Day 288; Brown Bales

I actually took this photo a couple weeks ago on my grandfather's farm. Now, these hay bales are covered in snow. I love the golden and brown colors present in the bales, and edited to enhance and complement them. I also liked how there were so many different textures (the hay, the grass, and the trees) but the image didn't seem too busy. In retrospect, I would have framed the image so a little more of the face of the first bale was visible.

Day 216; Down the Elevator

I didn't have all that much time to shoot today as I was preparing for some interviews I have tomorrow in Ames in addition to my regular school work. I did find time to edit this shot of an elevator which has been sitting out in the hay field for forever. Some of you may recognise it from a photo I posted last year (Day 20). I think This rendition is better, with a more focused angle and better lighting. To enhance the colors already present I applied a slight Dusk effect.

Day 196

This old barn isn't really used for anything anymore and is really falling apart, but it still looks pretty neat in photos with the unique topline. I don't like the mass of weeds cluttering up the right side of the frame, but there wasn't much I could do about that. I used the Holga effect to add an older feel.

Day 195

Today I'm going to keep it short and sweet - it's cold outside, I'm still pretty sick, and there's snow everywhere. This is a landscape of a field and the woods behind it. I liked the one tree that stood out and was taller than all the rest. I added the Holga effect because the blue snow and sky didn't look very nice with the brown weeds and trees.

Day 177

Another weed in a field at sunrise. I loved the colors the sunlight created and the painted look of the background that a shallow depth of field allowed.

Day 175

This weekend we had a brief meltdown before getting back to near zero degrees today. On Saturday morning I got this beautiful shot of the sunrise shining through these weeds in a field.

Day 173

This is a shot I took of the path that leads from our rabbit barn to Joy's bee yard. I kneeled in the snow to get this angle so the grass and weeds would look taller and fill more of the frame. In contrast to some of the previous posts, I wanted a little color in this photo, so instead of black and white I opted for the Dusk effect.

Day 155

We got the first snow of the season yesterday, and this morning we had a big frost. I got one of my brothers to pose for me to take advantage of the morning light. The light is a little harsh on the side of his face nearest the sun, but I love dramatic light on his face. To downplay the highlights a little I added slight dark edges. (click photo to enlarge)

Day 129

This morning my little brother Elijah was outside playing while the other kids were feeding our animals. I was photographing this field where my grandpa had mown down some foxtails when Elijah ran up. I decided to stage an impromptu portrait shot using the dead grass as our backdrop.  To edit I added a slight Dusk effect to give some warmth to the colors, and then added a softened effect to the background to decrease attention to the details of the grass and make his face stand out more. I then rounded the corners because the oval shape helped make the textured grass background less overwhelming.

Day 124

When I was at my grandpa's house last Friday I noticed the beautiful backlighting the sun was throwing on the plants in this field. I especially loved this plant, as the sun hitting the bristles created a white halo effect that really set the plant off from the background. I also like the contrast of the bright white backlight and the shadows and warm light in the background. 

Day 103

I love this photo. I took it on Saturday when I took my little brother Noah down to the pig pen. On the way back he noticed a bird perched in a tree, and that is what he was looking at and smiling about. Thankfully I had my camera with me, so I snapped a few shots of him before he noticed. Since he's so short it looks like he's in a jungle, and I wish that one piece of grass in front of his face was not there. But other than that, I think it turned out well. I used the Dusk effect from picmonkey.com.

I also wanted to let you know that I won't be posting again for a while, since I'm leaving tomorrow morning for a youth conference.

Day 97

This morning I was on my way to check the pigs' water and just happened to have my camera with me. My brother, sister, and I have worn down a path through the grass to the pig pen, and this morning I decided it would make a cool photo. To take the photo I squatted down so that the grass which is usually about at my hips was now over my head. I added the Dusk effect, but faded it considerably to get the mood I wanted in the photo.

Day 89

Sorry I didn't post anything last Friday, I was out at my grandpa's house all day. While I was there I did take this photo of the path he takes on his tractor to feed cattle and such. I liked the textural contrast between the grass and the mud, as well as the lighting.

Day 74

Today my little brother was out playing in the grass and I thought it would be a good time to take some pictures. Unfortunately  he didn't think so. He decided that he wouldn't look at the camera, and if he did he would be anything but smiling. So here I am with a profile/sideview portrait.

Day 73

Yesterday afternoon the light shining through the leaves and grass in the forest arrested my attention. The scene just inside the treeline with the little run down shack looks almost like a picture from a fairytale.

Day 64

Spring is definitely here, and I've been taking lots of photos with lots of green. Here's a plant growing in my grandma's flower garden that was particularly interesting to me as I don't really know what it is.

Day 63

This morning I went out and was amazed by how much dew there was on everything. I took some macro photos, and was again surprised by the details I'd never noticed before. For example, in the photo above there's tiny hair like fuzz on the clovers. I think the many different depths of field in this photo and the water droplets make this one of the more interesting macro photos I've taken in a while.

Day 62

This is a close up photo of some grass in my grandpa's yard that is growing in a puddle after some recent rain. I like the bright vibrant colors in this photo, and especially the texture and depth the water adds.

Day 56

The other day my brother was outside playing, and I thought I would take some photos of him before he noticed me. I added the dusk effect to create that older look.

Day 55

Here's a photo I took of my horse the other day at sunset. I added the dusk effect.