Farmhouse

My aunt and uncle have lived on the same farm for decades. They retired from farming years ago, and sold the land to someone else to farm. They negotiated a lifetime lease of the house and buildings so they could still live there, but are now at the age when they want to move into an apartment.

We have held our family reunion at their farm for years, and this will be the last year for it. We wanted to do something for them so my brother and I went out there over the weekend when we knew they would be away, and shot some photos of the farm and other features. We are going to get a number of them set into one frame and present it to them at this year's reunion.

I took the photos with my little point and shoot digital, and then played around in Roxio Photosuite to try some effects. For the most part we are not using photos with drastic effects for the piece were are giving my aunt and uncle, but I thought I would put a few of them up here for fun. I'm sure this program is not nearly as powerful as Photoshop is, but it does a good job with photos and video.

Here is their farmhouse with a mirage effect applied:



I thought this tree looked very much like a bonsai, and I added a bulge feature to enhance the shape a bit:



Inside an old barn - used to be all wood but now sided on the outside - too bad as it would have been a great subject if it was still all wood on the outside:



This is the barn (more like a shed actually):



The old door looked nice in B&W:



They have a lot of nice flowerbeds around the property, so I took some shots and played around with some of the features - some worked better than others :





The above 2 are the same photo!

I like this effect - looks like the flower is set in a glass globe of sorts:



These are actually all purple flowers:



And of course while I was there and had the camera handy, I snapped a pic or two of the new wheels with the top down:





Thanks for looking!

[The Dude]

That's actually a very nice gesture, I am sure they will be surprised and will love the pictures, I really love this one here with the reflection, that's a terrific picture.



Point and shoot cameras take fantastic pictures I dunno what the fuss is all about in regards to DSLR - yea okay I use one exclusively but my old point and shoot was fantastic! The camera doesn't take a great shot the person behind the camera does.

BTW - nice ride.

Nice gesture and nice pix Al. Are you sure your family want pix of your car in the frame? LOL

I still prefer any black and white shot over colour, any day of the week. It just brings out the textures and shade variances so much better than colour.

BTW, those Zedder shots look like they could be in a Bimmer brochure. Beauty!

[C.J.]

That will make a great gift, Al

[gforce]

damn thats a nice car

[mike]

What a wonderfull gesture Al. Something they will treasure.

[JJ Irani]

Beautiful pics, Al.....love the whole scenario...and the car fits in well....like something straight out of an ad!!

Thanks for all the comments. I think presenting them with this reminder of their farm is something these people will really appreciate - they loved the farming life.

I also took some video and will burn them a CD with that and all the pcitures I took as there are a lot more than the 9 we are using for the framed collage. I also intend to do the same for all their children so they have a reminder of the farm where they grew up! It should be a nice surprise (I hope!).

And just to clarify, the car will not be part of the photos going to my aunt and uncle. LOL!

[Rockrolex]

Very thoughtful gesture, Al. I'm sure it wil be tough on the whole family to let that place go. Lot's of memories are there, I'll bet.

[mailman]

That's an extermly nice thing you did Al. It's a gift that will be treasured for years to come.

[Uncle-AJ]

Good on you Al.....................the place looks idyllic.