Barnby
ceyvalComment by Neil: Greetings from the Critique Club.
Hits. This image has strong lines and good tones. It fits the challenge well, and has generally good asthetics.
First Impressions: To me the image is a bit too soft. Whereas the hay does have a nice texture, perhaps because of the softness and to some extent the composition, it was difficult for me to recognize this as hay at first.
Potential Improvements: Because the roofline is so strong, and particularly the bright blue sky, the hay becomes less of the subject, and that's a shame, since the lighting and the texture is nicest at the bottom of the photo. Also, there's a rich tonality between the roof and the lower part, all in a particularly warm "direction", and the blue of the sky doesn't fit into that scheme.
If you agree or want to try a variation, crop some of the roof from the top, including at least up to the second horizontal roof line, where it intersects at the right of the photo. That leaves some blue sky, but subdues the roof and sky enough to bring more of the bottom part into prominance. It may also at this point, depending on whether this was raw, be worth looking into recoving some of the detail of the shadowed barn walls. Old country wood is beautiful.
There's a lot to like about this photo. But it has potential, in my opinion, beyond this version.
Photographer found comment helpful.
