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Riding Farm on the Storm
Riding Farm on the Storm
SoulMan1978


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2007-12 (Advanced Editing V)
Camera: Sony DSLR-A100
Lens: Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical ED Zoom Lens for Sony Alpha
Location: Lynch Farm Equestrian Club
Date: Dec 7, 2007
Aperture: F/8.0
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/60 secs
Date Uploaded: Dec 18, 2007

 Came out of work on my lunch hour to see these lovely black clouds in the sky, walked 20 mins to the most photogenic place I knew and snapped away. I was risking an absolute downpour, but not a drop of rain fell till after I got back to work when the heavens opened. I'll take that as an omen lol.

The title is a loose reference to the title of the Doors' song, Riders on the Storm, I always thought of this place as the Riding Farm, but it's only when I googled upon filling in this form that I realised it was called somthing else. Still, not going to let that spoil a joke title ;-)

Original:



Editing:
Converted from RAW using Silkypix, made JPEGS at EVs from +3 to -3, made HDR and tonemapped, converted back to JPEG.
Further editing in PSP: softening on the clouds and sharpening everywhere else, contrast, levels, minor cloning,
straighten, resize for web. ETA: Nearly forgot, adjustment layers for channel mixer, contrast and HSL to get the sepia effect.

POST CHALLENGE Thanks to all for comments and votes. Well I've got a new PB but I still feel a bit flat - It was on 5.9239 when I went to bed the night of rollover. What does it take to break 6 in this place? *sob*

Statistics
Place: 135 out of 429
Avg (all users): 5.8830
Avg (commenters): 6.6667
Avg (participants): 5.7500
Avg (non-participants): 6.1111
Views since voting: 817
Views during voting: 240
Votes: 171
Comments: 20
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 01/22/2008 01:06:20 PM
Very nice mood with this photograph. I like that it is a dark photograph, but still has bright highlights. You have used the rule of thirds very well for both the horizon and the location of the house. Definitely worthy of a 6.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 11:48:53 PM
Great postprocessing, I love the mood you created. I would have cropped the bottom a little bit more.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 08:42:40 PM
The scene itself is marvelous. a good position of elements and I like the DoF here (or gaussian blur...). I think there is just a tad too much contrast and darkness in the clouds, more of the original type clouds but everything else as is.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 05:30:03 PM
Very nice shot. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 04:33:55 PM
I simply loved this shot - the subtle lighting and the softness of the processing really worked well for me. But I happen to really like a well controlled use of HDR, as you have done here. Great work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 11:18:41 AM
I gave this a 5. I am not a fan of tonemapping and I thought the building was lost in the rest of the photo
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 11:18:11 AM
i gave this a 5 i think mostly because it was a bit too gloomey thought it was over photoshopped
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 09:59:18 AM
Agree with the others. You did a nice job bringing out the tones without creating a lot of noise but the blur in the clouds is to much. Also the blur in the trees is not convincing. The one on the right of the frame almost looks like there was a drop of water on the lens. The one right by the chimney. It's an interesting scene and I think it would have done better with a more subtle post processing approach.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 08:56:24 AM
basically, deb has said it all for me. damn her.... ;~D i really like the blurring on the foreground - it gives a kind of wavy implied motion to the whole image. i'd also like to see the clouds a tiny bit sharper.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2008 07:54:21 AM
You really pulled a lot from the original! Great processing to get the tonal range. You mentioned that you did a lot of selective blurring. In my opinion (and it's a matter of taste) you overdid the blurring on the clouds a bit. It kinda gives the impression of them moving but just not quite, if that makes sense. But I gotta say that you did a very admirable job, from seeing what you wanted to shoot and knowing where to go to get the shot, to some serious post-processing. And it's a PB. That's not all bad! Don't worry - the 6s will come. (Then go, and you won't see one again for ages, but that's DPC for ya.) And you DID get a 6 from your commenters. To me, that's the sign of a successful free study - if a commenter or two likes it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/06/2008 09:22:38 PM
Nice shot, I really like the tones. Wonderful sky. Nice PP with the presumed selective blurring.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/06/2008 12:43:42 PM
I feel like reading The Great Gatsby.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/05/2008 12:32:25 PM
Very nice photo, I like the duo colors you have here. Works very well with the clouds :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/04/2008 02:04:48 AM
cool sky, overall image is a little soft maybe.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2008 11:14:03 AM
Very moody.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/01/2008 07:01:58 PM
A great sky but I think I'd prefer it in colour.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/01/2008 05:28:52 PM
I like the edit on this...the blurring really adds to make the house stand out 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/01/2008 04:29:03 PM
The pic has too much blurr in it. The coloration is good.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/01/2008 06:10:41 AM
i really like the dreamy quality of this shot - the softness of the sky and placement of the chimney and tree at opposite corners along the horizon really anchor this shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/01/2008 04:26:28 AM
love this in the sepia tones..nice composition
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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