ksletten

Bales pp

NIKON D7000

settings

Aperture f/16.0 ISO 1000 Shutter 10/5000

upload_date

Dec, 2013

Views

147

Likes

+19

Awards

Superb Composition

Top Choice

Absolute Masterpiece

Exceptional Contrast

Outstanding Creativity

Peer Award

Top Ranks

Top 30 rank week 3

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Same photographer See all Behind The Lens

Old river barge boat in dry dock, near the Mississippi River, Prairie Du Chien, WI

Two riders race their horses along the beach.

John Muir County Park, Oxford, WI in fall.

Behind The Lens

Location

South central Wisconsin, near Dalton, WI

Time

Late afternoon

Lighting

The afternoon light really highlighted the golden oat field. The oats had been harvested and the oat straw was baled for use as bedding for dairy cattle.

Equipment

I used a Nikon D7000 with a Tamron 18-270 lens.

Inspiration

Living in a rural area, shots of round bales and other harvest scenes are common, and popular among local photographers. I had shot round bale scenes before, but when I saw this scene while driving in my area I stopped immediately. The field sloped down, away from me and the road, and there was a high, dense, dark wood lot behind it. This eliminated extraneous background detail, giving a somewhat "minimalist" look to the scene. I look for these simple images and enjoy finding "minimalist" shots.

Editing

I cropped to reduce the picture to a few simple elements, and darkened the background more.

In my camera bag

I drive an Amish construction crew around South Central Wisconsin as they do roofing and home construction projects, so I see new areas regularly, although the countryside is pretty homogenous. I always have my camera bag in the back of the truck. I carry a Nikon 7100 DSLR, a Nikon P7700 point & shoot, and another P7700 that's been converted for infrared shooting. My primary lens is the Tamron 18-270, but I also have a Sigma 10-20 wide angle and a Nikon 60mm macro lens.

Feedback

Don't ever think that your local area is boring or doesn't have anything interesting to offer. The more you work in an area, the more you begin to "see" its possibilities. Make time and get out and shoot. This is probably the hardest thing for most photographers. We're so busy, so we tend to "wait" for special events or trips to do our shooting. Don't wait for Saturday's road trip - shoot on Wednesday when nothing special is happening! And ALWAYS take a camera with you! To find images such as this one, look for a few strong compositional elements, rather than a busy scene.

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Bales pp

Behind The Lens

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