Wonderful, surreal image that could be a Martian landscape, a volcanic field, or a parade of fantastical beasts. The lack of humans is a plus here, because part of the magic is the mystery.
Sept. 24, 2025
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Fascinating. Extra fascinating to me because the agricultural scene is so unfamiliar. I've never seen sheep sheared. The tools of the trade, and the human conductors of the shearing, are more heavily featured than the sheep, which is an effective way to tell the story. (One lone sheep has submitted to the indignity in the first photo). Excellent story series.
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The V motif leading to the slightly forlorn little plant weaving its way upward is an effective compositional tool. I admit I'm not a fan of the yellowish blurred leaf/plant in the foreground which feels like it's blocking the leading line of dark coming up from the bottom to meet the apex of the V. But the colors and concept are strong. Overall a nice offering.
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3 is my favorite of these, as it makes the most of the soaring structure's vertical lines, as well as maximizing the texture in the stonework. Monochrome helps us focus on the architectural elements. The extra real estate in the 4th isn't necessary. I'm curious why the base, the street level foundation of the building, was cropped out or not included - maybe too many distractions? I think it would be a stronger image with its base intact if distractions could be dealt with another way.
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Excellent series, especially when seen alongside Mike's Aussie version. Your set is more focused on the process rather than the tools, and we get to see the resigned expressions on the sheep's faces as they accept their fate. Well taken and well organized series that makes the process come to life for those of us who've never seen such an event.
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Nice documentary photos, but some of them are well suited to further creative pp. I can't help but think of Andrew when someone posts photos of old classic cars. He has a special knack for editing photos of old cars artistically.
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What a fascinating find! A piano in the middle of a sunflower field.
I think I'd crop out the right section, up from the bottom and in from the side to eliminate the buildings in the background and enough of the foreground to get the same ratio. The buildings back there don't add anything to the image and the real story is the mysterious presence of the old piano in the midst of the sunflowers.
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I agree with the crop suggestion. That dusty foreground can also be missed.
If the buildings are removed, the mystery of a piano in a sunflower field gets amplified.
I think that this image has a few different potential beautiful crops and ratios.
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I agree wih all minniev and Roel have said about this shot.
Crop from the right and below but don't crop anything from the top. All the sky conveys space and makes the outdoors location even more intriguing. The puffs of white of the clouds and the white of the piano are working together to unify everything.
Like it lots. There has to be a story here? -
Thanks. Yes, I couldn't go any lower or other things would start to get in the way (people). I should have waited but I didn't have enough time. Also, thank you for your other comments.
Alan
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If you took any with the base in them, do reconsider. Perhaps those people may add something to the image, or perhaps they can be removed with the wonderful new removal tools in Lightroom. I have been able to improve on some old images that I'd thought were hopeless (I don't mind people or scaffolds or concrete mixers but my pet peeve is those orange plastic streamers and fencing that scream at us from every renovation project of a glorious old structure).
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In many cases the mere B&W conversion already goes a long way toward dealing with the distractions.
