Sliced, Front and Center

Camera Roll-10928, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

I came across this vintage John Deere GP tractor while attending a conference in Kansas City last week. I was traveling light, photographically, having left my big boy camera at home. Instead, I took my wife's point and shoot to record snapshots of ideas to share with my team back home. And I had my iPhone as backup .

The last day of the conference involved a bus tour. It had snowed a foot deep the night before and it was cold- 8 degrees was the high. As a result, the cold sucked the life out of the point and shoot quickly forcing me to finish up with the iPhone. This children's farm was target rich: I could have stayed all day capturing the old farm equipment. As it was, it was nearly time to get back on the bus when I came upon this scene. The light was weird, it looked hideous in color and I nearly skipped it altogether. I paused and thought, "What if...?"

Recently, I read an article by British photographer Allister Benn who described photography as The Creative Cycle consisting of Vision / Capture Technique / Processing. Brilliantly put! As I trudged through a foot of snow, what I first noticed (Vision) was the extreme dynamic range cutting diagonally across the subject (the tractor). Typically, one would want the subject lighted more prominently than the surrounding areas, but here the opposite is true. Due to surrounding elements, I had to place the subject in the center. Could I make it work?

The deep shadows and the bright, low angled sun required an HDR capture (Capture Technique) that would challenge the iPhone's sensor. Being hand held, I took care to hold it as steady as possible: A couple of settling breaths, elbows in tight and click.

(Processing) involved blending the pair of bracketed exposures in TrueHDR, base corrections were done in Perfectly Clear and B/W conversion and shadow enhancement in SnapSeed. A red filter was used to render the sky dark to match the foreground shadows.

I like how the foreground shadow forms a triangle the mirrors the triangle shape of the background tree branches.

Case Tractor

_DSC1322_DxO pc (c) 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Radiator cap, obviously not a high pressure cooling system. The restored neon dealership sign tops the collection off nicely.
The inline four cylinder gasoline engine configuration was typical of era around WWII. After this, Case left the gray and red accent paint scheme for an orange one.

Fog

_DSC1495_DxO topazbw (C) 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

 We have been having a little weather lately. Cold weather. As in coldest in about 20years. Before this latest cold snap, we had one of those mornings where the fog hung around until almost noon. There are few things as beneficial for landscapes than great fog for an ethereal look and feel.

Diamond T

_DSC1430_DxO pc ps (c) 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Another from the Keystone Tractor Museum. It is hard to imagine farming without a pick up truck. They just don't make style like this anymore.

The Great Falls

_DSC1515_DxO_PerfectlyClear TVC OOBW (C) 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Last Saturday, on the way to pick Donna up at the airport, I a Road Runner Photography Meetup at The Great Falls National Park in northern Virginia. The wind was cold and the clouds fleeting at sunrise.

The lead image was converted to BW in On One.

Grill Style

_DSC1305_DxO pc (C) 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Tractor brand identity had much to do with color scheme and distinctive grill design then as now.

Traction

_DSC1247_DxO pc (C) 72dpi C, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

The ongoing evolution of "traction machines" continues to be about efficiently transferring mechanical horse power to the ground. Once the wheel replaced the hoof, the quest to accomplish more work in the field with less labor, cost and energy has been constant over the past century.

This image is of the left rear tire and fender of a vintage Case tractor tuned for the pulling circuit. Tractor pulling contests originated in the early days of tractors as farmers sought to claim bragging rights to traction.