Rust never sleeps

The clouds came in and the wind picked up over the countryside outside of Bismarck, North Dakota. Only people from Wisconsin would go to North Dakota for a weekend in January! It was only one afternoon with VERY changeable weather, but I loved it and want to go back for an extended road trip. This gate in a barbed wire fence is right on the road so there were limitations to what I could do with composition, but I liked the tracks that lead away directly behind it.

Specific Feedback Requested

Is it too static? There wasn’t much in back of the gate or in front except the road, but the gate had so much character I literally drove past and then backed up. But that doesn’t mean it makes for a good photograph.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Lumix DC-G9
Lumix G Vario 35-100 f/2.8 @ 35mm (70mm equiv)
f/8 | 1/160 sec | ISO 200
Handheld in heavy wind

Lr processed w/Modern preset #6 and adjusted for clarity, texture and dehaze. Cropped a lot of blank sky, hit the far hills with a brush to bring them out of the snow that was falling back there. Another brush to bring up the exposure in the posts a bit. Used a bit of transform to get the gate to line up better. Overall highlight control and sharpening.

1 Like

Kris, I grew up dealing with gates (and landscape) like this in Western Nebraska. This does bring back memories. The sparseness and grey tones capture the setting very well, with this view conveying the windswept desolation well. The “road” angling across the frame adds to the sense of depth. BTW, the gate is actually on the left with your main focus being the supporting parts needed to hold up the gate. In looking closely, it’s clear that this gate is not an easy one to open, you’d have to lift the bottom of that pole on the left out of the wire loop and then lay the rest of the gate down to pull the upper parts out of the top loop (mid-frame). :grin:

I hope the memories are good ones.

You’re right about the level of gate difficulty here - it looks like a pain and is probably not used too often. Couldn’t pass it by though!

This image really shouts out cold and desolate. I quite like it and the mood it conveys. Very well done. No nits here.