prairies and farms Radio Tower II

After a day of blue sky, storm clouds are moving in from the west toward

this radio tower and the brave/foolish photographer. There was no way to

avoid the tower, so I chose to make it a main component by centering it.

This is a longer-lens version of a previous posting. Your comments and

suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

These dramatic cloud images of yours just knock my socks off. Your processing is spot on. The separation and presentation of values just couldn't be better.

Simple, profound and elegant! This is an excellent piece of art work!

From the lines that the wires created to the clouds to the texture of the ground this is an excellent photograph. Its simplicity makes even all the more enjoyable. Centering the Radio Tower was a wonderful idea and worked out perfectly.

This is nice. And if the pole was sharp straight vertical it would be even nicer.

Regards

Mj

Hi Stephen,  

It's the support wires on the tower that complete the image for me. They subtlety justify the centered composition.  The clouds are dramatic and impactful.  Is this an HDR image?  Also, I assume you chose to keep the focus on the tower soft.  What about the vignetting on the upper right; is it as you choose, or do you want to reduce that blackness in the right corner?  Nice image.  Regards.  Larry

Thanks everyone for your comments -- I truly do appreciate them.

To answer a few questions, the tower looked straight to my eyes (even though the ground was not) but I did not put the level tool on it to be sure.  I did just now, and it leans 0.58 degrees to the right (measured twice).  I should have corrected that before posting.

Larry, this is a single image -- not HDR.  The point of focus was the tower, and enlarged to 100% on my screen looks perfectly sharp.  Also, I did add a very slight amount of vignetting to all corners equally (look in the lower corners for a better idea how much), but the upper right corner was already dark.  When I work with this photo again, I'll likely change the look of the vignetting.  Sometimes I like vignetting, sometimes I don't.  Frankly, I just don't have enough experience with B&W conversions to have established definite preferences.  Another option to darkening the corners would be to lighten the center instead -- they're all ways to put the viewers' eyes toward the center of the photo.  Of course, another option in a darkroom (dry or wet) is to leave the distribution of light entirely alone.

Stephen,

If I had only seen the first image of the tower, my comments would have focused on the textures of the dramatic sky and field below but I would have wondered if the tower was necessary as it distracted from the other elements.  But in this photo, which I prefer, the tower and especially the guide wires add interest and stability to this very dynamic image.

Jim

Jim, I agree with you -- I think the tower is fine for this photo, but why did I include it in the other photo when it was such a much smaller part of the frame?  The reason is that it simply couldn't be avoided if I wanted to capture the best of the clouds at that moment.  I really didn't want to included the tower, couldn't find a way around it, so the only option I could see was to really include it by putting it in the center.  There were compositions in other directions, and I got those, but these clouds coming almost straight at me were special -- and they came with the tower.

Thank you for posting the closer comparison image. Whilst they are essentially the same location and with the same central emphasis on the tower, they equate to totally different images and consequently evoke different feelings. I feel this is because the emphasis changes from the previous image where the main protagonist was the clouds, in contrast to this one where the tower tends to dominate. Both are attractive in thier own right, but my preference lies with the previous post where the force of nature in the form of the clouds can be seen and admired.

Best Regards

Alf

The three that are together on your home page make a great series, IMO. Very effectively seen, captured, processed, and presented, all having a somewhat different feel and calling forth a different kind of combination of elementsthe weather holding them together. I happen to like this the best because of its subtlety. It's a little more outside the box, and the drama is less obvious. I'm not even sure I'd call this drama as much as it is nuanced and penetrating. It makes me want to linger. There's incredible delicacy here and the unexpected works its way inside me without that WOW factor. I like that. Not that the others are slouches by any means. They are very effective in their own ways and the three complement each other.

I like the complex simplicity of "Turbines and Clouds." I agree with the comment that talks about a slower shutter speed capturing some movement of the blades but also appreciate the way you've presented it because that certain clarity against the WOOSH of the sky has a nice dynamic and contrast. I also like the subtle geometry of the foreground, which works nicely with the sharper turbines as you've seen them.

"Wind Turbines About to Be Challenged" may be the most dramatic and packs a powerful punch. The more defined geometry of the ground here is very rich. The only drawback for me here is the bit of jumble in the overlapping turbines. Somehow that keeps capturing my attention from what otherwise would feel like a cleaner sweep of machines.

I was earlier commenting on a black and white conversion of a less dramatic but also very nicely-lit sky. The conversion lost some of the translucence and luminosity of the overlapping clouds, the layering of light. You have captured that amazingly well. I may point him in this direction. 

Alf and Fred, I appreciate your detailed thoughts.  When this was taken, I was standing in a single limited and precarious spot, against a barbed wire fence and with a steep slope of very soft soil about 10" behind me.  The only two things that differ between the two "tower" shots are lens focal length and processing.  Both made a difference.  I don't do much B&W, but I'm finding I enjoy the additional latitude I feel when working with it.

Most of the turbines were not turning despite the stormy-looking sky.  I do have a few shots in which I've slowed the shutter to get blurring of some blades, but the composition is nothing to write home about.  The closest turbines were behind me but behind a "no trespassing" sign, so I just couldn't get the compositions I would have liked to have tried.  There are other, more accessible wind farms that I will visit, but the likelihood of having these clouds again at the time I'm there is very remote.  But that's part of the fun and appeal.

In the "...about to be challenged" photo, I like the scale but unfortunately could not do anything about the cluttered composition.  They were a long ways off.  I would have liked to have seen a couple of neat rows of turbines, like lines of crosses in a military cemetery, but I had no chance to compose that.