There are many good reasons to join a photo club. One of the best reasons is you are 'forced' out of your comfort zone. Or you can state it in the words of Monty Python - And now for something completely different.
I've wanted to visit a farm for a long time for a photographic opportunity. Michigan has farms aplenty. And so when a friend from the club offered a farm field trip, I was all over it.
I googled farm photography. Two items were the most talked about. First, on the arts side - pay attention to the background. And for the most part I did. Next, be prepared to get dirty and muddy. And for the most part I was. Success all around.
For the outing I went with the D850 and 24-70 lens. I didn't expect any fast action stuff and I thought I'd be pretty close to the action. And I was confident enough to not take a backup combo setup. Whew, I didn't miss by much. I could have used the 70-200 lens when I was outside. The smaller critters didn't come up too close. But for the inside shots, the 70-200 lens would have been useless. One of the other things I learned was the D850 and a f/2.8 lens lets in a LOT of light. I have two 'inside' shots for tractors that I thought I'd need to do a lot of light addition work to get to come out. As right as I was about the combo to use, I was not so right on this. Wow. Goes to show, you need to get out there and shoot.
We endured a bit of a rain delay once we were out in the field. The rain wasn't heavy by any stretch, but was a lot more than mist. So we took about a ten minute break in a horse shelter until the worst passed. But the clouds never really broke and the light was generally CRAP. (Said with due respect to all the meadow muffins.) And as always, if you look hard enough in any great setting you can find a rainbow. And there was a very nice one at one point. Great to see one without a bunch of urban development around.
For the critter side, the farm had three horses and some beef. Horses were great. No biting. No fast moves. Very relaxed. This was my favorite horse shot. Really close up. That eye is right at you. Supports the photo adage, if the eye is sharp, the rest will follow.
As to the beef, there were three cows and four calves. The calves were just awesome. The young ones are always cute. These four were great color targets, going from mostly all white to to the other end of the spectrum. And what I would call personality was flowing through these little ones. They would come up to me, until I moved. (I had to resist a moo moment there.) Then they'd step back a bit. Who startled who first? So I did move around quite a bit. And this is my favorite shot with the calves. Remembering the advice to make sure the background was right. I had to wait for this to line up, and everyone played their part.
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