Saturday 20 June 2020

Sun, rain, sun

Summer has settled in with the usual unsettled weather. When I saw a break in the thunder showers promising light in the right direction for a return top the lettuce harvester I broke the habit of a lifetime and went for a second look. Not much had moved and the light was almost perfect. The pictures were an improvement on the back lit efforts.


On my way there I paused to photograph some stacked drainage pipes which caught my eye ages ago but never looked quite right. A mundane subject photographed in a mundane manner, perhaps. But I like it.


As things grow and the light alters what was pictorially uninteresting can change. The cultivated ground surrounded, I know not why, by cereal crop has sprung potatoes. The contrast in textures makes for a picture of sorts.


The aftermath of harvesting continues to pose a problem as far as picturing it goes. So I keep trying different approaches.


 Is it waste when the remains of a crop get ploughed back?


The rain we've had has come in heavy showers and longer periods of lighter rain. Most of the ditches which were dry are now flowing and the fields are holding water in places.



Gone is the blowing dust collecting on the tracks and in comes muddy deposits from tractor tyres. The soil looks darker and crops fresher. Work continues no matter the weather.



Once in a while a single frame is all that's needed. I'd watched this farmer setting up his bird scaring kite, biding my time. I dropped lucky with the kite turning 'face on' to me as I made the one exposure before it was raised too high and I had to turn the camera on its side. A minor crop to re-frame and that was it.


Yesterday, during the rain, I thought it was time I made a print of at least one picture from this project. I selected one of the 'geometric' farmingscapes to print and mount. I didn't want to make a big print as the ink in my printer is running low, so I found some  10" x 8" mounts and cropped one to fit. This revealed an advantage of putting subjects central in the frame - cropping  to other aspect ratios can often work without altering the impact of the picture too much. As always seems to be the case, putting a mount  round a picture and placing that in a frame changes a picture for the better. It always seems to make pictures look more 'serious' somehow.

I could imagine a wall or two of these pictures all nicely mounted and frames making a cohesive presentation. While they have a consistent look I do feel that pictures with people in them have more interest, hold the attention longer, even if they are distant and small in the frame. Things going on are more interesting to look at than things. A mix of the two sorts of picture is what I think works best in a long term project like this one. Must make more effort to get people in pictures.

No comments: