Tag Archives: new holland

Explore Your Options

Posted by reesephoto on

Every once in a while I offer some insights on how I end up with the images I share here and this post is one of those times. I used to drive around for hours looking for subjects, but these days I find it harder to allot time to just look. So this particular day I was hoping to get a couple fall foliage shots and was driving the area when I noticed this tree lined farm lane with maple trees just past prime but still very colorful. I pulled off the road so I could walk over to the entrance to the lane and get a tree framed view of the barns. I snapped a couple angles and was walking back to the car when I saw a buggy coming. I thought this will be awesome with my original composition plus a buggy added to the equation! So I sat in the car camera pre-focused, exposure set, ready to blast a series of shots and the top image is the best result of that series. This is not the first time I have found my calculations for a shot turned out to be way off. First the shots I got with the full buggy showing literally blocks the entire farm scene, and even with a fast shutter speed the buggy moving right to left in front of me had some motion blur.

So as I evaluated my error and considered the lay of the land around me I decided to climb a hill behind me. As I got up the hill I noticed that bright area of fallen leaves to the left of the tree and thought if I could get one more buggy passing, I could get what I was after! I waited maybe five minutes and not only did a buggy come but he actually turned into the farm lane which made him stand out clearly against the fallen leaves giving me more than I had hoped for. Surprisingly this is one of my favorites from this fall season because of several points. First I feel the composition is perfectly balanced, it gives you a feeling of going home, the yellow maples, two red barns and two red maples just make a pleasing autumn scene and the horses eating in the pasture add a nice touch! So explore the options wherever your journey takes you!

Finally Captured it!

Posted by reesephoto on

Believe it or not this is a shot I have been hoping to capture for the last four years! Fall is a favorite time of year for me and I enjoy everything from the crisp cool nights and frosty mornings to the dazzling array of autumn colors! This location in particular is one I happened to drive past each of the last 3 years and every time it was when the inventory was anywhere from half gone to three quarters gone. Well fast forward to this year and for once I caught the field full of rich color. I stopped and snapped a quick shot and asked if I could stop by in the evening to do a tripod mounted shot under softer lighting? The young lady said sure and all day all I could think about was how awesome this opportunity was going to be to capture such beauty! Well evening finally rolled around and I arrived to notice that during the day hundreds of the most vibrant plants had been taken to the auction? This minor setback was never even considered as a possibility but as the owner told me once they get to full color it is time to move them out. Well I ended up shooting a little lower angle to hide empty areas and the owners thankfully allowed me to move some plants to fill in random holes. I was just settling in with my final composition and the light was getting more appealing by the minute and low and behold here comes a tractor with a wagon down the lane to remove even more? Not knowing what they were going to grab sent me into hustle mode capturing as many exposures from light to dark before my subject potentially might disappear in front of me. They did grab a couple dozen but mostly from the area out of my shot so in the end I finally was blessed to get the shot!

As a side note I wanted to mention that the owner and his family were very appreciative of the framed print I gave them and were extremely pleased with the final image. I must say it is very gratifying when someone acknowledges your abilities and the effort put forth to rise above mediocrity. I think both shots are great but I always lean toward the images that have that “alive” with light look that is one look I love because it imparts more than beauty as you can imagine yourself getting up for morning chores or maybe getting ready to turn in after a day of hard work. Most people are more than happy to hit a few lights on so I can go the extra mile.

Run for the hills

Posted by reesephoto on

I went out in search of lightning photos the other night, and even though the skies looked pretty threatening, no lightning ever materialized. As I headed home I passed this piece of farm equipment sitting at a local business and decided to light paint it with a flash. I named the photo ”run for the hills” because between the sky ,and the front end of this contraption, I thought it looked pretty menacing. Its called a forage harvester,and I think it does corn but it may have other uses for all I know.