Farmers Losing Groundby
autoolComment by autool: Thanks timj351 for following critique,
I think farms and tractors always make for good photos. I think it is the hardwork and freedom they seem to convey. I wish I could see a little more of that sense from this photo. It is the row of houses and the amount of sky that is being shown that detracts from this sense. I think if you were to use a faster aperture setting of F2 to F5.6 then you could have blurred the background and some of the foreground in order to isolate the tractor and focus our attention on in. I would also prefer to see more of the field in the foreground. After all, it is the tractor and the field that is the subject. Perhaps even trying it so that the horizon line is only a third of the way from the top. I would have to see it to know for sure. Framing the tractor so far to the left seems to crowd the edge and I feel it would work better compositionally if you centered the tractor and plow. This way the tractor would still be a little heavy on the left making it interesting but not so much that it crowds the edge. I know this probably would not be possible but it would be interesting to me to see this image from higher above the ground so as to see more of the crop lines. Simply showing more of the field would accomplish this somewhat as well. The orange of the tractor with the blue of the farmer contrasts nicely with the green grass. For the most part I find this to be a good photo which could use a little work with the DOF and composition. As for meeting the challenge, I think this photo is a very good choice and one that helps to tell a story.
Tim Jensen
Thank you for the in depth critique of my recent photograph "Farmers Losing Ground". As I read it I get the feeling you missed the concept of the picture. It was my intention to show that the farmer was being crowded off his land by the urban scrawl in the background. I intentionally worked at getting the most DOF that I could so as much of the field, tractor and houses were in focus as they are all part of the subject. I took several pictures and elected to use one with the tractor on its way out to emphasize that he was literally on his way out of the picture. Knowing that you were unable to know the conditions I was faced with in getting close enough to take the picture, I want to let you know that I had to take the picture over the top of a high fence enclosing yet another new housing development on the near side of the field. This disallowed the possibility of getting more of the field in the foreground, which I also would have liked to see.
I do however appreciate the extra effort that you and the rest of the Critique Club put into your evaluations of our pictures. Your suggestions have been a help to me and I will remember to incorporate them in my future photos. I have gained a great deal from this site and will always remain open minded about any suggestions that you have to offer. Your pictures are among the ones that I look forward to seeing each challenge, as they are always a cut above the rest of the field.
Keep up the good work and thank you,
Dick Pattee (Autool)
