(Olympus E-3, 70-300mm at 104mm (2x crop factor), ISO 100, exposure 1/125 sec @ f/5.6)

There is a golf course just west of Ann Arbor which has this nice old Farmall tractor on the edge of the course. I’ve photographed it several times, most recently this past fall. For this trip, I used my 70-300 lens to get more detail and shallower depth of field. For an alternative look at this same tractor, check out an earlier image that I posted to this blog.

Processing was done in Photoshop CS4 and consisted of first using Topaz Adjust to bring out the detail and color a little more. I then used a black and white adjustment layer to convert to black and white. Having a bit more color from Topaz Adjust gave me a little more control over the conversion. Some minor contrast curves layers and sharpening and the image is what you see.

I haven’t decided how much I like this image. I like the feeling of age and abandonment that I get from it, but I wondering if it might be too ‘busy’. I think I would like it better if I could make the background darker or something to create more separation with the tractor, but maybe I’m overthinking things. I’m curious what others might thing and am open to suggestions for ways to improve it.

Thanks!

Image and text Copyright © 2008 James W. Howe – All rights reserved

This image can be purchased.

(Olympus E-3, Zuiko 7-14mm at 7mm (2x crop factor), ISO 100, exposure 1/160 @ f/5.6)

This Farmall tractor is located at the edge of a local golf course. It was a nice, sunny indian summer kind of day and I decided to take a short drive out in the country at lunch time. I have taken pictures of this tractor before at different times of the year but not in the fall. I was trying out my new Zuiko 7-14 ultra wide angle lens on various subjects just to get a feel for the lens. I’m not entirely happy with the lighting on the back of the tractor. The sun was coming from the left side and it placed the rear of the tractor in shadow. If I would have had a flash or a reflector, I would have tried to direct some light in to the back area. Still, I liked the angle of the shot.

As for processing, I have been experimenting with the Cutout filter in Photoshop. In this image, the Cutout filter softens the image a bit and does a nice abstraction of the scenery in the distance. In the upper left, there is a barn in the distance. I really liked how the Cutout filter made the barn look more like a drawing than a photograph. Another thing I like about the Cutout filter is what it does with metallic objects. I think it creates some interesting color patterns which you can see on various places on the tractor.

Comments and feedback welcome

Image and text Copyright © 2008 James W. Howe – All rights reserved