Posted on May.14, 2009, under Michigan

(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.

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One Comment

  • J. says:
    i agree with you about it being just a little busy, but the tight crop helps with that in my opinion. too much more of the tractor and the details would start to get lost.

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