Straw Man - a photo on Flickriver

Straw Man

            Scarecrows scare me I think more than they do crows. It's another one of those irrational fears that's followed me since childhood. I can't even connect it to a specific incident. It just is. Wasn't the Wizard of Oz I don't think; that scarecrow was too playful. The ones that get me are the kind you see out all alone in a cornfield. Weathered effigies, coarse, handmade, usually bursting at the seams. And simply there, looming overhead, as if they're observing. This is truly a case where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. A withered field of corn is awesome. A scarecrow is freaking awesome. But combine them and the awesomeness is exponential. 

Photographing scenes like this often has a way of insulating me from the full impact. It's that business of physically having a camera between me and my subject; it's sort of a buffer. That's something I try to guard against. I want to feel the full impact of whatever and rely on it to influence my artistry. After all, that's why I come to places like this in the first place. On this grim morning, the impact was full realized. At times I would just stop and gaze up in amazement at this scene I had concocted. The sum of all fears, the veritable straw man, floating eerily over the cornstalks.

Taken on: October 18, 2020

Tags:

eerie

presence

effigy

metaphor

keeper

sentinel

watcher

spirit

apparition

fable

myth

lore

corn

energy

shadow

noir

grim

dreary

drab

bleak

stark

October

Halloween

life

death

memories

boundary

witness

imagination

seeking

creating

visceral

haunted

animated

straw man

rural noir

GreenMan

Legend

FV « less

Sets appears in: • Rural Noir

Groups appears in: • Agriculture • Lucid & Mysterious more » • Rural America - (Opted out of 30/60) • ~*~Atmosphere~*~ • LONELY OBJECTS GROUP • Rural Photos • Dark Days • Rural Darkness • ..:: I LOVE DARK PHOTOS ::.. • HALLOWEEN WORLDWIDE • Phantasm • darkclub • American Melancholy • in explore • The Dark Side Of The Light - No Second Life • h y p n o s i s w a v e • Shadows and Moods • BEAUTY PHOTOS AROUND THE WORLD « less

Camera: Nikon D7000, f/8.0, 1/1500 sec, 18mm (=27mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D7000
Lens:	18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1500)
Focal Length:	18mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm)
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	-3/2 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 21.1 (Macintosh)
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