Blue Barley 4 – 6

The fields around the village are once more full of rippling swathes of barley with heavy, whiskery, drooping seed heads. The varying stages of ripening mean that the colouring of the plants differs from place to place, and this is dependant on the degree of shade or full sunshine they receive. The density with which the growing stems occur varies too, with thinner planting at the field corners and margins compared with further in, or where the stems are thrown together by the wind. By digitally altering these photographs of this standing crop, the nuances of colour are changed and emphasised, while the wonderful natural shapes and patterns of the be-whiskered seed heads and stems are seen more clearly. I thought that there was something Japanese about the effect achieved.

Click an image twice to see it in more detail.