Alabama Morning

Alabama Morning

These Fords were in a wrecking yard in Alabama a couple of years ago. The cars I find in the southern states have a much different patina of rust on them than the cars out west of the Mississippi River do. The climate in the south is much more humid and therefore the rust is more agressive. The oxidation process creates a much rougher surface which in turn traps more moisture that then eats away at the metal more aggressively.

I liked the way the early morning sun was lighting the scene and how it really emphasized the texture on the 1949 Ford in the foreground. The contrast of the smooth chrome and glass in the headlights really caught my eye. The cars are framed to in a typical rule of thirds composition and the rust on the roof in the background draws the viewer’s eye back in the scene while reinforcing the colors of the cars.

There wasn’t much I needed to do in processing to get this image finished. I used a little of the Spicify preset in Topaz Adjust to punch up the texture and saturate the colors before returning the image to Aperture 3 for final sharpening and output.

4 thoughts on “Alabama Morning

  1. Wow, the image doesn’t even look real, more like a painting. Very nice. Amazing how the chrome is preserved and smooth while the steel, not so much.Up north, everything rusts, thanks to road salt.

  2. I like everything about this one… the lighting, the monochromatic look with the headlights offering contrast, and the overall the feel of it. Outstanding, once again.

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