I wanted to do some type of farm scene today, so I drove up Snake Hill Road in North Scituate in search of a good candidate. I noticed a small "pick your own pumpkin" sign on somewhat hidden driveway, and on a whim I pulled in. It turns out, the driveway lead to Elwood Orchards and they did have a wide variety of pumpkins on display. I spoke to the owner briefly, and he suggested I wander around the farm a bit to see if there was anything of photographic interest. Indeed there was. This relatively large chicken coop, complete with three very loud, squawking hens, immediately grabbed my attention. The plan all along was to process this in black and white, so I exposed accordingly, ensuring sufficient contrast to produce the tones I desired. It was nice of the hens to cooperate, staying in a good location for their photo shoot.
Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, adaptive exposure, regions, boost black, boost white, contrast, and protect highlights. A levels adjustment and a sepia photo filter were added in PSE.
