Photographing barley, wheat and other crops

Summer's here, well it's meant to be, so that means the UK's fields are filling with the picture perfect, golden crops of wheat and barley. The fields make great photographic subjects and better still, if you play around with slow shutter speeds you don't need particularly good weather to get great photos which is good news for us Brits who rarely see the summer sun!


Gear
A wide-angle lens will be the most useful bit of kit you take with you but if you don't own one, take your telezoom along and just stand a little further back to get your sweeping shots of the field. Your telezoom's also handy if walking through the field means you'll be trespassing as you can stay out of the field and still get the shot you want. As we want to get creative with slower shutter speeds you'll need a tripod and pack an ND filter in case the sky's a little too bright.


Technique
If there's a breeze in the air get out into the wheat or barley field, without damaging any crops, put your camera on a tripod and let slow shutter speeds turn the field into a lovely golden blur. Use a small aperture to get front to back sharpness so you can show the whole field turning into a sea of waves. It also means objects such as a single tree standing at the far end of the field will be brought into view giving the viewer something to focus on. If there are tractor tracks use them to guide the eye from front to back or try framing your blurry barley with a natural frame.

Golden light diffused by a light blanket of cloud looks great shimmering across the crop and as clouds lower contrast and help eliminate flare you can shoot into the sun. Just don't look directly at it through your lens as it can cause serious damage to your eyes. Dark, heavy skies full of rain add drama to your shots while the warmer light and colours of a sunrise or sunset will make the field glow.

To ensure the colour you capture is the colour you keep, use Datacolor - the Colour Management Experts.

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