09-18-12 Ready and Waiting

There is an adage in photography that says that you should first find a good photo opportunity and then turn and look behind you because the best photo is often something you don't see at first.This picture is a good example in that what caused me to stop my truck along the gravel road in Iowa was the photo I took yesterday. After getting what I wanted there, I turned and looked across the road. And this is what I saw (click). It wasn't all that special, was it? But inspired by one of my student's great soybean photos (check out Lindsey Fowler's photo), I decided to move in. And this photo is the result. And it stands as a good example of the tremendous power photographers have: we get people to look at things they would probably never taken the time to see.By the way, I like Lindsey's photo better. :-)Canon 5DIII 1/320s f/4.0 ISO320 182mm

09-17-12 Golden (HDR)

I was cruising the backroads of Iowa with my good friend BZ looking for one of my favorite subjects - an Iowa cornfield. The cornfield wasn't hard to find, of course. What is a little more challenging is finding other things that make the corn a little less run-of-the-millIn the case of this photo, the sunrise helped and so did the built-in HDR processor my Canon 5DIII has. I shouldn't point this out, but I think there is a compositional flaw in this photo in that I think it would be better if A) the sun lined up with the rows of corn or B) I had given a little more room to the right of the sun when I framed the shot. But, as they say, "It is what it is." And, to paraphrase the Rolling Stones, "It's only a corn field but I like it."Canon 5DIII 1/25s f/18.0 ISO320 200mm

10-11-11 Moonset Over Iowa Corn Field

It was the perfect summer morning to be out north of Lake Okoboji in Iowa hunting for photos. This is one of the three captures I like for the hour I spent looking. I especially like the strong green color of the corn contrasting with the soft, muted color of the pre-sunrise sky.