Hampshire and Dorset Fields (and a Bridge!)

It was ridiculously hot on this particular day (at least for the UK) - a little over 30 degrees at lunch time when I decided to drive out to Beech Hill and take some shots in the fields around that area.  There were lots of wheat fields, and the sky was nice - blue with enough clouds to give some interest:

Hampshire Field

All these shots were taken with my standard landscape setup - 5D mark 2 and 17-40L with Lee holder and Hi-Tech ND grad filters (0.3, 0.6 and 0.9), a remote release and mirror lockup.

Wheat

Just catching the sun in this shot (deliberately) gives another point of interest, although it does show the flare issues you can get from using square filters.  Lenses are typically designed to minimise flare with clever designs and multi-coated optics (both internal and external), but a plastic ND-grad filter has none of this (not even a single anti-reflective coating), so flare can become an issue.  Any dirt or marks on the filter can light up when exposed directly to the sun like this.

Midday Sun over the Fields

I liked this next shot as the wheat at the bottom looks like a load of sparklers burning away - the fine detail is just on the verge of being overexposed and looks almost white in the sun.

Golden Stars

I was in an observant mood today, and on the way home I noticed a field of maize on the side of the A31, near Avon Heath Country Park.  I pulled in down the entrance road, clambered over a fence (armed with tripod etc) and carefully walked around the paths finding a nice shot.  The sky was starting to cloud over, but I managed to get this shot (I think this was with a 0.9ND grad (3 stop), which has led to quite a dark sky):

Maize

I was really fired up for photography, so after getting home, having some food and putting the kids to bed I went out again down a few roads in Wimborne that were new to me (found while doing my 100 mile cycle ride a few weeks back).  The few people along the road must have thought I was a bit mad - I drove along for a bit then I'd spy something out the corner of my eye which looked promising, reverse back up the road, stuff the car in a hedge somewhere and go and inspect!  Most of the time the view I saw initially was ruined by something like a pylon, nasty looking fence or some metallic farm building which just wasn't going to work in the shot.

Carry on along the road, I turned down to Sturminster Marshall, and stopped by Whitemill bridge.  This bridge dates back to the twelfth century - at least the foundations have been carbon dated to this age, although the bridge structure is probably sixteenth century and "somewhat hacked around by the Victorians" (see here for further information).

It was just starting to rain, so I quickly headed down the water's edge and set the tripod up with an ND grad on the 5D mark 2 and took some shots shielding the filter from the spitting rain.  Luckily the rain didn't turn into anything significant, and I managed to get a few long exposure shots (after I had waiting for the man standing on the bridge and starting at me to leave!)

Whitemill Bridge over the Stour (in the rain!)

After taking shots of the bridge, I started heading back home through Shapwick and onwards towards Badbury rings.  Again, another field caught my eye and the sun was just about to set, so I pulled into a layby and got my kit out (so to speak!).  Through an unlocked gate, I was presented with a huge wheat field on a hill, and through the hedge a field partially crops (maize?) and partially wheat:

Crops

The sky was starting to get darker now - although the sun hadn't quite set the cloud was heavier near the horizon so there were long periods where there was no direct sunlight.  The exposure time was going up, leading to the motion effects on the wheat from the wind:

Whispy Fields

I crossed the road after sunset to a larger field with more mature wheat.  The wheat was firmer and the wind wasn't really strong enough to move it around so even on long exposures it was crisp and sharp:

Dorset Wheat

As is now standard, I took some portrait shots too (maximises your chance of being able to use the image in a publication):

More Wheat

This one has the lead in lines of the lack of crops where the tractor drove:

Tractor Tracks

All in all a good day of photography.  It pays to be open minded and have your kit with you all the time - with 10 or 20 minutes spare time on a journey, you can stop and spend a little time capturing an interesting view - there's a lot of hidden gems all over the place!