And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it."
Great comp! I do think (just my opinion) you could use more overall shadow/highlights and then individually select the ends of the bales to keep nice detail in the hay. You've got a beautiful photo to work with.
You did a wonderful job on this & really love the B/W effect. Lots of depth and texture, really like the dramtic looking sky. Wonderful capture showing fall is on it's way.
Yes, I think dgthomas has it right. I was trying to pinpoint why I liked this picture so much, it does have a bit of a pencil/sketch look to it. I think this is a very good first b&w indeed!!!
For in and out, above, about, below,
'Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show,
Play'd in a Box whose Candle is the Sun,
Round which we Phantom Figures come and go.
From Edward Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
I like it very much! Especially the lines and textures created by the field and hay then the opposing flow of the softer clouds. A lot to see and absorb. Would also love to see the results Alexis mentioned. I'm on the fence about the framing... possibly less is more. Excellent work!