These farms are on Hwy 26 on the way to Cannon Beach. I thought of them for the rural challenge and decided to give them a go after work. (Depsite the title, this is a sunset. I liked the quote and sunrise felt more "farmy" anyway.) I shot a few locations and then found this hill looking down on an idyllic farm setting. I noticed the sun was starting to play with a line of clouds on the horizon so I thought I would wait it out. I wasn't disappointed. It was a bit of a challenge, however, to shoot straight into the sun.
For processing I started with a S/H application (about 35/25). This is much stronger than I usually do and was probably because of the lack of contrast from shooting into the sun. Then I went through nearly every adjustment layer, but the important ones are probably curves to lower midtones (while trying to hold detail in the barn), selective color to lighten the shadows, a fair amount of saturation, and then color balance to give a slightly warmer tone. USM, resize, USM, USM, NI, border. Bam!
I have high hopes for this one. The title is from Tolkien and is speaking of Valinor, which is Heaven.
I'm hoping to have a print version of this up at William Joseph Gallery in a few weeks. Look on my profile for a link.
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Congrats on yet another ribbon. I can't believe there are people saying that this shot is not rural...boggles the mind how many anal-retentives there are around here...splitting hairs instead of just shooting pictures. Great job.
Great shot!
however, I'm not a big fan of the strange and false-looking green on the foregroud.
But this exposure wasn't easy, i can guess! you did great
Jason, congrats on your beautiful entry and ribbon! Of course, we agree that any road that leads to Cannon Beach is on the way to "Valinor" (heaven). Great to have you back at the beach recently!
I'd say it did OK. :-) Maybe one too many USMs for my taste, but I like things softer than most folks do - the softness adds to the "sunrise" bit you were going for. I suspect you can do a lot more with it under advanced or non-DPC editing rules if you wish, and I also suspect it'll make a stunning and profitable print.
I LOVE this photo! Could you maybe write a "How'd they do that" about this photo because I'd love to know how you got so much detail out of the shadows/highlights by only using basic editing.
You must have been one happy photographer to be present for that sunrise. :) Really nice - glad you kept the "blown" part at the top - gets across the magnificence of the moment much more effectively than if you tried to crop it out or fix it.
This is one of my favorites of this challenge. It truly says rural to me...it's what pops into my head when thinking of the country. Very nicely composed and the colors and lighing are beautiful. Well done. 10
oh you are SO my hero for using that quote from The Lord of the Rings! I am a LOTR FREAAK, so this is fantastic for me. Now for the photo, its beautiful, the orange is so striking. This will do very well. good job.
...and he beheld a far green country under a swift sunrise.
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