Rain Approaching

[speedneeder]

Get rid of the power pole, put a couple of ducks in the puddles, turn it upside down, do an image invert and apply 20 alternating layers of screen and multiply...then present exactly what you have and have a nice winning image...

indeed!

[tameigh]

Here, use this duck.

[Mario Xavier]

I like both the top and the bottom of the image (I'm weird) though the road leads em out of the picture. I like the puddles in the road as story of what has happened recently then I look to the sky and see more to come. On top of it all it appeals to a personal fascination I have of watching rain approach. This is a cool capture. One day I will top it

[Donald]

One day I will top it

Brilliant attitude. That's what developing our knowledge and skills and learning are all about. Go for it.

[PopsPhotos]

And here I thought I was the only one who would see two pictures in the one displayed.

I do think I would crop the lower third and turn it into a landscape, to see how that looks.

Beautiful and evocative as is, though.

Pops

[jamn4ex]

I agree with katy on the road I see it as important to the context of the scene .I wish I could see the landscapes the way you do Donald.

[SpiderBob]

But don't lose the puddles, I have a lot of paintings that try to do that very idea, some are successful and some...well. Yours is successful.

I really like it.

[tameigh]

I like the puddles too, I would just bring them down a little bit so that they are maybe the third thing you notice in the photo, instead of the first.

[Wirefox]

This just goes to prove my theory that, given long enough, whatever image you post photographers will eventually end up discussing ducks and puddles. Now I have nothing against ducks (they are delicious) - I do feel however that they are overrated as photographic subject matter but I am guessing that most camera sensors suffer from a degree of duck burn. If you look carefully at any glamour image you will see the unmistakable image of daffy ghosting almost imperceptibly across Katy Prices chest. The hard bitten glam photographer finishes a hard day shooting scantily clad female (or male) forms. Does he or she get the model's phone number or spend the evening chucking back Jack Daniels in a smokey roadhouse - No - he rushes to the nearest park and photographs b*****y ducks.

So next time you feel the urge to wrap your long lens up in a cute little camo coat and head for the local reservoir - remember - it damages your sensor - duck burn - and it cannot be removed with a lens pen - be warned

[Donald]

If you look carefully at any glamour image you will see the unmistakable image of daffy ghosting almost imperceptibly across Katy Prices chest.

Oh, is that what it is? Who's Katy Price? Sorry, not knowing is probably a capital offence. Does that mean I'm a) very old; b) very boring; c) both?

EDIT - I've just googled her. She's a big lassie. Still don't know who she is - couldn't concentrate on the text!

[Szczur]

I like the photo just as it is. I'm afraid I read the whole of this thread before I started writing this though, which means my views may have been slightly affected by what other folks have written. Honestly though, I can say that I didn't notice the puddles until I had read about them.... and now I can't stop seeing that big shiny one.

Still.... initially, and before you'd all used your mind-altering psycho-control stuff to bend my conciousness, I thought the background was amazing and that the hedge and the electricity pylon were by far the most interesting elements in the foreground and middle distance. That hedge is so interesting, it's an unusual shape for a start and also.... is it.... steaming? Maybe it's breathing? A living entity? (ok. I know it's mist rising from the field behind the hedge really, but that sounds too realistic and doesn't suit the mood of the photo somehow.) The pylon, I think, puts a nice focal point in the middle of the image and, had it been a square crop, might have been happier slightly more to the right. Having said that, I think the cables leading to and from the pylon could, and perhaps should, be removed. Sorry Donald, I know that could be a lot of work as they're clearly visible across about 60% of the photo but it really is the one element that upsets me. Other than that, I think it's just perfect as it is and I would be pleased and proud to have produced something this good. As Mario suggested.... perhaps one day I will.

[Donald]

Matt

Many thanks for your comments.

Re the pylon and the wires coming from it. Initially, the idea was to remove it. Then, when I processed it I thought it needed to stay. But, because I had taken it with the belief that it needed to go, I did clone it out on a separate layer.

When I did so, I saw that this was a mistake and having it in was a key element in the image. It had to stay. I think it becomes a very weak image without the pylon in it. And because the only purpose of pylons is to support wires, it would have been silly, in my view, to take the wires out and leave the pylon.

So, that's another bit of the story behind the making of this image!