"Autumn on the Farm" I grew up on a farm, so this is what I think of when I think of Autumn. That's my Uncle Roy on the tractor, hauling some hay bales (this picture is set back in the '60's - hay bales are usually larger than this now, and cylindrical). I live in Tennessee, so if you've ever been here in Autumn, you know that the trees really do get this colorful here (I realize I'm bragging, but I really do think Autumn is especially beautiful here).

This is not my "second childhood". I'm not finished with the first one yet.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

"I'd like to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather....not screaming in terror like the passengers on his bus." - Jack Handy

Nice colours. A very warm image. I live in the English Lake District and it's raining so hard at the moment I can't even see the trees! Nice scene, but you might want to improve the smoke and put a bit of an "old" texture on the tractor paint. Also, making the path more distinctive (a bit of a muddy terrain) and altering the tractor's direction of travel would be a good thing (it looks like the farmer's about to crash into the fence!) Bring him & his tractor nearer the camera, too, then you'll have a superb scene IMHO!

Some rusty parts on the tractor and a bit of structure to the surfact would make this image even better. Maybe some very subtle and blurred reflections on some metal parts (like the weels) would increase the looks of this image. But don't use chrome weels, a little rusty metal works better for this image I think. Also the horizon shines through too much. Maybe you can hide it with a little terrain. (not too high though, I think a mountain wouldn't look good) Great colors on the trees and the ground. with a little tweaking this could be a winner.

(_/)
(='.'=)
(")(")This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your signature to help him gain world domination.

Love the colors. As for Roy crashing into the fence, you and I both know he's just making a wide sweep to the right so that he can pull up hard to the left... that way he can back up to the barn to unload. Dont listen to tuttle, us farm boys know what we're doing ;) lol Blue

I think a team of horses would have looked better, but what do I know? Would the leaves on the ground be quite so evenly spread? Nice scene though... Tuttle: You live in a nice part of the world. It's raining here too. I live in Mid-Wales. Regards The Bryster

and here I am thinking it was a picture of rural New Hampshire(It's where I live) Granted, I don't live on a farm, but this is a common thing to see around here, especially this time of year. great work tjohn! I don't know if you are accepting suggestions, but if you are, the only thing I could suggest would be to make the road a road, perhaps a muddy road, with deep tractor tire marks, and some good size ruts, to keep your farmer on his toes =c). Unfortunatly, it would look nice here in cow country, except for the miserable rain.

Man, I can tell your from New England...(grin) Maybe just a bit of green, maroon, sandy, or brown colors. A couple of white wisps in the sky. Great Pic!

Oops, that was somebody else from New England.

Careful with that tractor Eugine - looks like he's going into the fence - nice though

Well I thought it was pretty darned gorgeous. My only nit is that Uncle Roy looks kind of drab compared to the rest of the picture. When will he be pressing apples for cider? Lin

Thanks for some great suggestions, but I've been on Medical Leave since August 28th with a ruptured disc (this makes my THIRD one!), and can only spend about 30 minutes at a time sitting at the computer, followed by about 2 hrs flat on my back on a heat pad to recover. So a fix and rerender is out of the question for right now. I'm due to have corrective surgery soon, so my ability to Bryce is probably going to get more handicapped for a while, but improve after that. :^) You guys are right about the dirt and rust textures making the tractor look more interesting, but it wouldn't make it more accurate. Uncle Roy took very good care of his tractor, protecting it from rust and even washing it periodically. (Although reading what I just wrote about it does make him seem a little geeky about the whole thing, LOL). :^) The overall look and feel of this pic was influenced heavily by Country magazine which prints very brightly colored (some might say cheesy) photos of landscapes and nostalgic, farming-oriented photos along with their articles. If you are familiar with this magazine, you understand what I mean. So I really wanted the colors to be a little TOO strong to be 100% natural. The skies after the first couple of frosts look pretty much like this when it gets drier and clouds get pretty scarce as the leaves change color and drop. Lastly, I liked the suggestion of a team of horses to draw the wagon. Hey, I'm not that old! LOL! We stopped using horses (more often mules) around here as draft animals before I was born, so I'm really only familiar with tractors. Thanks again to all for the personal attention, and the genuine desire to help me improve this image. Hopefully, in November, I'll be able to act on the suggestions you give me on the next monthly challenge and put out a version 2.0 next time around. PS to lsstrout: yeah, but my Uncle Roy really was kind of drab. :^) He always wore khaki work shirts and pants, even to church. He was a bachelor until he retired and then married for the first time at the age of 65, and died last year at the age of 91. He was one of my personal heros.

This is not my "second childhood". I'm not finished with the first one yet.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

"I'd like to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather....not screaming in terror like the passengers on his bus." - Jack Handy

Discus-rupturus :) is common in my family, so I wish you a speedy recovery. Uncle Roy sounds like a real world hero. Heal quick and hurry back to Brycing.

TJohn: Best wishes for a speedy recovery..... The Bryster (Chris)

TJohn, My wishes for a fast recovery too. My landlady also had back surgery and was forced to wear a plastic, body formed brace for a few months, which I think she hated more than anything else. If you can't actually do Bryce, maybe you sketch out some ideas, then you can blow all our socks off when you bet back. Uncle Roy sounds neat. I wish I had an uncle like that. Lin

bet=get need to proofread :)