Rural Exploration

I have been following some great photographers on Flickr and was so impressed by their shots of "urban exploration" that I wanted to go out and find some places to explore on my own...here in RURAL Nebraska.  I did not have to go far to find this neat little farmhouse North of O'Neill that had me walking through the multiple inches of snow to find some great colors and decay inside this old place.

This is a shot I took of the outside with a texure background from: http://aviary.com/artists/chucho320/creations/blue_grunge_by_darkrose42_stock

I was surprised to find the AMAZING colors that were still left on the walls of this place.  What cool contrasting colors.

I loved the way the plaster and wallpaper are hanging off of the walls here.

"There's your problem."  The door was left open!

Lunch is served.

A texture treatment of the outside of the house using a texture courtesy of:

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs37/f/2008/244/4/0/Coffe_and_Cocoa_by_Cat_in_the_Stock.jpg

 

Another texture that I used with this image.  I really love the way this turned out.  Here is the texture:

http://darkrose42-stock.deviantart.com/art/Sky-texture-52084018

I had a great time exploring this place and am looking for some more abandoned locations within this area of Nebraska.  I have my eye on a few.....so stay tuned.

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Addicted to textures....

Ok, so I know I already did a blog post on textures, but I am just addicted to them now.  I love the way they can take an average photo and turn it into a work of art.  Below are some shots I have done the past couple of weeks.  Enjoy.

This one is of the old grain elevator that sits along the Cowboy Trail in O'Neill.  This was a pretty average shot, but the texture gives it life.

This is one of the buildings at Rock Falls that I used a texture I found on Deviant Art.

I once again found a use for the abandoned house across the street from me.

The "Almost Down" barn gets yet another treatment.

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Focusing More on LIGHT!

I started going through my photos and realized I was just snapping away, not worrying too much about lighting.  Today I forced myself to focus on it more and here are the results.  It was a beautiful Fall day for a bicycle ride and some photography along the Cowboy Trail.

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Tilt Shift Photography in Photoshop

Tilt shift lenses focus on a single part of the photo and shift (blur) the surrounding area to create an optical illusion of miniaturized scenery. Real tilt shift lenses are quite expensive, but a similar effect can be achieved by using Photoshop after you take the photo.  I have experimented with some photos below and I think I achieved the result of making the photos look like models or dioramas.  Basically what I did is to select the area that I wanted to be NOT blurred, select the INVERSE and use the "Gaussian Blur" filter.  There is a good tutorial that I followed (somewhat) here: http://www.visualphotoguide.com/tilt-shift-photoshop-tutorial-how-to-make-fake-miniature-scenes/

Here is the first photo I did of a railroad locomotive:

Here is the original:

Here is one that I think really looks like a miniature:

..and the original:

Another Train!

and the original:

Here is probably my favorite that I have done so far:

And, yet another of a city and taxis:

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Photo Club Safari @ Troester's

We had some beautiful scenery and lighting for this safari!  I took so many photos I could not decide which ones I liked the most....so there are MANY on here.

Nebraska, old fence post, barbed wire...nothing better.

I enjoyed the way the sunshine was shining trough the grass on the side of the road.  Did a little editing of this in Photoshop, but not too much; just a lot of natural color.

The above photo was fun to do as the sun was just going down behind the equipment.  Did some editing in PS to soften the edges.

I liked the natural green color of the water and the weeds against the black tractor tires; highlighted this using some selective coloring.

Another view of the tractor tires.  Lots of neat edges and contours.

Close-up of some kernals of corn with the corn fields in the background.

My Grandpa worked all his life for Caterpillar Machinery, so an old Cat is a natural choice for me to shoot.  Liked how the lines of the Cat framed the field in the background.  More Cat photos below:

The photo below may not be for everyone, so if you hate mice-be prepared.  Aaron noticed these baby mice in the pile of corn and alerted us to it  I like the natural colors of the corn in this photo.

I noticed how the natural light was really lighting up the green in the combines, so I shot several photos of that:

 

Davita was checking out the best angle for her next shot!

I wish I could have got a better shot of Aaron by the fields, but this is the best I could get.  Used some selective color to highlight him and the fields.

I enjoyed talking to Aaron's Dad about their 1965 Corvette that was sitting in their quonset building.  Even thought it was full of dust, it is a beautiful car.

 

 I am a sucker for fence posts and flowers....

 

What is a photo safari to a farm in Nebraska without some corn shots?  Below are several I took using various angles and editing techniques:

The last photos are from when we first arrived at the grain bins.  Lots of cool lines and angles!

I had to include this last photo because "Lockwood" manufacturing was located in Gering, NE, my hometown, and my stepfather worked there for over 20 years.

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