Hole-y Silo, Batman!

sm4him · Jan 17, 2013

Ah, that was a TERRIBLE name for the thread, especially as I'm not even completely sure this is a silo, exactly. But it's been a very tough morning here in my little world, so I thought I'd post a few pictures and see if I can lift my mood a bit. Of course, if they get ripped apart on C&C, that might not improve my mood, but that's okay, bring it on anyway.

This past Saturday, I went out hunting for some hawks or other larger birds. I saw a bunch of cool birds, but didn't really get any "keeper" shots--I've already belabored that in another thread.

But, I did come across this old, abandoned silo and some farm equipment. I plan to go back, hopefully either Saturday or Monday and do some macro photography, especially with some of the farm equipment. But these were a few I took with just the 70-300 that I had with me and I liked them, at least well enough to post them and let you all tear 'em apart. :lol:

1. Holey Silo

Jan_12_2013 (102)edit_web by sm4him, on Flickr

2. Snakeskin Silo

Jan_12_2013 (106)edit_web by sm4him, on Flickr

3. Machinery

Jan_12_2013 (192)edit_web by sm4him, on Flickr

4. Pulley--I cut the top off intentionally, but now I wish I hadn't. There was some stuff at the top I didn't like, but when I go back, I'll get a complete photo and see if I can clone out the clutter. As well as doing some macro on that beautiful rusted metal. ;-)

Jan_12_2013 (201)edit_web by sm4him, on Flickr

That's it. C&C appreciated--general thoughts, opinions, remarks--all of it makes me feel valued and appreciated. Or at least noticed, which is often all I can hope for. :lmao:

sm4him · Jan 17, 2013

a little afternoon bump.

It's STILL raining here, has been since Monday, over 9 inches now. Supposed to turn to snow later today and we could see our first snowfall of the year.
AND I had car trouble on the way to work this morning--no "power" in my power steering! THAT would make for a fun drive home in snow and ice!! Fortunately, there's an auto parts store right up the road from me, so I got that taken care of and I can steer again.
They're forecasting 1-3 inches for "the valley" (Knoxville) and up to 10" as you head toward the mountains. I live in the area in between; we usually get more than Knoxville proper and less than the mountains. But honestly--the fact that they are predicting it at all means we likely won't get anything except more of this infernal 36-degree rain...
On a related note, there's probably no eggs, milk, bread, beer or T.P. left at any area stores. But I got some coffee this morning, and I've still got half a bottle of rum, so I'm good if it does snow.

None of that has the first thing to do with my photos--nothing like derailing your own thread before anyone else even comments on it!--but the point is, I need something to take my attention OFF this god-awful weather. :grumpy:

Derrel · Jan 17, 2013

The name of the thread is very reminiscent of the corny Batman TV series dialog Sharon!!! You nailed it! Batten down the hatches!!! I hope the rain doesn't amount to as much as they forecast.

KenC · Jan 17, 2013

There's some interesting stuff to work with in the first one. I like the shapes and textures, especially in the three openings on the right. I don't like that it's not taken straight on - may just be a prejudice of mine, but the background "grid" of the mortar lines should be square, otherwise it's distracting. You could try using "skew" in PS to straighten it, or just take more shots when you go back. I'd also crop it a little closer, and perhaps darken the lower mid-tones to make it a little "richer" in color and tone.

I hope the snow misses you. So far this season, nothing significant here - looks like one of those winters like last year with hardly any snow, as opposed to the couple of years before that when we got at least 50 or 60 inches over each season.

ceeboy14 · Jan 17, 2013

I think the weather is crappy everywhere. We have high winds and a high of 50. That's not as cold as 36 but it's going there tonight. 34 actually and just to think, I was in a t-shirt and shorts yesterday...got to love Mother Nature's sense of humor.

I could start getting into the last image if the background was more to the gray side than the yellow side. I did a quick edit but my refine edge skills are still lacking a bit and ended up with a white outline..hate when that happens..but it looks infinitely better because it allows the object to stand out from the background.

ceeboy14 · Jan 17, 2013

You might want to shoot with doing some of these as B&W's...first one has all kinds of potential.

sm4him · Jan 17, 2013

KenC said:
There's some interesting stuff to work with in the first one. I like the shapes and textures, especially in the three openings on the right. I don't like that it's not taken straight on - may just be a prejudice of mine, but the background "grid" of the mortar lines should be square, otherwise it's distracting. You could try using "skew" in PS to straighten it, or just take more shots when you go back. I'd also crop it a little closer, and perhaps darken the lower mid-tones to make it a little "richer" in color and tone.

I hope the snow misses you. So far this season, nothing significant here - looks like one of those winters like last year with hardly any snow, as opposed to the couple of years before that when we got at least 50 or 60 inches over each season.

Trouble is, I don't think there is anywhere I can GET all straight lines. The silo is not huge so pretty much any section I pick is going to have some curve to it. In addition, it's dilapidated and leaning a bit, and crumbling. So if I straighten one part (as I did with the bottom line of mortar in the first shot, it's still going to have curvature, and the other lines aren't going to be straight. Nevertheless, when I go back, I'll see what I can do with it.

ceeboy14 said:
I think the weather is crappy everywhere. We have high winds and a high of 50. That's not as cold as 36 but it's going there tonight. 34 actually and just to think, I was in a t-shirt and shorts yesterday...got to love Mother Nature's sense of humor.

I could start getting into the last image if the background was more to the gray side than the yellow side. I did a quick edit but my refine edge skills are still lacking a bit and ended up with a white outline..hate when that happens..but it looks infinitely better because it allows the object to stand out from the background.

Yeah, it was over 70 degrees here on Saturday. By Sunday night, it was 36. Last I heard, we ended up with just over 9 inches of rain since Sunday, and now it is snowing to beat the band. About 3 inches here so far. That doesn't sound like much to some of you up north, but down here it's a BIG. DEAL. Even under normal circumstances, we don't have the equipment to deal with it, and this time, because of the heavy rains all week, they couldn't even pre-treat the roads, so it became a great big mess very quickly.

Took me 45 minutes to get home; usually takes about six. I got stuck twice and had to back up and try different routes. I live in a very hilly area which makes it kinda challenging.

And--I'm the website/social media manager for our public transit system. That means I will be spending the night posting route updates and alerts on the website, on Twitter, on Facebook; sending emails to local media and making phone calls; listening to dispatch on the radio and then doing it all over again with new information. THEN, I'll likely have to get up at about 4:30 a.m. and start it all over again until we get through the morning when hopefully the roads will start to get cleared off.