Game Shortened By Rain

I got inspired to go after some photographs of an old barn that belongs to some friends of mine. As for many kinds of photography, early morning light is often the best, so I planned to arrive at the barn right around sunrise. The weather forecast was for showers later in the day, but the early morning looked safe.

As I drove west from Canton, I could see a beautiful sunrise forming in my rear view mirror. The broken clouds were glowing with a brilliant orange light. I was tempted to stop and get a picture of the horizon, but my objective was to get the barn in that light. However, as quickly as the scene in my mirrors appeared, it began to dissolve. Grey clouds were moving in fast, too fast. I began to wonder if I would get any of that magical light at all.

When I got near the barn, there was still some glow in the eastern sky. My friend had suggested the view across the pasture toward the barn as one I ought to check out, so I pulled over and got the shot above.

After getting the shot of the barn across the pasture, it took only a minute or so to drive around to the front of the barn. That's about how long it took for the sky to go completely overcast. Now an overcast sky is often a good thing for photography. It gives soft, even lighting which reduces the harsh contrast you get with full sun. Colors also look more saturated under overcast skies, which I was able to take advantage of with the abundant goldenrod around the barn. While overcast is good, I was looking for the warm glow of morning sunlight, and the textures that are emphasized by directional light.

There's an old saying that "Everyone likes to talk about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it". No use complaining - so I worked with what I had. I got some satisfactory shots as I worked around to different positions around the barn. It was fun for a short time. While I can work with overcast skies, rain sends me running for the truck. Water, and electronic devices like a digital camera don't get along, so I called it a day early. I enjoyed my short trip, and I'll return another day to get the photos I was originally after. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

The photo below was modified with Redfield's "Fine Touch" filter, which gave it the look of a painting. This filter does the same thing as the now defunct BUZZ filter that was so popular about eight years ago. Sometimes it gives a pleasing result, sometimes it doesn't. Nevertheless, it's fun to play with, and I like the result I got here.