Artwerks by Donna » farm life

Retired Workhorse

Donna — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:12:53 +0000

This stately antique sits proudly in the center of a large, spacious field on a small farm near my home. It shares its residence with an antique tractor (click here). I’ve got loads of shots of this thing, though I still feel compelled to shoot it every time I pass it with a camera in the car with me. It’s multi-layered textures and colors just BEG to be further studied – perhaps I can find a new angle, a new patch of rust – there must SURELY be SOMEthing here I’ve missed on my many other visits.

This is actually a re-work. I had originally posted the original shot when I first set up this website…it was my first post. This version was processed with Photomatrix and tonemapped to bring out the depth of texture and tones in the dramatic sky. This is one in a series I’m currently working on putting together for a grouping.

(Click on the pictures to view a full-frame version, and to see picture title.)

Scarecrow

Donna — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:38:05 +0000

(Click on the preview above to pull up a FULL VIEW of the picture.)

Sometimes, things just don’t work the way they’re supposed to.

I shot this scene in the garden of an acquaintance. It seemed worthy of recording, since you don’t come across too many scarecrows with a beer in hand. But then, if all you had to do day in and day out was stand in a field in all manner of weather and scare away birds, I guess an altered state of consciousness COULD be somewhat useful.

I confess to having added the crow. Bob told me that the scarecrow was mostly for looks, as he had, on numerous occasion seen crows and other assorted fowl perch upon this novelty. Even though I was not fortunate enough to witness said hilarity, I am NOT without my own means to create my OWN Kodak moment.

I had a great image of one of the MANY crows that live near my own small farm, but the setting was quite uninteresting. I had this interesting shot of Bob’s garden scarecrow…quite unique in itself, but it too, still lacking SOMEthing. Hmmmm…

In the original shot of the scarecrow, I had failed to use an effective depth of field that would make the focal point (the scarecrow) stand out, so the busy background was distracting. I used a number of layer techniques, filters and effects to try to bring a more effective focal point back to the scarecrow and her pet. Here’s the final result. Won’t likely win any contests, but I thought it rather cute in depicting one of the many ironies of life.

Evening Chores

Donna — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:01:30 +0000

My granddaughter, Keyana, brings one of my horses, Odessa, in from the pasture for the evening. At the time, my pasture was fenced off from the barnyard. We had a much lusher stand of grass then than now and my skinny mini mare, Odessa, was allowed more time on the grass than my fat appy mare, Sugar…we had to lead both back to the barn and barnyard each evening.

In reality, the background scene in the actual shot was our big ugly gas tank beside the house, a peek at Kendall’s lanky legs on the other side of Dessa and a nice view of a ginormous pile of lumber and brush that remained at the center of the pasture after the property had been cleared for the pasture. I eliminated these distracting details and added the more nostalgic scenery of the corner of Cudd Drive, across from where my friend Wilma Howell lives. Voila, a down-home scene from just another lazy day in the country.

(Click on the preview above to pull up a full view of the picture.)