Photo #10: Cornstalks

Cornfields. They’re everywhere in the midwest. My drive to work is only about eight miles long, and cornfields line the roads for most of the way.

The fields have yet to be replanted, and they’re full of dried brown stalks, none more than a foot high. These have been catching my eye lately, and I wanted to photograph them.

I waited until it was within an hour of sunset, and drove to some nearby fields, which had both the surroundings I wanted and were oriented best for the light of the setting sun.

I walked over to the field. The shadows were long, forcing me to angle the shot correctly, lest my shadow appeared. I wanted to get the cornstalks from a lower angle, showing both the size of the field and the brittle stalks. I tried a few different angles, starting at the end fo the field and working my way slightly inward.

I immediately noticed that there were red cornhusks scattered throughout the field. I realized that these would make a pretty cool picture by themselves, so I took a quick break to capture a few macro photos of the husks. Since the photo of the field itself was my goal, I’m not going to share the macro. (Maybe I’ll share some of my extra photos after I’ve finished with my 30.)

After a few minutes. I moved to another field. I shot the first field from the west, with the sun directly behind me. The second field I photographed from the south. It was closer to sunset, making the light a little softer. Finally, I tried a few to the west, including the setting sun as well.

I had a really hard time picking my photograph for today. I had several that turned out well, although none were quite what I initially envisioned. I probably went back and forth a dozen times about which photo to include. In the end, I finally decided on one of the photos from the second field. I like the softer light, and the composition is more visually appealing. Here it is:

Photo #9: Cornstalks

Tech Details:
Equipment: Sony NEX-5R, 18-55mm standard lens.
Image: 1/160 sec exposure, f/4.5, ISO-100.

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