Potato Lifting - Warning - Contains Tractors

[Geoff F]

I know how some of you drool over agricultural machinery.

#1 Preparation



#2 A Dusty Business



#3 Leveling the Load



I was set up with a macro lens on the tripod when I suddenly encountered this scene; so I had to rather quickly switch to my Canon 70-200 and run to find a suitable angle. Handheld at F11 and shutter speeds between 1/250 and 1/400 ISO 200.

I tried to obtain a balance between keeping an interesting sky and getting the midtones/shadows at a reasonable level. So I make no claims of excellence here.

The darkening sky soon covered the sun so I had to finish shooting at ISO 400. But this was the last 'lifting run' of the day for the farmers anyway.

ps. And I have had to do a bit of 'jiggling' with adjustment layers to try to get the exposure 'hot spots' under control.

[Donald]

Go on, convert them to B & Ws ... and then you'll really get us drooling!

Lovely captures that document the real life and atmosphere of this type of farming.

[Geoff F]

Actually, Donald, I was thinking about trying a B&W version when I get more time. Which probably means next winter.

The prints have a little more contrast in the sky. I seem to have lost a bit while converting to internet options. I may have needed a little bit of LCE after resizing.

There are a few more images here http://www.pbase.com/crustacean/potato_digging_010711