Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Landergin

West of Amarillo is a location I stop at whenever I pass by-the old elevator at Landergin. Nothing much but an old grain elevator and abandoned gas station. Still...then draw me in. There is something about the old elevator being the only thing over 8' tall on the plains.

The clouds were moving and I thought a great image would be a long exposure with the clouds in motion around the old silos of the elevator.

I did a test image with the DSLR to check the effect and then set up the 4x5 for a 30 second image. Waited for the right moment to catch the leading edge of a cloud.

Looking at the chrome I the light table, I got the exposures right but found I lost one because the film shifted in the holder. Note to self, tap and set the film before doing this again!

Luckily, I got the second one. I cut the corners a little with too much rise, but a little cropping and I got the image I was looking for.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

On the High Plains


The Texas panhandle is the southern reaches of the High Plains. It can be rolling or totally flat. Neither tend to draw photographers but there is a certain something about the flatlands that really interests me.

The farms, the grain elevators, the small towns, and the endless sky. It is even better when the sky is stormy and over cast.

While driving to Amarillo I passed by this field and turned around so I could stop and photograph it.

The green grass, the flat, the remains of a fence line and the thick clouds. I thought it was something. Out came the 4x5 and the 75mm wide angle lens. I photographed this in color for the green and in b+w for the stormy quality. Here is the scene.

Check out my Wilderness Photographer Blog linked to the right for the snapshot that I was looking at.