Pumpkin planting

It's an annual tradition at the Farm where people of all ages plant pumpkins seeds with the anticipation they will come to fruition in the fall. This event always brings out a lot of people, mostly kids, but everyone seems to enjoy this time of year with burgeoning spring and it's colors; even Bright and Lion seem happy! As per usual, I had my two VR zooms plus the lighter SB-600 flash, a good lightweight combo to carry around.

Spring time means ox shoeing

With the advent of warmer weather and the promise of spring, much work needs to be done at the Farm. One of those tasks is re-shoeing the oxen after the winter footwear has worn down. This is painstaking work and the beast likes to thrash around, but it is very interesting to watch and record. I used three lenses - the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8, Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 and the Nikon 12-24mm, the latter often with diffusion on the SB-800.

The blood is not normal, the shoe needed to be heated as to effect cauterization of the cuts.

Messing with sepiatone and tinted files

I am discovering that there is more to digital imaging and processing than taking photos and spending time on the laptop - you can go back to those original RAW files and mess with them all you want. The sepia and tinted looks are more or less an extension of b/w files with some artistry thrown in the mix.

These Ross Farm files were captured on May 5, 2009, on my 46th birthday - they seemed to be ideal for this effect. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Magnificent winter day at the Farm!

There are times when all the elements just seem to come together for great images - light, weather, subject material and the photographer's ability to see. Never taking all the credit for my own work, Saturday's visit to the Farm seemed to be the ideal scenario - but where was everyone? Nonetheless, I went about and did my usual thing and even was able to go for a sleigh ride and get some interesting captures with the 12-24mmm/SB-800.

I am glad I am comfortable and proficient with flash, it's simply another great tool to capture images.