Old Smithy

[Lesley Jones]

This is one I have no intention of picking up again - it gave me enough headaches the first time around! Taken at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, which is around 100 acres of the most beautiful valley with assorted old buildings dotted around. They have been saved from across the south east and whatever your interests, it is a great place to visit.

I took myself off there about a year ago and having arrived, I spent the next couple of hours doing the entire circuit. Nothing! It was a hot day with wall to wall sunshine and I was fed up. I rang my husband over lunch and he wasn't surprised I hadn't taken a single photograph. This is the way I normally operate - an hour or so of seeing nothing. Then the threats to sell the camera and give up photography, followed by a bit of luck and I'm off again...

So during the afternoon I mostly photographed sunbeams and shadows. I'm still not entirely sure about this one. It was hard to process and it resists all attempts to convert to black and white.

 

[Ralph Thornton]

I like it. The diagonal of the shadow of the big tree leads to the Smithy. And all those shadows of the branches break up the otherwise uniform grass.

 

[Dave Green]

Nice shot that! The tree shadow makes it!

 

[Brian Moore]

Here's what I like about it: The shadows of the tree seem to grow into the vines on this side of the smithy as well as the other tree just to the right of this side of the smithy. Also, the hoops lying against the side of the smithy seem almost part of the shadows by the manner of their curvature. Its what I might imagine a hobbit's place to seem like, with all the shadows and their eery shapes. Its a very interesting image, Lesley.

 

[Lesley Jones]

Cheers everyone! I like the hoops as well Brian, although I don't know what they were for. They look too big for making barrels...

 

[Chris Dodkin]

I think the hoops are the 'tires' for wagon wheels

The whole effect is like disruptive camouflage - you see the shadow then you see the building

 

[Lesley Jones]

Thanks for that Chris. You have a point there because they also stable a few shire horses. We've seen them pulling large wagons at the heavy horse shows

 

[Mark Hoy]

I'm going to be the lone dissenter.. I don't like the photo as it seems a bit fussy and there are several components competing for the role of subject. If it was cropped from above the capped well/ grind stone (?) I think it'd have more impact. Is it slightly HDR'd (the roof tiles look quite lively)?

All IMO and I'm happy to be shot down

 

[Lesley Jones]

All opinions are valid Mark and in some ways I don't disagree. It's not my favourite shot because of the fussy nature and yet something drew me in to take it. I'm not sure what the capped thingy is and I understand cropping would remove some of the distractions, but I was hoping the shadow was the element binding all the others together - it's why I placed it at the bottom right hand corner.

I can't do HDR to save my life. I remember negative tonal contrast on all the background and positive on the roof tiles to get some separation. It's quite possibly why I can't make this work in black and white