter, Pro Contrast
• Fractalius -- B&W preset at Multiply blend mode, masked off part of seat, applied in order shown but run before Topaz Simplify
• Alien Skin Snap Art -- Stylize Line Art for black lines, Multiply blend mode, partially masked with various opacities, applied in order shown but run before Topaz Simplify
• additional outlining on a separate layer by hand
• gradient vignette

This is the TIFF from Photomatix with no further processing.

Dennis, the final image is awesome. I love the filtering, the detail you added to the seat is terrific!

Dennis, a unique and interesting perspective on a subject that most would have walked right past...good job with the processing, I love the depth and perspective that the dairy barn in the background adds...I might have made the decision not to crop quite as tight, though it would have been close; I think some of the lines from the barn in the LRC might have enhanced the leading lines. The suggestion of rustic textures on the seat make for an interesting surface pattern...and I think my favorite part of the image is the repetitive pattern of ovals in the seat. Nicely done.

Thanks very much for your comments, Denise and John.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Storjohann

. . . I might have made the decision not to crop quite as tight, though it would have been close; I think some of the lines from the barn in the LRC might have enhanced the leading lines. . . .and I think my favorite part of the image is the repetitive pattern of ovals in the seat. . . .

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John, I don't remember how I chose how much to crop from the sides, but your suggestion about the right seems like a good one. I'm going to try that out. The ovals is what ultimately made me take the photos that turned into this. When I initially saw them -- from the front of the equipment and from a much higher vantage point -- the background was very messy. Part of the background that was in my line of sight when looking through the seat was very light. I noted the contrast, but not favorably at the time. It was some time later that I decided to walk behind it and lower the camera far enough to put the seat against the sky.

Dennis, for some reason the first thing I thought of was a Grant Wood painting:w3 I love the feeling of depth in the image and the textures. It is very well done.

awesome composition, Dennis! Love the final image... wonderful processing!

Hi Dennis, love the processing for this one. Up at the cottage we have an old tractor seat just like this bolted to the large rock outcrop that over-looks the lake.

Dennis, excellent. Can't help viewing this without thinking about sitting in that tractor seat. Nice processing, compelling image!