"Side hill Farm": In May I was driving West on Rt 17, a wonderfully scenic road across the Southern Tier of New York state. Pulled off onto a side road where I thought chances of...

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

In May I was driving West on Rt 17, a wonderfully scenic road across the Southern Tier of New York state. Pulled off onto a side road where I thought chances of finding blooming phlox might be good. While scanning he roadside ditches I almost passed this farm...and the sky. Backed up, set up the tripod and made exposures as the clouds moved and morphed for almost a half hour.
Liked his one. Only a few power lines cloned out.
C&C please. No manipulations; thanks.
Dave in SD

"Side Hill Farm"

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

I like the composition and the mood. I wouldn't change a thing about it.

SENSORLOUPE

Uuglypher wrote:

In May I was driving West on Rt 17, a wonderfully scenic road across the Southern Tier of New York state. Pulled off onto a side road where I thought chances of finding blooming phlox might be good. While scanning he roadside ditches I almost passed this farm...and the sky. Backed up, set up the tripod and made exposures as the clouds moved and morphed for almost a half hour.
Liked his one. Only a few power lines cloned out.
C&C please. No manipulations; thanks.
Dave in SD

very pretty----Clouds are beautiful.
Right---no manipulations needed :-)

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Looks pretty steep! Is this the place where cows have shorter legs on one side than the other so they can stand level while chewing their cud (and standing mesmerized by the cloud cover above them)?

jonsommer Loc: Usually, somewhere on the U.S. west coast.

Amazing clouds! This photo caught my eye, and then I start looking at it with a more critical eye and thinking (all too rare, I agree) so now I have some observations, and only one suggestion.

This is an interesting shot, the very subtle leading lines of the furrows on the hillside takes my eye from lower right where I enter the photo, and sweeps me up to the barn, the clouds take my eye up and around the little hole in the cloud cover in the far distance and brings me around to the furrows again. So, I think your composition and its internal movement are interesting and outstanding.

So, my one suggestion is that, to my untrained eye, the barn, as your center of interest, is just a skosh underexposed. OK, I lied, I have two suggestions, the other is to add some contrast to the furrows so they're not quite as subtle as they currently are.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Bob Yankle wrote:

Looks pretty steep! Is this the place where cows have shorter legs on one side than the other so they can stand level while chewing their cud (and standing mesmerized by the cloud cover above them)?

That's the place! And because of shorter legs on the uphill side, they have to always walk in he same direction around the hill...spiralliing slightly upwards or downwards otherwise certainly quickly tumbling to the bottom...self-imposed " cow tipping..." .....as it were....

djtravels Loc: Georgia boy now

Rt 17 is a pretty ride, isn't it? Been down that road MANY times. Stunning clouds.

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Uuglypher wrote:

In May I was driving West on Rt 17, a wonderfully scenic road across the Southern Tier of New York state. Pulled off onto a side road where I thought chances of finding blooming phlox might be good. While scanning he roadside ditches I almost passed this farm...and the sky. Backed up, set up the tripod and made exposures as the clouds moved and morphed for almost a half hour.
Liked his one. Only a few power lines cloned out.
C&C please. No manipulations; thanks.
Dave in SD

I love 'cloudscapes' in general, and you have done a great job with this one! I would (possibly) second the opinion that the furrows could do with a bit of a boost, but this is a great shot.

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Bloke wrote:

I love 'cloudscapes' in general, and you have done a great job with this one! I would (possibly) second the opinion that the furrows could do with a bit of a boost, but this is a great shot.

Dave, can I take a shot at making the furrows more visible? I shall do it subtlely, not over the top.

jgordon Loc: Boulder CO

This is a great image ... and it makes me a little uncomfortable.

Maybe my reaction has something to do with the slanting horizon. And, at least for me there is not enough going on in the foreground to balance the wonderful and dramatic sky. So, maybe some post processing to make the foreground and building a little more prominent (as suggested by others) might help.

Overall I have the sense that this is a fine image and one I should love, but something about me is getting in the way.

Chuck_893 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

jonsommer wrote:

Amazing clouds! This photo caught my eye, and the... (show quote)

Yep, my immediate reaction. I am in the barn's-too-dark camp. I love the composition, it's a very strong shot, but if I had made it I think I would at least play with popping out both the barn and the furrows a little. Opinion. Subjective! :D :D

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

Aside from cloning out the lines, can you give us an idea of what post-processing you did? If any?

R.G. Loc: Scotland

I think the perspective and the hillside horizon are different but in a good way.

My only criticism is that to my eye, the land isn't as bright as the lightness of the sky would suggest. This creates an imbalance of perception. With the sky as bright as it is shown, one would expect the land to be brighter than it is.

I think it would be nice to see the barn brighter, but it doesn't look wrong the way it is, because the brightest part of the sky is behind the barn, which puts the front of the barn on the dark (or shadow) side.

Despite these criticisms, I think the shot still says "hillside farm", which I suspect was one of the main intentions.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

R.G. wrote:

I think the perspective and the hillside horizon a... (show quote)

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Thanks, RG ,
For your comments and suggestions.
and the term " Sidehill farmer" is common in upstate NY and parts of New England and northern Pensylvania where, in the late 17th and the 18th centuries the lucky first ones to claim land got the good bottom land, the "Johnnies-come-lately" had to settle on the hills to the sides of the bottomlands...the "side hills" . Hence " side hill farmers" whose lands overlook the superior, more fertile bottomlands.

and here you thought such fine class distinctions occurred only on that Sceptred Isle of yours!

best,
Dave