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Jennifer Wise's picture

Ephrata Fields

Ephrata fields, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA

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10 Comments

You capture a very appealing warm, late-afternoon atmosphere here, Jennifer. and that one collapsed tree adds a note of variety to the others marching up that hill. Simple but effective, showing you don't need exotic locations, grand vistas or amazing sunbeams to convey atmospere and make an image with enduring appeal. This makes me really wish I could be standing there, taking in this scene, breathing the air. Well done!

Thank you so much, Chris. I appreciate that. I "complain" that it's so boring around here with all the Amish farm land; so I decided to just get outside and figure out ways of showing the landscape. Better than sitting at the computer envying others' work and locations. LOL! Hope you are well, Chris.

I appreciate the skill of many photographers here, Jennifer, their use of multiple exposures in focus-stacking, optimising exposure and making panoramas. I appreciate the exotic beauty of Iceland, of Patagonia - I've thought of going to each myself before they became mainstream tourist destinations.

But when I think of the enduring photographic images over the years, how many of them rely on such things? Roughly zero.

Photographers all tend to appreciate the cutting-edge skills of their era, be this the zone system or HDR. But these are just tools, like chisels or brushes, to execute an artistic vision. And in photography that often means seeing what others might not notice and bringing it to their attention. It can be "ordinary" - seeing beauty in the seemingly mundane. The "wow" factor is often transitory, and enduring images often speak softly. At least for me.

I totally agree, Chris. I think the WOW photos are starting to become boring. As I scroll through lists of photos, I always stop at the softly speaking images the most and get drawn into the story. Thanks to your comments, I decided to get out over the past 2 weeks taking photos of our local area filled with cows, mules, horses, ordinary birds, sheep, etc - just trying to capture them "in the seemingly mundane;" yet "seeing beauty" as you said. Kind of like a Lancaster County safari. It's been really interesting to see that a cow can be even be interesting. Thanks for the encouragement and helping me to see things in a different way; I always appreciate your comments ...

Nice shot Jennifer.

I've been to your area just before covid to shoot some landscapes and street photography. I should have a second look at what I came up with.

Thanks, Mark. I'd love to see what you have from this area in street photography because I'm on the verge of trying my hand at it after this excursion into landscape. Trying to work up the nerve. Thanks for commenting. I appreciate it.

Beautiful composition Jennifer!

Thank you, Barry! I appreciate you taking the time to comment!

I mostly was in Harrisburg and the surrounding area up to Hershey. I will have a second look but my street photography from that trip wasn't spectacular, there was nobody on the streets.

Lol! Not sure if they're still doing it, but Lancaster city here has First Fridays which draws crowds in the art districts. There's also a lot of people wandering around Lititz which is a really neat little town for street photography.