Straw Bales Under A Threatening Sky

markmullen

markmullen

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I'd had my eye on some straw bales in a field on my way to work and was waiting for the light. One morning the light was just right and I got there to find the farmer had moved them!

This evening I was diverted a different way home as the A64 was closed and luck was obviously on my side as I came across this scene, with exactly the right dark clouds and beautiful warm light. The farmer was just leaving, I asked permission to photograph his field, he laughed that I was fine as long as I didn't make it rain!

I hope you like it.


Straw Bales Under A Threatening Sky by mark_mullen, on Flickr
 
Very nice
 
great pic! I keep seeing the straw bales out, but the roads have been too busy for me to pull over and capture them, but the lighting in this is fantastic :)
 
really nice image here

andy
 
I do like it, although there is an element of over-saturation I think it works very well on this image coupled with the great sky - and I like the 'low-down' composition :clap:
 
yea, liking this too. Looks like something you would see on a calender.
More great stuff on your website too, good work.

Phil
 
Morning Mark...lovely picture!..if you don't mind me asking ..how much pp if any with that shot?
Steve.
 
Lovely shot Mark,love the light and sky, nice perspective as well, the farmers have been bailing around where I live but many seem to be haylage as they are wrapped, even found some rectangle ones that were wrapped
 
Stephen white said:
Morning Mark...lovely picture!..if you don't mind me asking ..how much pp if any with that shot?
Steve.
Click to expand...

Morning Steve (is it the Steve I know through work?!)

It had a bit of PP but not a massive amount;

I started off in Capture One where I converted the raw, a touch of contrast, some clarity and a little straighten (although the field sloped up at the left it didn't look right).

Then into PS where I used Nik Software;
1) Viveza to add a touch of warmth into the straw, to get the clouds right the white balance had made the straw a little sickly and green
2) Colour Efex detail enhancer to bring out some more detail, I throttled it back in the sky
3) A little noise reduction in the sky.

Thanks all for your kind comments.
 
Great shot there!
They have just started cutting and bailing the fields round here so will be taking a few of these soon hopefully!
 
This looks excellent.

As someone who is new to photography this is the sort of shot i aspire to achieve.
 
markmullen said:
I'd had my eye on some straw bales in a field on my way to work and was waiting for the light. One morning the light was just right and I got there to find the farmer had moved them!

This evening I was diverted a different way home as the A64 was closed and luck was obviously on my side as I came across this scene, with exactly the right dark clouds and beautiful warm light. The farmer was just leaving, I asked permission to photograph his field, he laughed that I was fine as long as I didn't make it rain!

I hope you like it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markmullen/7678873340/
Straw Bales Under A Threatening Sky by mark_mullen, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Excellent shot, like the composition..
 
Thanks again for all your kind comments.

Big_chief said:
This looks excellent.

As someone who is new to photography this is the sort of shot i aspire to achieve.
Click to expand...

Keep at it, get out and take loads of photos, learn what works and doesn't, look at photos online, work out what you like about them, what you dislike, you'll be amazed at how quickly you'll pick it up.
 
Now that I really like! Sadly living inside the M25 I don't see these things as often as I would like. Still, got the olympic time trials tomorrow to have a go at shooting!
 
Just a bit too heavy on the processing for my eyes Mark, particularly the straw, a slightly less aggressive colour would work better (imo) although I am aware your style tends towards richly saturated colours (that not a criticism BTW)

Alternatively, this could be made to look good in B&W.
 
Isn't it fantastic when lady luck shines on you to offer an opportunity to capture something as fantastic as this. Great stuff!

BTW, I'm not saying it's great because you're lucky...! (wasn't it Gary Player who, when accused of being a lucky golfer retorted "You know, it's funny, the more I practise, the luckier I get..."

Keep up the good work :)
 
my comment from yesterday that disappeared remains..........

love it but do not understand why the farmer chooses to pop the bales out sideways........ 99.99% of the time the tractors (with trailers to collect) follow the combine and then the baler either in a double tow, or follows on...
 
Mark

that's a lovely shot - for my I'd like the saturation down a touch but as you have it, it does work really well.

Also, have you tried it as a letter box, cropping out some of the foreground (to the bottom of the patch of earth on the RHS) would make an interesting variation and IMO lead you in more.
 
@Lynton, I had to turn them all around to get the shot right, heavy old buggers aren't they ;)

@Adrian, I did try it as a crop as I wasn't too keen on the mud but in doing so to keep the proportions for printing I lost some sky which didn't work.

I know a lot of my stuff is quite vivid, and won't be to everyone's taste but toned down it didn't quite have the same punch.
 
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