OLDENBURG FARM

I live in Mequon, Wisconsin. which is the third largest city in Wisconsin by geographical area but has a population of less than 25,000.  While the eastern half of the city is basically a bedroom community for the Milwaukee metropolitan area, the western half is largely farmland.  The other day I took my camera looking for some shots at an apple orchard on the west side of the city.  The day was clear but was marked by patches of fog that the morning sun was burning off.  On my way to the orchard, I passed the Oldenburg Farm, a gorgeous horse farm.

There weren't any horses about, but there was plenty of pasture land enclosed by well maintained fences.  Here are a few of the shots that I took.

Each of these shots was taken looking east.  By this time the sun was a little to the southeast, but was still nicely illuminating the fading fog.  These shots are a bit redundant, but I was experimenting with the interplay among fences, pastureland, outbuildings, fog, and sun.  One thing that I think I have learned about taking panoramic landscape shots is that the composition usually benefits from significant points of interest in the foreground, such as the portion of fence running at an angle in the foreground of the last shot above.

In the following shot I wanted to show the parallel between the foreground and background fences.

I liked the prominence of the foreground fence and the tree foliage above, but I'm concerned that the background fence may be a bit lost.

I was also trying to be mindful of the shadows being cast by the fences, as in the following shot.

I also liked the converging lines of fence, shadows, trees, and rock wall, but the shot would have benefited from the presence of fog.

The shot below also illustrates converging lines but with the advantage of fog.

I did  eventually make it to the apple orchard, which was largely a bust, so I'm glad I stopped to get the shots that I did of the Oldenburg Farm.  There is no substitute for good light, and a little fog can also help.

John