Another from the farm I visited last weekend... Same tree and machinery, but from another angle. I left the puppy in because.... I wanted to I supose, because he is part of the farm and he's too gorgeous to leave out.
1D4 & 18mm Zeiss Distagon lens hand held.
1/80 sec at F8, ISO 1600
Processed in ACR and converted in CS6 to B&W. sharpened using NIK package. Full frame.
I quite like the low-to-the-ground perspective here, Don, and also the old-school finish you gave it. Lots to entertain the eye here, and add context to the scene.
Aesthetically I would have liked the branches of the main FG tree not to overlap with the bigger tree in the BG on the RHS...the two wayward branches sticking out either side of the farm implement are also a bit distracting.
I do prefer this view and the use of large DOF in the foreground. The disadvantage is that we light is wrong for us to see the cloud detail that we saw looking the other direction. (If I hadn't seen that, I wouldn't miss it ;-). The overlap of the other tree doesn't bother me, but the dog does, a little. I'd probably like him clearer, or out. He's not the subject and he's way off to the side, so I think that it weakens the image as something that you might sell. For the family, they're going to love the dog every time it shows up!
Thanks Guys for the feedback.. I was thinking the dog should go but for a family photo he definitely had to be included as he is the latest recruit on the farm.. I understand without the emotional attachment Foondi is just a distraction. I will redo removing the sticks from over the machinery and that stray branch dropping in from the top RHC.
Interesting image design and concept. I thought that the dog was a pig. I could do without it. Here is a compositional suggestion: crop to a pano from below so that the prominent diagonal stick in the LR enters exactly from the LRC.
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I just did a quick n dirty update to address the comments and more to the point, show any viewers what the suggestions look like. So I shooed the dog away, pruned the tree overlap top RHC, and cropped as per Arties suggestion. So, what do I think...? Yep, the dog is a distraction, love him to bits but he is a distraction.. The tree over lap, yep, better without, always isolated elements where possible. And the crop, well I don't think the branch is a strong lead into the image so I am a bit '2 bob each way' on this, there is still plenty of FG so it's OK for me.. Its always interesting to hear what others think however...
I like the repost much better for lots of reasons. It needs a smidge more off the bottom so that the branch enters exactly from the corner, i,.e. is bisected by the corner.
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Thanks Artie.. I may not post again but I plan for my own benefit to look at removing the RH stick above the machinery, just enough to provide comfortable separation to the distant trees, and also remove the hanging bark from the previously pruned branch, again for better separation. I will also include the smidgen crop from bottom.
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,