Harvest 2009

My favorite time of year is the fall which not only means the beginning of waterfowl season but also beginning of the harvest for the farmers throughout the state of Iowa. This afternoon found me shooting just outside of Yale taking photographs of the combine in this beanfield.

These shots were taken with the D90 with my new Sigma 50-150mm f2.8 lense to keep myself a safe distance from the combine. This also kept the dust away from my camera equipment.

#1.

#2.

#3.

#4.

#5.

#6.

#7. A shot from last fall that is one of my favorites. Taken with the D90 + 18-105mm lense.

These two photographs were taken about a week before the harvest started in central Iowa. I sure wish the combines would of been rolling through the fields because this sunset was truly beautiful and unique.

#4.

#5.

Early Season Waterfowl

The 09-10 waterfowl season started here in Iowa in September and it could of arrived much quicker for me. I couldn't wait to get my camera out and start taking photographs again of the unique scenes and moments I get to experience while out waterfowling. The action was rather slow for the early duck season but picked up for the early goose season which resulted in a few more photographs taken. The photographs below are from the opening Saturday of duck and goose season along with a few days in between that I was able to get out.

The equipment used on these shots was the D90 with either the 18-105mm or 50-150mm lense on the camera. Since the 50-150mm lense is new to my line-up, I'm still trying to figure out what settings produce the best results with my camera. As the season progresses, I'll be able to figure that out. As usually, I had one or two shots that were "ruined" by the raffia I put on my blinds while out in the field so I'm still trying to figure out the best approach for that material. You have to have it for concealment but yet it gets in the way of the camera lense.


#1. Opening sunrise of the 09-10 season.


#2. A waterfowl hunter waiting for the geese to arrive.

#3. Taz from RRL waiting to retrieve the downed geese.

#4. Taz getting to the first retrieve of the year.

#5. This bird isn't going anywhere.

#6. A flock of resident honkers commiting to the decoys.

#7. Foggy conditions and the raffia in this picture proved to reduce the results it could of had.

#8. Alone goose coming into the decoys in the foggy conditions.

#9. Product shot for Lynch Mob Calls.

#10. Using photoshop to change the affect of the photograph into black & white.

#11. Sunrise over the decoy spread.

#12. The fullmoon behind the decoy spread.

Lake Panorama National Golf Course 09

Throughout the summer, I tried to capture some images of beautiful Lake Panorama National Golf Course. I enjoy days to photograph the golf course when it is sunny but yet the sky has puffy white clouds. There usually isn't too many of these days during the summer, so I have to take advantage of them when they do occur.

Lake Panorama National Golf Course will be hosting the Brokers International, Ltd. Iowa Open from 2010 to 2014.

Hole #1

Hole #3

Hole #5

Hole #5

Hole #5

Hole #5

Hole #6

Hole #6

Hole #7

Hole #9

Hole #10

Hole #11

Hole #12

Hole #13

Hole #14

Hole #15

Hole #15

Hole #15

Hole #15

Hole #15

Hole #17

Hole #17

Hole #18

Taking Shots at Crop Dusters

On the way home the other day, I noticed a crop dusting plane up in the sky and I was happy to see it spraying a field very near my house. I quickly grapped the D90 and switched to the 70-300mm lense and cruised up the road to take some photographs. The majority of the photos were taking with the plane flying past me allowing me to get side shots but I ended with "head-on" shots. I almost didn't stop to take the "head-on" shots because I had turned the corner to go home but I thought these could be some neat photos. I'm glad I did!

Settings on the D90 were set to shutter-priority with ISO ratings between 400 and 800 because the sun was going down quickly. Zoom levels ranged from 70mm to 300mm so I'm glad I had that lense on the camera. I started out with very fast shutter speeds of 1/1600 a sec but quickly changed that to help blur the background behind the plane. In the end, I'm happy with the results from photographing a plane for the very first time.

#1.


#2.

#3.


#4.

#5.

#6.

#7.

#8.

#9.

#10.

#11.


#12.