scenic Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Sean Phillips Photography

Bales in Black and White

I posted several pictures of some hay bales the other day. The main reason I was attracted to that particular field, and to those particular images, was because of the vivid colors of the field and the sky. But after processing them something made me think that they might look really good in black and white. So I converted them all and I’m really excited about the new images that I was able to create!

I don’t do a lot of black and white photography, but every once in awhile certain images lend themselves to it. I don’t necessarily think that all of these images look better in Black and White than they do in color, but I really like them. This is a simple reminder or me that there are almost always several ways to make every image look great, and that experimentation can be lots of fun!

Round Bales in Morning Light

I’ve seen this field of hay bales many times recently and I was really looking for a good opportunity to make some nice images. It always seemed that I was in a rush as I passed by and never had time to stop. I finally made an opportunity to stop one morning just before sunrise. The soft morning light was amazing and I could have spent hours there if the lighting conditions had held up longer.

Round Bales in Morning Light

Harvest Moon

I was out on a mission to capture the setting Full Moon at Sunrise when I saw these three Combine Harvesters lined up in a farm field. They really made the scene alongside the Moon.

I was actually on my to the decrepit old prairie farm in the next couple of images. This vintage farm is extremely picturesque and I’ve tried very hard to make it look good over the last few years. That’s a lot easier to do when the Full Moon drops down on top of it in the middle of an amazing sunrise!

I’m always surprised by how quickly the full moon drops. It will almost always completely disappear as soon as the sun breaks over the opposite horizon. Other times it will drop into a cloud bank on the its own side of the horizon and only partially disappear. In this case it did both. You can see the bottom edge of it flattening out in the final image, and I’m a witness to the fact that it was totally gone within a few seconds of that image being made!

Powerful Sunset

I was desperately looking for a scene that would do justice to the beautiful pink glow on these clouds just after the sunset. I almost missed my chance until I saw these power lines in the distance and I was very happy to be able to make the image. I love the contrast between the striking yellow stubble in the prairie field below, and the vivid blue of the sky above.

Gone to Seed

These grasses were lit up like a Christmas Tree in the morning light. They were completely covered in frost and the ice crystals sparkled beautifully. I saw them on my way in for a walk at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and almost didn’t go back because I was excited to see what birds might still be hanging around so late in the season. At the last minute I decided to turn around to take advantage of the beauty I knew to be there rather than hurrying in to see what else might be there. I’m glad I did because the bird sanctuary was extremely quiet, and I made my best images of the day with these grasses. It’s a little life lesson that I’m going to have to remember…