Submitter's name:	Ken Norton
Title:	Windswept
Gear used:	OM-2S, 50/3.5, Red #25 Filter, Polorizer, Monfrotto Monopod
Diaphragm:	F16
Shutter speed:	1/60 - Auto exposure, no exposure compensation
Film used:	Ilford HP5
Subject information:	Good farmland is expensive, yet on a lonely hilltop this old farmhouse is on its long, sad journey back to the earth. How long has it been abandoned? Thirty years? Forty years? Fifty years? This homestead dates back to the settling of the Great Plains.
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Comment left by: Olaf Greve (no e-mail specified)

Taken in a ghost town perhaps? Just look at that tonal range, great shot!

Comment left by: Stephan Van den Zegel (svdz@axolouthia.com)

whoww... that's black and white and I like the square format... too

Comment left by: Brian Swale (bj@caverock.net.nz)

This looks like the farmstead that AG Schnozz told us about. Very sensitive rendering of a scene doubtless full of memories, with no-one left alive to tell them ....

Comment left by: Doro (no e-mail specified)

Black and white and leaving me curious - I'd love to see more shots from this location!

Comment left by: bbbean (bbbean@beancotton.com)

With the high contrast, dark sky, and white grass I thought this was another HIE entry. I like this a lot. The only thing I'd change would be to crop the bottom of the hill somewhat to bring more emphasis on teh house, trees, and sky. But that's a notpick. Good work.

Comment left by: The Photographer (no e-mail specified)

I agree with the crop suggestion. I liked the square format and was limited by the top of frame. The curse of close cropping in the camera. Enlargements will most likely be done with another shot taken with a 35/2.8. I'm looking forward to some serious darkroom time with this picture.

Comment left by: CHung Seow Lim (boochap@pacific.net.sg)

an impressive black and white!!

Comment left by: Bruce Hamm (bhamm@magma.ca)

I love it. I think this is my favorite of the bunch. It oozes atmosphere. I've been looking for a location like this near to where I live for awhile but to no avail. I only hope that when I do stumble across one, I capture it as well as you have done here. I'd love to see the results of your work in the darkroom with these. Good luck and great work!

Comment left by: Eric Pederson (epederso@darkwing.uoregon.edu)

Definitely a shot to work with! I would only crop the minimum (maybe 1/4) of the foreground grass. If that. The risk is unbalancing the composition with the similar size of sky at the top and making the format not-quite square. For some reason, many prefer square to not-quite-square, even while allowing considerable variation of other rectangles.

Comment left by: Andy Radcliffe (andyjradcliffe@aol.com)

I just really love this - I guess I am attracted to objects/buildings that have outlived their "usefullness" There are a fair few in the hills round here, stone built though, not timber. I am inspired by this image to go out and try and make a better job of photographing some of them.

Comment left by: Wayne Culberson (no e-mail specified)

I really like the picture. The old tree and the old house look about the same age. And 'old' black and white, and 'old' square format just suits it perfectly. Excellent. (Could this have been done on an old SN?)

Comment left by: The Photographer (no e-mail specified)

AG-Schnozz would be proud. It was taken with a silver-nosed lens!

Comment left by: Walt Wayman (hiwayman@compuserve.com)

Excellent in all aspects. I have gotten away from shooting B&W in the last year or two for no real reason, and this picture inspired me to dig a couple of 36 exp. rolls of Plus-X out of the fridge. And I know I've got a bottle or Rodinol somewhere.

Comment left by: Xato (no e-mail specified)

Wonderful use of B&W, perspective, space. I think that this may be my favorite also (must get back into B&W). But I cropped a smidge off the top and bottom = 635x590 and liked it a little better. You don't have to be constrained to the square. This locale may be good for fall colors also.

Comment left by: Donald MacDonald (no e-mail specified)

Mmm, this would look nice on my living room wall. Great shot. I never manage to take B&W like this.

Comment left by: Chris Barker (imagopus@threeshoes.co.uk)

Smashing subject, and one which lends itself to this treatment. That grain looks effective and the composition is just so for me.

Comment left by: Gary Edwards (no e-mail specified)

This shot illustrates why grain is not a defect.

Comment left by: The Photographer (no e-mail specified)

I've spent some time working with this print in the darkroom and ended up with a normal 8x10 framing. I did crop the bottom quite a bit and the photo balances much better. The grain, in the chemical print, is much more natural--especially since there isn't any JPEG trashing it. Yesterday, I discovered a half-dozen more interesting old homesteads west of Des Moines. I'll be returning...

Comment left by: Roger Skully (robinsnestphotography.com)

Very nice ken, you handled the subject nicely

Comment left by: DAVE DOUGHERTY (davdou@san.rr.com)

Very Interesting lighting and filtration. The subject evokes a nostalgia that is almost painful. Having walked up to and into these old farm homes, I can smell the smells and see the fleeting shadows of the past in this photo. Very interesting

Comment left by: Andy Gilbert (gilbs@ 142tpr.freeserve.co.uk)

Awesome. (I'm speechless)

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