As the hurricane draws near..., a photo from Texas, South

Photographer's Note

at a farm near La Grange, Texas.
Okey, I have to be a little bit fair with the title here. Hurricane Emily is not projected to make landfall on this part of Texas, rather a bit to the south near Brownsville or even north east Mexico. So, these storm clouds are not directly from Emily, but rather spin offs from the gulf area, that have been causing severe weather conditions and flash floods for the past 10 days or so, here in south east Texas.
about the photo: I had accidentally shot this and some other photos from this area with ISO 1600, a setting that I had forgotton to change from the night before. So, obviously the pictures were noisy, and some PP work, including increased contrast of the sky and brightening of the foreground created some noise. but the sky noise was definitely more obvious, so I did a small gaussian blur just on the sky. The noise on the ground is still at ISO 1600.
anyways, hope you like it.

singuanti, Emile, jstewart, weswang, jjbach, Timmok, supereira, capthaddock, Tue, devimeuxbe, jpages, sergecross, Coyotyto, t0mmm1, Bien, asanak, carmem_busko has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

cam (9041) 2005-07-18 22:37

Hello Behrang
Dangerous clouds ahead.
Good contrast between the sky and the well lighted ground.I like the color and the mood.
Nice compositn with the hay bale in the front.
Interesting
Charles

letuananh (2539) 2005-07-18 23:12

Hi Behrang,
Very impressive, I like it so much.
Thank for shairing!

singuanti (15250) 2005-07-18 23:28

Hi Behrang. Oops I hate when I do that with the ISO!! At least there is no problem with the sharpness! ;) Well watch out for flying hay bales when the weather starts to go downhill. But the composition is superb. It's been a long time since Texas has been hit with a hurricane, hasn't it? I've been hit by more in VA that you guys down there. Well be careful even if it's not a direct hit. You'll still get a ton of rain.

Emile (20348) 2005-07-18 23:52

Stormy clouds with a beautiful landscape.
Despite all your comments the picture is very good. Very well composed, very good work.
Well done Behrang.

jstewart (1146) 2005-07-19 0:28

Very dramatic. Oh that forgotten ISO change! But you have got away with it here. I might have been tempted to clone out the telegraph pole.

jiekuan (332) 2005-07-19 0:42

very nice color and composition. It reminds me a classic artwork, i cannot remember the name.

Nice Picture!!!

jjbach (9322) 2005-07-19 1:54

Hi Behrang,
This is wonderful!! The lighting is amazing and the colours superb. Excellent ration between land and sky. Bravo, splendid work! One of my favorites.

Regards John

snuggleaphagus (4146) 2005-07-19 2:34

Very pretty and very golden. The clouds are gorgeosu and seem very threatning. The triangle formed by the tree most prominet rolls of hay is great.
I like the noise (which is an unusual thing for me) it makes the weather a bit more threatning.
Stay dry and safe.

bgladman (1153) 2005-07-19 3:21

Hi Behrang,
Great composition and love the saturated yellow, while the storm clouds add drama. I notice slight lens distortion (hozizon is curved) which you can probably fix in PS.
Cheers

Brendan

bikram (48) 2005-07-19 3:28

Incidentally (or accidentally should I say?) the noise worked out very well in the wheatfields. Fantastic and scary clouds overhead make a great image here. Cheers

fayeulle (27823) 2005-07-19 3:49

Hi Behrang

Wonderfull, ISO1600 can make some special effect I had this experience in the past here
Very nice composition enhanced with this heavy sky !
Have a nice day
JP
Regard

PixelTerror (0) 2005-07-19 4:25

Hi Behrang,
Despite the ISO mistake (Funnily I did the same one some days ago ;-) ), I like this view very much, possibly your best shot posted here to date, the warm/cold contrast is splendid and the dramatic atmosphere excellent. Shooting angle and placement of the rolls is very good too, only thing I could suggest here is to clone away the pole in the middle.
Have a nice day,
Jean-Yves

Timmok (802) 2005-07-19 4:45

Hi Behrang,

Beautiful composition with a nice framing with this ballot on the foreground. I like the contrast between the bright yellow fields, and these scary dark clouds.

Is it the "La Grange" which gave its name to ZZ Top's song?

supereira (9576) 2005-07-19 5:30

Great shot.I like the composition and DOF.Beautiful place.Very good colors and contrasts.I like the light,textures and sharpness.Great clouds.I like the contrast between the sky and the earth.Well done!

ayobami (1353) 2005-07-19 5:35

Wonderful contrasts of light and color here! Fantastic cloud formations. Too bad it's as noisy as it is otherwise this would be truly stunning!!

baba_flies (8829) 2005-07-19 10:27

Very dramatic and beautiful. Wow !

weswang (18223) 2005-07-19 10:49

Hi Behrang, A nice capture with your signature style of cloud. Yap, I can see the effect of de-noise. You have done a good job to get the nice result. A nice composition and a nice capture.

Tue (25798) 2005-07-19 13:20

Hi Behrang,
Yeah, that hurricane has been on the Dutch news as well and however this isn't the 'real one', it looks very impressive with those dark clouds above the yellow fields. Very well captured!
Groeten,
Lars

devimeuxbe (58557) 2005-07-19 17:40

Hi Behrang
Wouaouuu
Fantastic festival of color. Maybe little bit to saturated with the yellow.
Very nice composition.
Well done
Bertrand

jpages (1670) 2005-07-19 19:17

Hi Behrang, your forgetfulness about the ISO was not a problem, I think, finally, after your PP work, this landscape is very nice to see and explore. There are two zones very well combined, the illuminated one, and the dark one. The composition is perfect. Very well done.
rgds from BCN!

MoosicMan (1231) 2005-07-19 20:18

Good PP work, Behrang, although there is still some noise in the sky. It's funny how the noise always is most noticeable in the sky, isn't it? You didn't do much PP on the terrestrial part, but it does not look noisy. Anyway, a very attractive shot, my friend.
Stay dry,
Matt

maphoto (8082) 2005-07-19 21:55

A very nice result with ISO set at 1600, you did pretty well on PP, very good contrast and light on this dramatic scene, well done.

capthaddock (28790) 2005-07-20 9:48

Hi Behrang - this is simply superb, the dark grey and bright yellow go very well together, excellent timing once again.

sergecross (3438) 2005-07-20 10:08

Behrang, great composition, i like the colors and the stormy day, the grass colors are nice.
Continue posting your pictures.
Have a nice day
Sergio

Coyotyto (1305) 2005-07-20 10:59

Hi Behrang,
I don't really like the effect on the sky, but I guess it was the best solution to correct the ISO mistake. Otherwise I like the compo with that colourfull hay roll in the foreground.

that's a pity this mistake, because the opposition between the cloudy dark sky and the colourfull ground could have given a great picture !

Cheers,
Youssef.

jrj (34841) 2005-07-21 4:25

Hi B.
Effectful compo with the backing of these very dark clouds. And as so often still the good light in the foreground where the inclusion of the hayball is very good in the off centered placement. Well done

lukie (0) 2005-07-22 12:41

Very clear field in contrast to the threatning sky. Very nice picture, Behrang ! Good job !

Luc

danyy (0) 2005-07-22 13:06

Bonjour Behrang,
Quel ciel !!!!
J'en suis bleu, même si lui ne l'est pas.
De superbes couleurs très saturées au point d'avoir un léger bruit de fond.
Excellentes lumières.
Mes compliments.
Daniel.

john_c (24662) 2005-07-22 22:56

Hi Behrang,
I must say that I love opening your latest shots because we both seem to enjoy capturing similar landscapes and moods. You are more daring in your colours, and it usually works to the benefit of the photo. Here the golden field and textures contrast so perfectly with the threatening sky. I especially like your pencil thin horizon line here. Very skilfully rendered. The shot works for me.
John

t0mmm1 (5440) 2005-08-06 5:10

Hi
Nice POV and colours. The sky is superdramatic but golden bales of hay dosn't seem to be scared. TFS

Bien (4739) 2005-08-21 9:06 [Comment]

Show Comment

nbournas (3229) 2005-08-23 16:14

Beautiful balanced exposure allowed for the dromatic skies along with a well exposed foreground. Nice shot.

asanak (1972) 2006-04-19 9:47

hi dear behrang
What a sky you had,wow!
I love this kind of weather :)
and you captured and composed the view very well,beautiful and nice for looking at for hours !
a superb nature you show us,I like it,Thanks for posting it,behrang
asana
Best Wishes

Noeleon (0) 2007-03-19 2:42

Iove it! I took some similar pictures like this one in N. Carolina and south Carolina also.

Photo Information

Copyright: Behrang HH (quantabeh) (5205)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2005-07-17
Categories: Nature
Camera: Canon EOS 300D, Tamron 28-80/3.5-5.6 ASPHERICAL, 58mm circular polarizer
Exposure: f/16, 1/800 seconds
More Photo Info: view
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Farm Scenes [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2005-07-18 22:23
Favorites: 3 [view]