Sheep and Windmills

As Craig said: To sum up, I like the shot more than I like the post-production.
The shot. I do not so much experience it as a juxtaposition old versus new, though that's part of it. It's also the soft wooliness of sheep versus hard cold metal, nature versus man-made, the agricultural versus the enormous industrial need for electricity, the restless sheep versus the relentless windmills. And a big storm rolling in, the dog's on guard....
And yet, the image just flows naturally, simply. As a composition, it just works because it's simple, clear. As a story-telling photo, it leaves me enough room to play and find story in it. In all these respects, I find it a brilliant photo.

The PP.... the B&W sky... it's just a bit too much for me. It pushes the message a bit too much, and I find it slightly unbalances the overall composition (the top being too heavy).
I do not know what the photo looked like before editing, but I have this suspicion it would still be more than strong (thought-provoking/story telling) enough, and yet keep a more natural grace about it.

What I find striking (not good, not bad, just striking) about Wayne's photo is the apparent static nature of all of the elements, including those that are usually moving. While this could be the result of a fast shutter speed, I have a feeling that's not the case. The dog is clearly just standing, the sheep appear to be standing in place, and the turbines appear to not be turning (I'm guessing this primarily from their sharpness in the photo). It's that (momentary) stillness in objects that are most often in motion that first catches my eye.

I don't see the partial desaturated processing that others see. A GND filter was used to darken the sky, and I agree that it's strength may have been a bit too much, but I don't see any elements in which the color was removed. As it is, I think it's interesting to have a strong band of gray in the clouds and turbines, color in the middle with the fields, and then another band of gray at the bottom in the roadway. Perhaps it's the GND filter in combination with a bit of extra saturation in the fields that gives the appearance of a B&W photo in which a portion has been left with color.

Wayne saw the potential, went back and made the best of a momentary opportunity, and came away with a great contrast between the old and the new, as several have pointed out. I also agree with Wouter that another interesting contrast (yes, I like contrasts) is between the soft texture of the sheep (wool) with that of the glistening turbines (steel). It's the momentary juxtaposition of these elements that Wayne saw coming, and he made the most of it. This kind of wandering and lucky circumstances is one of the aspects of landscape photography that most appeals to me personally.

The content of the photo relies, at least in part, on timing. That this event came together in this way and relative to this backdrop is very photogenic. I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but the post processing undermines that fortuitousness and moment of decisiveness. It works very much against the "photograph-ness" of the photo. I could see that being done intentionally but I don't see that as being the case here. Here, it just seems like a processing gimmick, one that calls attention to itself despite the content, not in tandem with the content. When I open the photo, the first thing I say to myself is "overdone" and then subsequently I say "nice capture." It's like the photo and the post processing are two separate animals. Many photographers heavily post process. But I get more out of such post processing when it feels integrated with the content and feel of the photo.

When I 1st looked at this image I have to admit that it took some time for my eyes to adjust. There were just some elements that didn't seem right to me while I felt other things were nicely rendered.

One of those bothersome things initially was just the composition of the image. And here I'm talking about the arrangement of the elements within the shot and not necessarily how the elements themselves inform the image and contribute to its success.

We have a classic composition here, with the road centered that draws us to the back of the image which, except for the sheep, would be where the meat(no pun intended) of this image would otherwise be. The sheep themselves form a horizontal line that defeats the "draw in" created by the road and also bisects the lower half of the image, creating more of a sense of image planes having been stacked in this composition. Instead of flowing through the image to the windmills, we step through staccato-like. This line also makes us pay attention (emphasis) to them where if they had been strewn about the fields as supporting cast to the windmills.

The other thing that was bothering my eyes was a certain sense of discordance with the field and the other elements–especially the road. Something just didn't seem organic about the transitions. As I read Matt's comment about selective color and then look at the larger image I realized that it was in fact the way this technique had been applied. It just feels a little abrupt and where it does feather, it is in areas where it probably should have been completed--particularly due to the relatively saturated color (fence and grasses near the sheep).

All that said, the image does convey a sense that it would be fairly monochromatic even if rendered in color and so this technique could be more effective if some additional work was put into make it feel a little more organic and complete. My sense is that it would need more attention to the transitions for starters. Then, depending on how that felt, consideration could be given to either less saturation in the color that is there now or the introduction of a bit of color into some of the other areas--maybe all or maybe just certain ones. I think it is close as it is, but needs some tweaks to make it feel more organic and balanced.

As to the sheep, although they create a barrier to our entry into the photograph in a classic sense, they actually work fairly well to create a sense of life in rural and agricultural areas. Having been stopped on many occasions by herds and flocks of various animals, the sense conveyed here is very familiar and descriptive of such an event. Because it is a flock of sheep, the horizontal line that they do create becomes more integral to the story. This is a good case where this device of blocking can work in an image while compromising classical composition considerations.

My own reading of the image is that it tells a bit of the story of how the world is changing. My own experience is more with the plight of the small farm in the US and so that influences my reading. Sheep are blocking us and maybe balking at the invasion of their space. The image speaks to me of how, to make ends meet, farmers and ranchers are having to lease their land to commercial ventures in order to survive--something that wouldn't have happened in better days (or it could be how the Corporate farms just don't care about anything but making money--of course, there are many other readings one could overlay here as well). Maybe the sheep are just warning us.

Overall I think it's a nice image–and that dog is the star–but needs some balancing with reference to the technique applied to make it feel a bit more unitary and organic.

Sheep, dog, windmills are unlikely candidates for a moving story, and the photo is a witty depiction of the social position in an era of changing climate. The path of the flock is onward to renewable energy.

Perhaps someone would be able to explain why a number of these wind turbines appear to be missing blades. Are they under construction?

Very good story telling image , very nice symmetry and asymmetry, love the colours.

Very interesting and dramatic 

J Maucotel

I am drawn to this image ,its appealing power is huge ,the cause behind I guess its very succeful editing,and the chance of presence of gray clored subjects at the moment ,though the auther states that there is a very little editng in this image ,a hue and level balance ,but I think this is have done in a very masterful way to keep yellow colors and its deep branch at certain very small areas and that is the green ,the noticable distrbution of successive alteration between white and black is very well defined in the image ,it start with shadows ,then with a sudden abrubt it changes into coomplete white,then it chage into light shades ,then it chage again into dark shades along the sky.
And while the dog plays a major rule as the hero of this stage ,it depends on the eyes of the viewrs and their likings,and will not surprised if one state that the shepard ,or the turbines or the sheep are heros of this fine stage,.
the transition of life from planting ,herding sheeps ,to the advanced industrial ages are very well depicited in this excellent image ,which I think it deserve the choice of current week POW.

Sorry, I can see the blades now. It was either not enough coffee or too much coffee this morning. Carry on.

Sorry, but I just can't agree with the occasional comments in this thread that there was minimal post processing involved (ie, no selective desaturation). Attached is what you get if you bring the image into ACR and then max out the vibrance slider (plus a few other minor tweaks). To me, my modified version is completely believable as a typical cloudy day shot with a bit too much saturation and contrast added in post processing, whereas I've never seen a real-world scene that looks like the one selected by the elves unless it had been partially desaturated.

Tom M

PS - Strictly speaking, I probably should have been more specific and said, "with a bit too much saturation and areas of local contrast added in post processing".

Tom M

Oh this I like. Seems to capture the ancient and the modern. Lovely compostion.

The sheep dog in the forground gives it that just the right moment look.

Interesting POW choice. IMHO i find this photo disturbing, and i think mainly it is a result of the mix of natural motives (sheep and field) and hyper-big windmills... but that is i guess the most subjective issue of all the issues i have. Other thing is that i find this image kinda sterile, leaves some metalic aftertaste ( i think it is because of the colors used) even tho it has clear message, it is like i do not feel it popping out of the image, rationally i get it but it does not speak to me, like an artificial plastic models badly combined together, this is directly, (i guess) related with the issue above... and, i guess that this kind of post processing would work fine for a 30x40, or larger print, i find that for a web presentation, this post processing is very hard, aggressive, to much too dark for me and not "in function" ... please do not get me wrong, i looked and looked at this one several times, and finally i decided to write

I generally like the added exposure and contrast on the sheep as provided by Tom, because I think this is the central portion of the photograph (backed very strongly by the wind turbines). But the additional color in the fields and especially the sky dilutes my viewing the of photograph -- it all becomes the same, with no central subject and instead the presence of several equally weighted focal points. It's also interesting that what is so appealing to me (the contrast between the sheep and the turbines in terms of texture and modernity) has just the opposite effect on Sasho -- yes, it is very subjective. Despite my initial comments about the apparent momentary stillness of elements that are usually seen in motion, I do like the contrast shown in this composition between the sheep (those balls of wool being herded as they have been for centuries) contrasted with the shiny metal, fixed position, modern machines recently placed to harness wind energy.

Hi Stephen - I completely agree with you about the dilution effect that you mentioned. In fact, in my 1st post in this thread, I said, "...OTOH, the changes I am suggesting would almost certainly decrease the "instant drama" factor of the image, making it less eye-catching and more like a straight documentary image of the scene...".

The real reason I posted the tweaked version with vibrance set to +100 was to give some idea of what the scene might look like without selective desaturation, not as an alternative treatment (although it is along the lines of what I proposed in my 1st post in this thread).

Cheers,

Tom M

Elves chose very wisely this week. This is a stunning photo and I admire the photographer's tenacity in getting the shot he wanted.

7\7
Very strong composition
Excellent

Hey Tom,

I don't think your version is the result of the vibrance or saturation sliders but more about your colorizing some of the neutral areas with blue, so I think the description is a bit misleading--the "a few other minor tweaks" part. The colorization is the main/major modification here. Your version is more of a guess at what the scene may have looked like in full color--and maybe one with vibrance and/or saturation cranked up. I only bring this up to clarify what you appear to have done so that your entry in that regard is not misleading. Merely cranking up the vibrance in ACR will not generate any blue in this image or reinstate the actual colors (hues) Wayne removed through selective desaturation.

John, that's simply not true.

Unless I'm having blackouts or my memory is completely failing me, I didn't use ANY method of colorization, eg, split toning, checking the "colorize" box in a hue/sat adjustment layer, paint with a color, separately adjust the three RGB curves, use a "photo filter", etc. OTOH, I did crank the dickens up on the vibrance, and some of the saturation sliders.

That being said, huge increases in saturation were required to bring some color back into the almost completely desaturated sky and road. To prevent obviously white objects from turning strange colors during this process (eg, to keep the white barn and the sheep more or less white), I did have to make relatively small adjustments of the two white balance sliders in ACR. I think I used the color balance eyedropper tool in ACR to do this.

I won't be back to my Photoshop computer till late tonight, but I will double check to make sure some I didn't inadvertently apply some colorization. If you would like, I'll make a preset from the ACR settings and will be happy to send it to you. I would add that I did some more noise reduction in PS after ACR, and I think some vignetting corrections in PS, but nothing that could possibly generate a blue color tone if it wasn't already there (ie, out of pure gray).

Cheers,

Tom M

Tom,

Sorry about that, your latest post here gave me some more clues and I can see now what you did. I took you literally, that the blue color came from setting the vibrance up to 100% and that actually makes the image more yellowish--no blue except in that one rooftop and small bin near it--the roof has a +10 blue versus the R and G readings. Then, when I looked at your posted version I saw what seemed to be still some somewhat desaturated areas at the dogs feet and along the edge of the sheep--classic signs of colorization, much like the areas that Wayne missed above the sheep on the road, grasses and fence.

When an image is desaturated, you can't actually bring the color back. In this case, the desat areas are almost totally desaturated--some areas are in fact totally desaturated--but where it isn't, the bias is slightly towards red and green--which essentially is yellow. The blue is generally about -2 from the r and g readings, even though that is pretty nominal it is why increasing saturation and vibrance turns the image more yellow and sometimes a bit towards green or red--but not blue.

So, with the Vibrance slider at 100% and the image turning more yellowish I can see where you went, even a small movement towards blue on the color temperature slider with the vibrant tweaked so high (substantially different result if it isn't) does give us an image similar to the one you posted.

Hi John - Thanks for pursuing this issue. As you correctly point out, with the vibrance control set so high, even small changes in the white balance can introduce lots of color to areas that were initially desaturated (or nearly so). I knew there was no way anyone could accurately regenerate the scene as it was before partial desaturation, but to present a reasonable guess of how it might have looked to those folks who suggested that partial desaturation was not used, hopefully my use of the extreme vibrance setting and the slight (-7) tweak of the WB provided a reasonable and quick approximation of what it might have looked like had the photographer taken an opposite tack and went for a highly saturated look throughout the scene.

Tom M

What is very impressive seeing it for the first time is the photographer's timing, creating a very unusual visual composition.The elements are very diverse ,starting with an agricultural scene of sheep ,dog,and herdsman , ending up with a diagonal (even triangular) industrial windmills.The road a leading connection between the two.

When I have entered the first time, my eye stopped at the colored/yellow fields and only then really traveled around.
I think as well that the PP of partly desaturated vs. partly colored , decrease the strenght of the whole.The details are very well exposed, with a very nice DOF. I do think as others that either B/W or colored( as Tom's explanation and visual example shows )would enhance, a priory a very strong photograph.

Excellent work, simple beautiful, colors, exposure, everything is perfect. regards

I like this photograph. I like the overall effect. I like the colors and don't much care if they are natural or not. The sheep, guided by the dog, counterpointed by the viable alternatives to nuclear power generation and the ominous sky form a cohesive image, thus creating a single effect.

The overall effect that I get from this photograph is a sense of naturalness and eternal order, ironically aided by the post production manipulation of colors. It is the same effect I get from the peasant paintings of Pieter Bruegel. In fact, there is a striking similarity in color and tonality between this image and those Bruegel paintings. I wonder if that is deliberate.

In this image one sees spokes from the cycle of life: the herding of sheep, the growing of crops, the turning of the wind turbines and the clouds promising life-giving rain.

Excellent picture. I enjoy the aggressiveness of the processing that some people don't seem to like as much. I do wonder about the blurriness above the sheep. Is that something created during processing that could have been corrected?

Great Work,
Tim