Category Archives: Close-up

Feed Mill Pelletizer

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Once again I was trying my light painting technique in the old feed mill. This time I was photographing what I think is called a pelletizer, which makes feed pellets and the two images show the machine in a closed, and then open position.The bottom photo shows the machines main part,which has a series of holes that form the hardened pellets. The room was very warm so I assume some heat process is involved as well. To do the two images,I first completed the scene with it closed and then simply opened the door for the next part of the shoot. Then I brought that image on top of the first and blended them.

The Food Chain

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Have you ever seen so many cobwebs,you thought you were on the set of some science fiction thriller? Well this was the case as both myself and a fellow photographer spent an evening shooting in a local feed mill. I walked around looking for a shot and came across this corner of the mill that seemed lost in time. It’s no wonder spiders have laid claim to this place as flies were a real nuisance while we shot. I light painted this with an off camera flash trying to bring out the webs and dust and dirt as best I could. At least no mice ran by me on this visit. I have no idea what the machine does but it must not get used very often.

Where is the tree?

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This is the third cicada shell that I found this year in a strange location. These insects usually climb trees and hatch from there as they hang on the bark, but this one seemed to prefer greenery instead. The hibiscus was 10 feet from the tree,so maybe he was too tired to keep going.  Not sure how the pollen got on him, but it was windy the day before. Their jagged legs are perfect for clinging. I only wish I had seen him hatch from here.they usually can be seen on the move around dusk as they seek out their spot to open.

 

Beyond Thunderdome

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Call me crazy, but this reminds me of some wild set of wheels from the movie Thunderdome. If you look closely in the middle underneath you can see a machine gun mounted,or maybe its just a muffler? Put some muscle-bound maniac on top going down the road at 100 mph and you have your own futuristic movie in the making. Shot this at the rough and tumble event, which showcased old farm equipment.

Tobacco Harvest

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The end of summer is rapidly approaching and farmers are busy beginning to harvest everything from corn to tobacco. This Amish family was busy putting freshly cut tobacco onto lathe, which then gets hung on the wagon and then it will move to the barn for drying. This scene includes at least three generations carrying on the tradition.

Rough and Tumble

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Here is another image from the thresher reunion at rough and tumble.For this image I mounted the camera on my tripod and shot several exposures utilizing a hand-held flash off camera. There is no way to get a result like this on one shot,unless you set up a bank of flashes  to fire simultaneously. The exposure for the setting sun put everything in silhouette,so after capturing that piece of the puzzle, I moved to illuminating the tractor. As you can see from the smaller images, The starting shot with the sun was where I started and then lit each area as the example of lighting the front shows. A small detail worth mentioning is the use of a wireless remote to fire the camera from anywhere I need,so I can position the flash at the proper angle and then fire when ready.

Steam Powered Past

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Machines from the past fascinate me, and these old steam-powered contraptions are no exception. Rough and Tumble located in scenic Lancaster county held their 64th annual threshermans reunion last week, and the event included all kinds of steam,gas and kerosene powered machines. This old steam roller with its massive iron wheels was one of many unique pieces I saw at this event.

 

The Painted lady

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The painted lady butterfly has always been one of my favorites, but I do not see as many of them as I did years ago. This one was the only one I saw all day last week, and while it’s not my best shot,it’s the most recent. Anyone interested in doing this type of shot should do their best to get the head sharp. This shot is barely acceptable, as he was turning away from me while I was focusing. If the wings are sharp and not the head,forget it. Its like doing a portrait of a person and having their hair sharp and not their eyes. Little things like that make or break a shot.

Arriving by wagon

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This image is one of those special moments that make being a photographer so rewarding for me. The young girls were riding on this miniature cart and were making their way to sunday church service at a local farm when they passed me at a covered bridge I was photographing with a friend. They headed on their way up the road and I decided to get in my truck and try and get one more photo of something I have never seen before, and figured never would again. They turned down this farm lane with others who were arriving on foot and I took this image through my open car window pretty quickly. Although I am extremely thrilled with the photo, For some reason I have this bad habit of tilting my head and consequently my camera when I shoot handheld,and the image was slightly tilted.My framing was less than ideal in this hurried moment so the image has a touch of tilt yet.

Something I missed was a shot from the front showing the miniature horse that was pulling them,and he must have been a little powerhouse to pull five youngsters. The other thing I really like about this image are the colors the people are wearing,and admittedly I am no expert on Amish ways and I have always wondered how or why they pick certain colors. they are usually very lovely hues and I have seen families dressed in the same color palette on more than one occasion.

Malachite on Flower

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This Malachite butterfly sat long enough for me to get parallel to his wings and get the shot.For anyone wanting to do these type of shots, get as parallel as possible to get maximum sharpness and use flash to freeze motion. I see so many people shooting at whatever angle they feel like and then they get a sliver of acceptable sharpness due to depth of field limitations. This was shot around f16.

The Road

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Todays posting features a road I have always thought had possibilities and last sunday I got several images in the span of fifteen minutes. I was out before dawn and got absolutely nothing over the course of three hours, so I decided I was going to just sit somewhere and see what I get. This road leads right by a farm so I set up my tripod real low at the edge of the field and a few minutes later I could hear the clip clop of buggies in the distance. The first two images had buggies turning from the left and the scooter boys coming in on the right from the T road. The last shot was taken from my truck roof after I changed my position and shows the farm better,but not the locals as well.

I pre-focused for all the shots and used a wireless remote when subjects reached a certain spot, and even though I did this, the horse in number two is fairly sharp,even though I was focused about where the scooter boys are. They were moving at a good clip,so they are not razor-sharp. Focal length was probably around 200mm or so.

Mansion in bloom

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As promised, here is another image taken at the Watt Mansion featuring hydrangea in bloom.Recent severe hot weather has taken its toll on these lovely plants and we are in need of a good soaking rain again. A few flash pops helped light the shaded blooms.

Sorry for the error on calling these hyacinth in my original post. Thankfully a friend pointed out my brain freeze.

My Deer, Can you spare a Buck?

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Antlers are covered in velvet as these buck sit face to face in a field.  Velvet provides nutrition and growth to deer antlers.This special tissue is a type of skin, loaded with blood vessels and nerves, that regenerates every year. Because deer shed their antlers annually, they need dense and rapid growth of their antlers to occur every year. Antlers are important in distinguishing the strongest and most viable bucks, who will end up mating and passing on their genes.