Fields in the rain
Purgatory Road Farm Nikon Zfc with 26mm f 2.8 prime 1/400 sec. f/11. ISO 4000
It’s a hazy rainy morning….a perfect morning to capture an image of the misty haze laying over one of the many farm fields in Orange County NY. No matter what the weather, there is always an interesting image to be made. The challenge is to make a dreary landscape come alive and one of the best ways to do that is to add contrast. The best way I know of to add contrast on a day like today is go to monochrome (black and white) format. Having set the tone of the day, it was time to see if I could locate one of the “Iconic” birds of the fields, the Bobolink.
Bobolink
After years of living in the same county in New York, we have gotten to know where to look for certain birds at certain tines of the year. To get the Bobolinks in June, we only had to ride a short distance from Purgatory Road where the farm field image was created to Otterkill Road, another farm field which thankfully has not fallen victim to “progress” otherwise known as development. A favorite folk singer/composer John Gorka wrote a song entitled “Houses in the Field” and one of the lines goes as follows…..
Oh, I guess no one should be afraid of change
But tell me why is there a fence for every open range?
It's a sign I'm getting on in years
When nothing new is welcome to these eyes and ears
I’ve been in Orange County for almost 80 years, and while I won’t admit to subscribing to “nothing new is welcome to these eyes and ears”, it is gratifying to see that there is still a fair amount of farmland in these parts, and for that I am deeply grateful. One difference that we do recognize is that many of those fields that were always open to hikers, birders, photographers or folks just looking to enjoy the open spaces are now not only fenced in but plastered with POSTED signs. Seems like every year there is fewer and fewer acreage for us to explore with binoculars and camera in hand. Today’s image of the Bobolink was taken from the side of the road with the bird sitting on a barbed wire fence post. Pretty much par for the course these days, but the farmland is still there even is only to afford us a distant view. Here’s to Telephoto lenses!
That’s my mini-rant for the day. The birds don’t pay attention to the POSTED signs and this one was sitting on a nice rustic post as they so often do along this road. He was quite obliging, sitting in the steady rain long enough for me to capture a few nice shots and then flying off between the raindrops in the correct direction to allow me to grab a shot of him heading back into his domain.
Bobolink in flight Nikon Z8 with Nikon 100-400 @ 230mm 1/1250 sec, f/8, ISO 2400
Tech Tip - Many circumstances lend themselves to being captured in Black and White, and overcast days are ideal for this mode of photography. My earliest experience in photography was with B & W film processed in the dark room. Do I miss the smell of the acetic acid bath and the developer? Nope. I am happy to be able to work on my photos in the comfort of my little studio in the basement of the house with my iMac and “Lightroom Classic” now being the tools of the trade. Sometimes progress is a good thing!
