Stormy day over the Stooks, a photo from Devon, England

Photographer's Note

In parts of Devon corn is still harvested in the traditional way,whilst the grain is still valued,here the emphasis is placed more upon using the straw for thatching roofs,hence the stooks.

I have included a local thatched cottage as a WS.

tyro, cornejo, pajaran, PaulVDV trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

lousat (139220) 2015-07-29 1:38

Hi Les,spectacular view and magnificent work in PP,maybe a bit over the limits in the sky,but absolutely fantastic on the ground,great game of lights and shadows and very bright colors too,i like it! Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

snunney (130967) 2015-07-29 2:04

Hello Les,
An excellent capture of this beautiful Devonshire landscape. Perfectly exposed with superb colours and clarity. Wonderful depth helped by the lines of stooks and that very threatening sky.

tyro (30513) 2015-07-29 2:35

Hello Les,

An interesting note and two gorgeous photographs to accompany it!

The fabulous light is what makes your main photograph so appealing - the bright sunlight in the mid-ground which lights up the yellow/green fields and the distant part of the near field of cut crops and stooks of straw - in contrast to the slightly darker background and nearest foreground. And what a fabulously interesting and complex sky, studded with its thousands of brightly lit clouds disappearing off to the horizon. A very fine composition with lovely light and colours and exquisite detai;ls and sharpness.

And your workshop picture shows the end result of this harvested straw - a beautiful and traditional thatched building in its perfect rural setting.

Beautiful!

Kind Regards,

John.

P.S. Here's a question I've always wondered about: What straw is generally used (or which is the best straw) for thatching? Is it wheat or oat or barley straw? I believe reeds and rushes have been used in some parts of the World for thatching, but what's the preferred stuff in Devonshire?

janjan1897 (2301) 2015-07-29 3:06

Hello Leslie,
There is a special charm about this picture and these old fashioned stooks. Your framing is excellent, and I like how the rows of stooks lead the eye to the BG rolling hills. The impressive sky really makes this image stand out and gives it a fantastic atmosphere. A lovely rural scene perfectly captured.
Regards,
Jean

Sergiom (117241) 2015-07-29 5:15

Bonjour Leslie,

C'est très impressionnant l'effet que font ces bottes de foin dans le paysage. Un beau point de vue qui donne beaucoup de profondeur à l'ensemble et que dire de ce ciel absolument fantastique.

Amicalement

Serge

dta (98848) 2015-07-29 5:48

Hello Leslie ,
These traditional sheafs of wheats provide superb subjects for the photographer . I've never seen that in France .
Great game of light and shade on this superb landscape . As Luciano , I think the sky is a little over the limits , but the overall composition is splendid .
Regards

sabermonajati (11537) 2015-07-29 6:19

hi
you captured dreamily pay sage. this composition is wonderful.
green field, field , trees and cloudy sky create fascinating landscape.
regard
saber

Silvio1953 (221525) 2015-07-29 6:24

Ciao Leslie, lovely bucolic composition, great PP work, superb sky, wonderful colors and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

holmertz (102650) 2015-07-29 8:18

Hello Leslie,
The scenery is wonderful and this is a very interesting view of harvesting the traditional way. The amount of hard work put into this is impressive. The colours and light are perfect in the lower half, but maybe the PP is slightly overdone in the sky.
Kind regards,
Gert

Periko (9107) 2015-07-29 11:15

Hi Leslie
What a sky! The whole scene is outstanding and full of interesting elements. Exposure and focusing are well done.

tfs

cornejo (61504) 2015-07-29 11:41

Hello Les, very good picture of this beautiful and interesting country composition with a beautiful sky, very well captured in this beautiful image with good sharpness, light, color and quality. Very good and interesting job well done, congratulations my friend. Thanks for sharing this beautiful work.

Good evening and happy rest of the week.
Best wishes from the south of Spain.
Angel.

Manamo (3710) 2015-07-29 13:29

Hello Leslie!
I like how the stooks of straw lead the eye toward the layers of fields in the distance. It contributes to a good flow in your image. You also seem to have a good light on the field. Nice patches of sunlight popping here and there on the field. I love it. It was well worth getting your camera out for this one.
However, I believe you went a bit over the top with the sky. It is sort of oppressing, which is not the general mood we get from the rest of the photo. So the top and the bottom do not seem to fit together and it makes the photo a little unbalanced and hard to "read".
All the best,
Marc

jean113 (27847) 2015-07-29 13:38

Hello Leslie, there are so many textures and shapes in this picture, a beautiful scene!
I, too, have seen stooks just like this in some of the fields in Devon,a gift for a photographer.Unfortunately when I saw them I was on a coach and could not stop for a shot!
The light across the centre of the shot is wonderful.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards Jean.

batalay (41261) 2015-07-30 4:47

Hello Leslie,

The depth of field is astounding in this image, especially under that unusual sky. And thank you for the informative note. I had no idea how the harvest was carried out when the straw is intended for thatched roofs.

Warm regards,

Bulent

grigand (20290) 2015-07-30 13:05

Hi leslie,
A very nice compo, with spectacular view of this fields, wonderful light, perfect management.
ciao
andrea

Maged (1921) 2015-07-31 13:04

Hello Leslie,

What a magic .. great comp , great colors and superb shot technical .

It's joy to look at.

Have a nice weekend
maged

peterpap (2863) 2015-08-01 10:04

Beautiful picture, the clouds look particularly interesting, almost like HDR. I love the green colour in contrast to brown and blue. Well done.

adores (46979) 2015-08-02 16:13

Hi Leslie!
This is just great! The wheat creates such a beautiful effect and the sky is just perfect. Captured with a great light. Very good shot indeed!

macjake (98438) 2015-08-03 9:42

Hi Les
this isn't something you see everyday is it.
i guess thats what makes it that much more interesting and unique too - a very cool post here on TE.
Not sure what i like more, the clouds or he harvested corn!
excellent depth and weird forms! fun shot
cheers
Craig

PaulVDV (62880) 2015-08-12 4:03

Hello Les,
A particularly beautiful sky with clouds.
But the haystacks in the foreground also look wonderful. Very clear and sharp but especially very graphical.
Best regards, Paul