11-06-12 The Right Place At the Right Time

Here's another portrait from the archives (2007). This shot is of Gabe H. and the location is a short distance away from the abandoned farms that I have posted several times in this blog. What made this photo special to me was the subject: Gabe was relaxed, happy and, being a country girl, in her element.The timing was right, too. This is a beautiful field of ready-to-harvest wheat and the setting sun was strong enough to create excellent backlighting. To balance the sunlight, I put the camera in Aperture Priority mode and used a shoot-through umbrella and a Canon flash running off of a Canon IR transmitter. This lighting set-up is very user friendly and does a good job lighting Gabe, especially her eyes. Because South Dakota is a windy place, using an umbrella lighting set-up outside is risky. But on this particular evening it was calm and quiet.I could return to this field on the same date at the same time for a decade and not get the conditions I had on this evening in July. I certainly believe that good timing is the essence of good photography and this photo may be evidence of that.Canon 1D Mark II 1/160s f/4.0 ISO200 59mm

07-23-12 Patterns

Last in a series of wheat photos.

07-19-12 Amber Waves

4th in a series.

07-18-12 Golden Braids

This is third in a series of wheat, this time a close view of what comprises a generally nondescript golden field of wheat.

07-17-12 Spring Wheat

Some would say that if you've seen one wheat field, you've seen them all. And from a distance that's probably true. But I'm afraid my quest for good wheat photos yesterday didn't satisfy me. So I went out again this morning looking again for the perfect wheat photo opportunity. I was hoping for better light today and I got it. Generally, it was overcast but the sun was working to push its way through occasional soft spots in the morning clouds. And so I got the perfect back lighting from the biggest soft box on earth.I took over 200 photos during the 30 minutes I spent at this particular field. I'll admit that I was practicing a little "spray and pray" photography because a gusty breeze was causing the heavy heads of wheat to move around. And since I was using a very narrow field of focus (low f-stop number), I wanted to be sure I had some focused photos when I got home.Towards the end of my shoot, Bret H., the field's owner, drove up and stopped. I walked over to his truck with my camera and told him that I couldn't resist taking photographs of his amazing crop. He simply smiled. When I showed him a photo I had just taken and said, "You're not a farmer; you're an artist," he smiled some more.If you haven't stopped by a mature wheat field and studied the plant that in some ways was and still is the foundation of western civilization, it's time you did. The whispy "hairs" and the braid-like grains of wheat truly are a work of art.

07-16-12 Amber Waves

When I went driving this morning in search of something to photograph, I figured that the perfect wheat field would likely draw me like a magnet. I am fascinated by bare, black fields that turn to green and then to beautiful yellow-gold. And we can't help but notice the harvest of wheat because the huge red or green machines that work the fields contrast so distinctly with the mature crop.But who has the time or interest to park and take a closer look at the grain? I would guess the farmer would. And so does the photographer, who, as I've said so many times in this blog, has the power to get you, the viewer, to take a closer look. And it is worth the time. . .

02-17-10 Wheat and Sun

I was within a few miles of the Missouri River (and Lake Oahe) when I saw the low sun lighting up this wheat field. One of the reasons you don't let the sun hit your lens is "lens flair," which is apparent in this photo. Lens flare is caused by the sun reflecting and refracting off of interior lens elements. But sometimes it can enhance a photo.

I don't know if the flare helps this picture. But for me the picture is enough: an expansive field of golden wheat on a sunny summer day.

Canon 1D 1/125s f/18.0 ISO200 20mm

07-12-09 Golden Fields

The wheat is a not yet ready to harvest in our state but I noticed that it is getting close. This photo was taken a few years ago north of Watertown on a dewy morning just as the sun was coming up.

Canon 1DII 1/125s f/5.0 ISO400 70mm