Keep On Trucking

Today's photo was taken while at the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago. I love that place. There are so many great photo opportunities. I wish I could have stayed to explore for hours, but I was with the kids, and they didn't find the compositional possibilities nearly as interesting as I did.

This is another Picasa grayscale conversion. I put it in black and white for a few reasons. I didn't like the picture very much, so I tried two things I always try when faced with an image that is "close but no cigar": I cropped it and I took the colour out of it. Both techniques were effective. When in colour, I found the buildings on the horizon to be a mild distraction. Also, I had trouble seeing Mount Baker in the distance until I changed it to b&w.

The horizon was tricky to get straight. I think that the curve of the tall grass in the foreground plays tricks on the eyes, causing me to think that the horizon isn't straight. I checked it with Picasa's awesome straightening tool, and it is indeed straight. While we are on the topic of lines, I like the layers of lines throughout the depth of the field. The parallel shapes of the mountain, the building below it, and the angle on the back of the truck also add an interesting element to the image.

I left a lot of negative space in the sky for a reason. I hope it gives the viewer the same feeling of freedom that I felt while standing in that field. Thanks for the encouraging comments on yesterday's post. It was indeed a reflection of a tree, in all its green and golden glory.

Canon PowerShot S2 IS, 22mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO 50