No I don't mind the questions Jim. The cow is a hand painted sign in front of the establishment. They are branding their business. It's a small local dairy produce close by. I have talked to the proprietor. He saw me taking pictures and we had a short conversation afterwards. I asked about the sign as I had the same level of curiosity as yourself. I could have removed the sign but I chose not. I felt it was part of the shot that needed to be included out of respect.
The image has definitely been pushed in post. The day was heavily overcast. Flat lighting produces flat bland coloring in pictures. Light is everything in imaging. I gave it a small treatment of HDR in post to make the red pop and to allow the sun in the left corner to appear without totally blowing out. Cameras are limited in producing dynamic range and generally speaking, with large shifts in contrast, the image can be adversely affected. HDR/ luminosity masks allow blending of multiple images offering much greater latitude. This shot was a single handheld exposure and I had to cheat to bring out what my eye saw. It's definitely an artistic impression. I spent an hour removing telephone/hydro lines in this image that meandered throughout the trees. It was very distracting and limited the value of the image. I don't generally take pictures to document unless it's at an investigation. I'd like to think I create when I can.
Thank you for inquiring Jim. I often find questions the most flattering. That tells me I have someones interest and I am honored.
Edited by EVP, 12 December 2017 - 03:36 AM.