Former Amber Waves
Hay rolls await collection for cattle feed after the grain has been harvested along Tower Road near Denver, Colorado, Airport. ...
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Hay rolls await collection for cattle feed after the grain has been harvested along Tower Road near Denver, Colorado, Airport.
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Jun, 2016Views
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travlndon
March 07, 2018
This area is now a residential development zone. Roads have been roughed in and the builders have been working from the paved streets deeper into this field. A mixed blessing, I inspect construction.
travlndon
December 20, 2022
Who needs a fancy camera?!?!?
Taken with a simple flip phone camera and still receiving recognition over 6 years later for its art.
Taken with a simple flip phone camera and still receiving recognition over 6 years later for its art.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was in an open, recently harvested, high mesa prairie, grain field hemmed in between several burgeoning housing developments, a national wildlife refuge, a major landfill, and Denver International Airport. These fields are being converted, now 3 years later, to another multi-builder housing development, and practically no longer exist. If you look into the far horizon haze and cumulus cloud bank, the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains is visible. These dominate some of the landscape and are a constant reference for directions, e.g. If you are looking at the mountains, then you are facing West!Time
Surprisingly, this was taken at almost noon as noted by the shadows having no length beyond the outline of the straw rolls, as I returned from a building inspection nearby. My only available camera was my flip phone but felt the array of bales would likely be picked up shortly and needed to be captured NOW or not at all.Lighting
Was amazed how well the golden colors of the stubble and the bales were captured despite the very harsh noontime, high angle sunlight and the limited capabilities of my flip phone. Did carefully pick the location and shooting line to lose the sheen of the plastic wrap securing the bales and to have some shadow on the ends of the bales to improve the perception of depth across the image. Also, ensured the natural striping, of the stubble from the different leaning from the equipment passage, was visible and captured.Equipment
My only available equipment was my personal flip phone. This was prior to my purchase of a DSLR and prior to my learning how to modify the image "in camera" so just used the auto function for a handheld, point-and-shoot image.Inspiration
I had been admiring this stretch of field for months beginning with the minor green sprouts of spring, through the green to amber color change of ripening grain, to the random layout of the straw rolls. On this day, the hot and bright, late summer sun created a strong light and bright colors across this field with the contrasting blue haze of the distant mountain range. I selected this point as having the best colors and depth of image due to the many bales within the frame.Editing
The JPEG tones were enhanced slightly using Picasa3 for post processing. Modified white balance, increased blacks for shadow depths, and added color saturation for better contrast post processing. Also, did some cropping to achieve better Rule of Thirds composition with horizontal stripes and placing primary bale at the 1/3 intersection point.In my camera bag
My primary camera is a Sony Alpha58 crop sensor body. I have 2 zoom lenses; 18-65 mm, f/2.0 Sony kit lens and a 55-300 mm, f/4.3-5.6 Sony lens; both haze UV Haze filters as lens protection. On the advice of the sales rep at Mike's Camera, have a spare charged, back up battery with the charger. Have added a wireless capable flash unit with several sets of rechargeable batteries and a diffuser globe. Have a Cokin A-series filter set with Circular Polarizing Filter and several different filter for special effects. Also carry several SD cards and sticks to make back ups on a daily basis. When travelling carry my laptop and an external 4TB SSD for back up and processing. Also, carry several miscellaneous items, lens cleaner/cloths, power packs and cables for cellphone and other electronics as well as an international power adaptor.Feedback
Have tried to take the cliché, "Better a passable image with what is available, than to miss the image altogether!" What made this shot is maximizing the image within the equipment and judicious post work. This and other scenes have a limited life span since the area was being actively farmed at the time and now has become a major residential housing development. Take more than one image by moving around and decide later which is the best when a full size image can be checked out in detail. Do not make your decision based on only the direct viewscreen of either your cellphone or your DSLR camera; the tones and details are most often poorly presented on these small, compressed screens. Return several times especially several hours earlier or later in the day to capture the effects of changed light and shadow angles, I regret not following this suggestion and am now restricted to this one image. Be prepared to see several other versions of similar scenes. This was my screen saver and have seen similar scenes both a part of 'free' screensavers with some operating systems and as landscapes taken by other professional and amateur photographers; "Great minds think alike."
