Old Barn
I noticed this old barn on an abandoned farm site, and I wondered about the people who had spent their lives here, but were now long gone....
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I noticed this old barn on an abandoned farm site, and I wondered about the people who had spent their lives here, but were now long gone.
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Feb, 2015Views
287
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Awards
2020 Choice Award
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
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Behind The Lens
Location
This barn is located on an abandoned farm site about 40 miles from my house. I used to drive by here regularly for work, and always thought the barn might make a good subject.Time
This was taken around noon.Lighting
There's nothing really special about the lighting. The conditions had been overcast and cloudy for days, but after an overnight snowfall, the sky cleared and I knew I'd have the conditions I was looking for.Equipment
I was just getting back into photography after many years. I had recently purchased a Canon T3I, and that's what I shot this with. Just the 18-55 kit lens that came with it. Hand held, no filters. JPG.Inspiration
I love old buildings, abandoned places and equipment, cars, etc. This building was someone's life and livelihood, in fact probably an entire family's, probably for generations. I think a building like this tells a story, and hopefully stirs the viewers imagination.Editing
I did a little sharpening and noise reduction, and a slight reduction in saturation in Photoshop, but that's about it.In my camera bag
What I normally carry now is much different than what I had on hand for this shot. What I bring with me depends a lot on what kind of shoot I'm planning. I always have my Canon 5Diii, and my favorite walking around lens is my Canon 24-70 f2.8. I usually have a Canon 70-200 f2.8 on hand for medium to longer shots. I have a YN (Yongnuo) doubler that I usually leave in my bag as well. I keep a circular polarizer and a variable nd filter in my bag, and a YN 560 flash and a YN wireless transmitter for fill light.Feedback
When I went out to shoot this day, I knew this was an interesting area that I thought would have some potential. I was waiting for a fresh snowfall that would give me some contrast to the old weathered wood of the buildings. I didn't have this specific shot in mind, but I knew I would be working on this type of theme. I love to just go wandering around and discovering interesting images, but I would have to say that my best stuff has been when I have a specific idea or project in mind, and then go out and focus my attention around that. When I find a subject that's I think is interesting, I will totally work the shot until I feel I've exhausted all the possibilities. I probably took about 30 shots of this barn, trying different angles, from different heights, various compositions, etc. I'm always amazed at how much difference a small change in perspective can totally change the appeal factor of an image. You can change a picture from a ho-hum vacation snap shot to a stunning landscape image by something as simple as a change in perspective. Focus is everything. I only shoot on center spot focus when I'm on auto focus, and I set my focus before I frame up my shot. Make sure that the subject of your image is what's in focus. There's nothing worse to me than opening up my days shoot on the computer and finding out that what I thought was my best shot of the the day is garbage because my auto focus picked out the wrong spot to focus on. Finally, you don't need top of the line equipment to take great pictures. This was shot on a Canon Rebel with the standard kit lens, and I'm proud of what I've done with what I had. As my skill has grown, I've continued to upgrade my equipment, but I'm really happy that I started with basic, and worked on my own abilities first. I believe that better equipment will allow a good photographer to expand, but it won't make a good photographer out of a bad one.
