How to Have Fun Photographing Tractors – Tractor Series Part IPosted by drfl on September 14th, 2009

As I mentioned in the post “The Dew Drops of Summer“, my brother-in-law invited my father-in-law and me to his cabin near Cedar Rapids, Nebraska where I had the opportunity to photograph a restored 1951 Ford tractor. This week, I am presenting a 5-part photographic series of tractor images. Each day I am going to have a new tractor image and am going discuss what photographic techniques I utilized to achieve the effects in the image.

A Little Bit About the Tractor Session

I spent quite a bit of time photographing this tractor. I had asked my brother-in-law to park the tractor in some grass to which he replied “You want to park a fully restored tractor as though it had sat for years?!”. Well, yeah! I had visualized this image of the tractor in a field with some nice prairie grass. I began in the late afternoon sun and as it grew darker I asked my brother-in-law to switch on the headlights. He then suggested capturing some images of the tractor through the grass as though it was coming toward me. A marvelous idea! By trying different apertures I was able to experiment with the settings which would keep the grass in the extreme foreground out of focus, but still recognizable. I found that f/8 was the most effective at producing this result.

A Little Bit About My Camera Settings

Whenever I shoot images, I solely shoot in RAW format. There are many reasons for this, but the most basic is that I have full control over the processing of the image. When an image is created as a JPEG the camera assumes it knows what’s best and creates the image for you. Well, I’m just stubborn and I certainly don’t think the camera knows whats best for me! In each of the images of the series I used the RAW converter in Adobe Photoshop to process the photographs.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 104mm, f/8, .6 second

The Dew Drops of SummerPosted by drfl on August 25th, 2009

Unfortunately, I was ill last Friday and through the weekend, so I did not complete my “Photo Friday” post.  As a result, I am posting a new photo today.  About two years ago I wanted to start focusing (no pun intended – well ok maybe) on my macro photography.  My wife purchased an extension tube for me and I went out looking for itty subjects.  It’s been a challenging two years to say the least!  When you’re used to wide-angle everything with the occasionally telephoto for wildlife, small subjects can be a bit daunting.  Add to that the fact that every little breeze may move your subject around and the fact that crouching in all sorts of unnatural positions can really torque your back I began to wonder if macro was for me.  Well, I stuck with it and I can now say that I’m glad I did, there are so many great little worlds in nature to explore. 

A couple of weeks ago my brother-in-law’s graciously took my father-in-law and me to his cabin near Cedar Rapids, Nebraska.  Besides casting a fishing line in the lake, I spent the two cool mornings looking for some little things to photograph.  This reed with dew drops fascinated me and I spent probably a good 45 minutes trying different compositions (between breezes of course).  I wanted to capture a bit of the surroundings reflected in the big dew drop and then I stopped down a bit to give the specular highlights on the smaller drops a star-like look.  This effect is visible near the top of the reed on the right side. 

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 50 CM lens, f/9, 1/160 sec.
Near Cedar Rapids, Nebraska

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: http://www.journeyoflight.com/journey06/photo.asp?pictureid=DewDropsofSummer&xmlfile=/journey06/xml/color/midwest.xml&x=36

Patterns in the Sandbar – More Nature AbstractsPosted by drfl on August 10th, 2009

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 81mm, f/18, 1/60 Sec., Singh-Ray Warming Polarizer
Platte River Near South Bend, Nebraska

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: http://www.journeyoflight.com/journey06/photo.asp?pictureid=PatternsintheSandbar&xmlfile=/journey06/xml/color/midwest.xml

As promised, today I’m posting a new image – actually two new images. Two weeks ago I went out at sunrise with the intent of capturing patterns and designs in the sand on sandbars on the Platte River.  I headed down to the Platte River Connection Bridge near South Bend which is an old trussell that has been converted to a foot bridge and climbed down onto the bars from there.  I found some fascinating designs and paths that the water had carved.  I arrived just before sunrise and to take advantage of the low sun hitting the sand which produced some great bright highlights on the ridges and harsh shadows in between.  I used mid-range zoom to capture various details and coupled that with a Singh-Ray Warming Polarizer to keep the glare off the water and to warm the scene slightly.

 
Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 78mm, f/18, .4 Sec., Singh-Ray Warming Polarizer
Platte River Near South Bend, Nebraska

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: http://www.journeyoflight.com/journey06/photo.asp?pictureid=PatternsintheSandbarII&xmlfile=/journey06/xml/color/midwest.xml

Nature AbstractsPosted by drfl on August 3rd, 2009

[Abstract art] seeks to break away from traditional representation of physical objects. It explores the relationships of forms and colors, whereas more traditional art represents the world in recognizable images. – Dictionary.com

Some photographers argue that abstracts only really work when the subjects or location are not evident. They feel that if those items are recognizable the abstraction no longer works because the viewer is aware of the atmosphere outside of the composition. Others believe that abstraction can work regardless if the viewer knows the subject.

According to the first part of the definition above, the purpose of abstract art is to break away from the “traditional representation” of objects. It is the second part, however, in which many photographers become entrenched, “more traditional art represents the world in recognizable images”.

In my opinion, however, these artists’ view of “unrecognizable subject matter” is too constraining and rigid. For an abstract to work I think that the only necessary requirement is that the object in question is being captured in a way that the focus is more on the interplay of contrast, color, light and shapes and not be done in a way that would represent the object as an interpretation of itself. To me an abstraction can work regardless of if you know what the subject is, as long as it is done in such a way to focus the composition on the particular elements of a scene and the interplay of those elements with one another.

Regardless of your view, finding abstracts in nature can be particularly fascinating. Sometimes they are evident, such as a closeup of a spiderweb between two stalks of tall grass, and other times they appear only when the timing is right, the shadows of clouds as they move across a field. Seeking these patterns photographicly requires a different mindset from other types of photography. The subtly of some of these designs require constant vigilance in order to quickly change and take advantage upon emergence of such patterns. During the evening as the previous two posts, I was primarily photographing the large landscape with a wide-angle lens. Here I had my primary camera setup on a tripod and tried different compositions attempting to capture a large slice of my surroundings. In the last post I was able to capture the geese as they flew across the scene since I was equipped with a second body and long lens which I normally have out and prepared for wildlife.

Today’s image takes a completely different slant of the scene at hand. As the sun dipped further below the horizon the intense colors of purple and orange tinted the surrounding area, especially reflecting off the water. It is at this time that the dark contrasts of the reeds in the lake created a pattern of lines that seem to come out of the reflected clouds. I quickly changed modes, placed a mid-range zoom on my primary camera, and captured several images of these reeds at different shutter speeds and focal lengths to experiment with the look of the reeds in the water. Ultimately, I decided on a faster shutter speed so it would catch the ripples in the water to give the viewer a reference point. In some nature pattern abstract shots leaving the reference point out is a good idea, but here I feel that the circles added to the aesthetic complexity of the composition. The strong colors with the strong shapes combine to create a shot that does not represent “reeds”, but rather “abstract”.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 145mm, f/7.1, 1/10 sec.
Jack Sinn WMA, Nebraska

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: http://www.journeyoflight.com/journey06/photo.asp?pictureid=SilentContrast&xmlfile=/journey06/xml/color/midwest.xml&x=18

Small WorldPosted by drfl on July 24th, 2009

While hiking around Schramm State Recreation Area, I came across a little orange mushroom growing from the forest floor.  When I setup to capture the mushroom, a little snail came by and he just had to be in the shot.  I would like to thank little snail for being such a good subject!  This is one of those images that I had never really imagined taking, but is turning out to be one of my favorites.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 50 CM lens, f/7.1, 1/10 sec.
Schramm State Recreation Area, Nebraska

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: http://www.journeyoflight.com/journey06/photo.asp?pictureid=SmallWorld&xmlfile=/journey06/xml/color/midwest.xml&x=18

The Imperfect ImagePosted by drfl on July 23rd, 2009

I have always imagined capturing an image of a leaf under the ice.  In my imagination the leaf was preserved in pristine condition with a nice thin layer of ice covering it to add texture and depth.  Last winter at the OPPD Arboretum I went on a particularly cold day to capture some ice pattern abstracts and leaves trapped in the frozen pond.  I found a fallen fellow that was close to what I wanted, but when I returned to my computer I immediately dismissed the image as not “perfect” enough. 

7 months have gone by and I have reviewed the image again and this time I made a realization:  It is the imperfections which help give this image character and make it more “real”.  99% of the leaves I have seen trapped under the ice are somehow “misshapen”, but this is nature at work – decomposing and renewing for the following year.  In this image the bubbles and the notch out of the side of the leaf give it added interest that would not have been there otherwise.  Sometimes imperfection in our work shows a different glimpse of the beauty of nature.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 50 CM lens, f/10, 1/125 sec.
OPPD Arboretum, Omaha, Nebraska

This image can be viewed on my website at: http://www.journeyoflight.com/journey06/photo.asp?pictureid=FrozenInTime&xmlfile=/journey06/xml/color/midwest.xml&x=27