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Nothing more than a section of a barn near Steptoe. You either love or loathe this kind of shot, right?
At left, a crop duster swings by as the sun rises. Some of the pilots drop long white markers to 'bookmark' the sections they have already sprayed.
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Another crop duster doing his stuff in the shadow of Steptoe Butte. Does he use Pledge I wonder? |
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The lines of stubble were pleasing to the eye, but without some PhotoShop manipulation it lacked impact.
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This shovel was in a barn with the light falling in just the right place. There are compositional guidelines out there that we are all aware of, and I suggest to clients that they are useful but are to be broken if you feel you can improve the picture. Here I opted for the right-hand third, and have no regrets.
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Another image I just had to play with. Besides the color, I also find the composition very pleasing to the eye, and that's a major ingredient of successful images.
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Harvesting in the late light. Note that the header on the combine adjusts to the terrain while the cab stays vertical. Exposure for a shot like this can be tricky, and thus I underexposed by a half a stop.
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Looking east at sunrise, Kamiak Butte presides over the sun-kissed grain fields.
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One of those typical Palouse scenes that one knew was going to need cropping when all was said and done. This one is enhanced by the backdrop of a stormy sky, plus the nicely lit farmstead. |
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Back-lit stubble . . . yeh stubble! Well, I for one see an image that tells a story. |
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I go on and on about how blue skies are nice, how overcast light reduces the contrast, but better still is this kind of changeable weather when it provides golden moments such as this one. That's just what makes my trips to the British Isles and New Zealand so interesting! |
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Not a Dandelion, but Salsify which flowers with a bright yellow head. Found in semi-arid regions of the west. |
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A well preserved and rare round barn not too far from Moscow, Idaho. Of course, this shot is enhanced by the combining going on in front of the barn.
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An empty truck heading back to the fields after having unloaded it's load into a 'community' grain bin.
This particular perspective was achieved with a lens in the 300 to 400 mm range.
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Light and lines. Note that the header of the combine is adjustable to accommodate the slope. |
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Light and shade #1 |
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Light and shade #2 |
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Light and shade #3 |
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Light and shade #4 |
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I'm not sure where this was . . . OK, just kidding. There are paved roads running through the Palouse, but hundreds of miles of additional roads that are just dirt. That's where a majority of the shots are to be found. |
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A few grasshoppers won't bother the grain farmer, but a plague of them will, such as happens every few years. The grain in the shot is wheat. |
Red barn, winding lane, and side-lighting. That'll do!
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Another shot making good use of 'thirds', the imaginary guidelines within a frame for composing. |
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Early and late light on the Palouse is the best time to be out with a camera, and these four images are dawn shots from Steptoe Butte. All you need is an alarm clock, tripod, long lenses and to be there.
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The lines in the stubble complement this image of the stark tree. I used a tripod with my lens set at f.22 for maximum depth of field. Trees like this become trusted friends when I take group after group to such spots. This tree however is unfortunately no longer with us.
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On each trip I pick up a few wheat or barley stalks - these are wheat - and attach them to my tripod so that folk can get shots such as this. It sort of sums up the whole Palouse experience really. |
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The symmetry of the grain bins at Staley recorded with a 200 mm lens. Just another Palouse 'story'. |
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An old Ford pick-up that continues to toil on the Palouse.
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More wheels, this time south of Moscow, Idaho. To get the image sharp from front to back a setting of f.16 or f.22 has to be the aperture of choice.
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Light and shade maketh the image, but first the composition has to have some substance to it. |
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Some Deer are hard to identify as a rule, but when the White-Tail Deer is alarmed, up goes it's, well, erm, white tail. You can make out the white tail on the male on the left. The other deer is a female.
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Nice side lighting for this pair of barns makes the shot. I've shot them on overcast days and there's no comparison. |
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A close-up of a parked combine's header. If you look at the crooked horizon in the corner of the image, it'll tell you that I tilted the camera to keep the converging lines within my viewfinder area.
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A Goldfinch extracting seeds from a Thistle.
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 It's harvest time during my trips to the Palouse,
and for this pair of shots there is a nice balance of light and shade.
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There is a farmer on the south end of the Palouse who has assembled a fence of old wheels and cogs etcetera, and they make ideal 'frames' for his barn. Now if only we can get him to paint that barn a shade of brick red!
Looking in the other direction you can see how much work, has gone into putting the fence together.
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This is a scene north of Moscow that needs some 'help' if there isn't an interesting sky. The trick with photo software effects is to only use them if they will indeed enhance 'reality' in some manner. |
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A pair of shots taken from the same spot as the sun was setting near Moscow, Idaho.
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Minutes after this was taken the wheat was in the hopper. Silhouettes give you the best return for minimum effort, and all you need do is 'see' your subject. In most cases your exposure will be 'as is' too.
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The amber waves of grain prepare to meet the light as the sun rises behind Kamiak Butte. |
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The Palouse by Rachel Hull
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