Gears
Nikon Infrared D200, Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8, 22mm, f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/250 sec
This is the low end of what was once a conveyer system at a hop kiln in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, California. The hop kiln, its buildings, grounds, and old equipment are now part of the Hop Kiln Winery. I was there one very bright, sunny day at just about 1:00pm – I might have preferred to be there earlier in the morning or later in the day to get some better shadows and light. However, we didn’t even know this existed until we were driving by and saw it. Backed up, pulled in their parking lot and jumped out. I saw the buildings and some of the old equipment and immediately grabbed my cameras.
I decided to shoot the low end of the conveyer system with my infrared camera, planning for some black and white infrared. I walked around it for a while and decided I really liked this angle the best, and I knew the IR would turn the sky dark at this angle to the sun. Although this looks very different then what it looks like there in person, this is really close to what I imagined when I took the photo.
I like the contrast between the mechanical equipment and the leaves. And the dark sky lends a nice contrast.
Whoa! What an image. I find the super white parts to be a little distracting. Perhaps you went a little far with the processing?
Thanks Jessica. Yes, I find the blown-out white parts to be distracting too – particularly the leaves. Unfortunately they were actually clipped in the infrared exposure. I tried to expose for the gears and didn’t realize (thought I should have) how much IR was coming off those leaves. I tried some highlight recovery, but too much creates that muddy, flat white in the leaves. Possibly I should look at reprocessing the image to see if I can create something interesting with a less blown-out look. Kinda wishing I had a tripod with me to get a range of exposures.
Thanks!