Barns in Western Mass

bkriete

This is a pic I took a few weeks ago of some barns near my parent's house in Western Massachusetts. I like how it came out; it's rare to see anything but red or bare wood farm buildings around here and I think the green outbuilding makes it a little unique. I'd love comments on perspective, composition, etc.

wxwax

Hi bkriete. You made a good exposure, the colors and light range look very nice. Even the snow looks like snow.

I'd try playing with the composition a little. On the plus side, you put your subject (the green barn) on a third (check "Rule of thirds") But it's kind of lost in there, not very imposing. And the space off to the right doesn't really seem to add a lot to the shot.

When I shoot stuff, I shoot it a bunch of different ways. That's why I love digital! So you might have tried a shot where the buildings filled the frame more. Put the silo on the vertical right third - that way you could still get the green barn on the lower left third. That might work - but it might leave out too much foreground or context.

Like I said, shoot it a bunch of ways, it doesn't cost any extra, and you may be surprised at which shot ends up having the most dynamic composition.

The other thing to think about (and I'm awful at this) is the lighting. I don't see many shadows, so I'm guessing this was shot when the sun was pretty high in the sky. That's when the light is at its harshest. It's a lot nicer to shoot stuff like your barn when there's softer "golden light" early or late in the day. In this case, you'd want to be making your shot when the rising or setting sun was shedding light on this side of the barn. It would give a softer light, a bit of a golden glow - very pleasing.

Anyway, hope this helps!

Kagan

Love the Picture! I am an avid barn pic junkie. If I had my way I would do 2 things in pics-Kids and barns. I have taken many of the barns from my parents farm where I was raised, alas they were all with my old point and shoot camera, so the pictures arent up to snuff for here. I cant wait for the sun to come out and get down to our farm and try with with my new camera!
Again great pic!

PS...I LOVE bare wood barns

bkriete wrote:

This is a pic I took a few weeks ago of some barns near my parent's house in Western Massachusetts. I like how it came out; it's rare to see anything but red or bare wood farm buildings around here and I think the green outbuilding makes it a little unique. I'd love comments on perspective, composition, etc.

bkriete

Thanks for the suggestions...my worry was that there was too much foreground and background. I tend to favor wide, tightly cropped compositions. If memory serves, there's another low, red barn to the left of the green one; I might go back and see if I can get a decent panorama.

wxwax: I checked the time of day in metadata and it was 2:45 PM. I think it might have turned out a little more interestingly shaded if I'd taken it at 4:30 or so, but I'm not sure if the detail would show up as well. I'm thrilled about the exposure; if you look at the histogram you can see all the white didn't quite blow anything out. If you look at the hi-res pic in my smugmug album there is some really interesting blue paint on the silo. The other cool thing I found is that if you dodge the heck out of the shaded area in the shed on the right, you can actually make out a great deal of detail. That surprised the heck out of me. I'm still figuring out a lot about exposure, and I believe I let my camera pick it for this one. Good job Canon!

Here's another I took that same day that turned out to my liking.

If you could see to the left any more, you'd see the buildings in my previous pic.

Angelo

What I don't know about barns could fill a book but I do know I want a hot apple cider right about now. Very nice photos.

DoctorIt

2 barns along the connecticut river down, about 3 billion to go...

That first shot is definitely exposed well, but put the big silo over on one side, a much stronger composition.

bkriete

At least I'll have plenty to keep me busy...

tmlphoto

bkriete wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions...my worry was that there was too much foreground and background. I tend to favor wide, tightly cropped compositions. If memory serves, there's another low, red barn to the left of the green one; I might go back and see if I can get a decent panorama.

wxwax: I checked the time of day in metadata and it was 2:45 PM. I think it might have turned out a little more interestingly shaded if I'd taken it at 4:30 or so, but I'm not sure if the detail would show up as well. I'm thrilled about the exposure; if you look at the histogram you can see all the white didn't quite blow anything out. If you look at the hi-res pic in my smugmug album there is some really interesting blue paint on the silo. The other cool thing I found is that if you dodge the heck out of the shaded area in the shed on the right, you can actually make out a great deal of detail. That surprised the heck out of me. I'm still figuring out a lot about exposure, and I believe I let my camera pick it for this one. Good job Canon!

Here's another I took that same day that turned out to my liking.

If you could see to the left any more, you'd see the buildings in my previous pic.

I really like the tones in this one. The composition is good also, but I keep wanting to see just a smidge more foreground, or maybe not. Its really a lovely shot.