Today is the day that I have been anticipating for a long time; the day my new camera arrives, I’m so excited! I was up early and ready to go just the postman it seems wasn’t quite so eager to get here. Just down the road a lorry tipping cement is parked, meaning every time a car slows down to go around it, my head lifts expectantly at the sound hoping that it might the be post van stopping.
I’ve taken up a key position near the window so that I can spot the van as it pulls up, rush to open the door and gently take the box. The floor is paced, make-up done, for a practice shoot later with the camera, in the longest most methodical time ever. Tick, tick, tick sounds the second hand of the clock and no sign of a red van.
At 11am a van pulls up, it’s here! I open the parcel and inside the box looking up at me is a Panasonic Lumix G2, not the latest version, as I need an external microphone jack. I find the manual, 143 pages long, on the front it says, ‘Read the entire manual before using the camera.’ Hmmm. In the first couple of pages it tells me the battery is sent uncharged, so immediately I plug in the charger and start another countdown, two hours until I can play with the camera, so er, I read the manual; just the parts that I’m going to need to start work with the camera!
With the battery charged and me slightly more knowledgeable, I get into the car and return to a rural area I found recently. I’m trying the camera out on all kinds of things, traditional wide landscape shots, close ups of blackberry flowers, a field of wheat. Just fabulous! The manual zoom on the camera is a very clever thing. As I touch the focus ring the image zooms by 5 times so I can get the horizon pin sharp, as soon as I let go of the focus ring the view returns to a wide shot. I like this, though the first time it happened I wondered what on earth was going on.
As I move location and round a corner, there in front of me is a scene I have been waiting to capture for a couple of years; a field being harvested. I pulled over and jumped out of the car, leaning over a hedge to get some shots. As I was taking photos along came the wife of the combine driver and gave me permission to take photos inside the field.
Just as I’m getting into a great position, with the combine bearing down on me, it drives away from me and towards the gate where a tractor has entered to take its load of grain, a car has arrived too. From my position further up the field I can’t see what’s going on between all the men down at the car so I use my secret spying tool and focus on the men to get the 5 times zoom. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with t, it’s tea time, so after they’ve looked over at me curiously I decide I’d better go and introduce myself and explain that I got permission from the lady who has long since disappeared.
I get invited to join in their tea party, sandwiches and a flask of coffee is shared with me which I’m very grateful for as my stomach was starting to have a conversation with me. The farmer and I swap phone numbers and arrange for him to alert me when they bale the straw in a few days’ time, I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am to have gotten this access.
The camera is such a joy to use, it came with a lens hood to block out sun rays, really handy now as the sun is just starting to set and being a bit of nuisance. After tea we are all back to work, me arguably doing the most pleasurable work of us all. When the impromptu shoot is over, and me covered from head to toe in dust, I and my beautiful camera head home; quite a workout for its first outing. Back at home the image quality of the photos is fantastic; this camera is a step up for me in terms of pixels and lenses. This comes with a 14-42mm lens which I’ve decided is good enough focal length for what I require.
By the end of the weekend I’ve had the camera in action again as we headed off to catch all the action of the straw being baled – now that’s a sight to behold, loose straw in the bottom, packed and strung bales out the back. And my friendly farmer is going to allow me more behind the scenes access as I work on a project close to my heart, ‘A year in the life of a farmer’ that’s a whole other article though……..
Bales of Hay
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Living in the beautiful rural county of Yorkshire it was perhaps natural for Ruth to have an affinity with the countryside and its wildlife. Creativity is Ruth’s driving force finding an outlet in television & radio she worked for many years as producer for BBC & ITV.
However a love of photography and for being surrounded by nature called her to go back to her photography training and bring pleasure and joy to people through her connection with our planet.
Staying in the moment when taking her images allows her to experience the natural magnificence unfolding before her eyes. It is this moment of mediation, of gratitude, that she evocatively conveys through her images.
The joys of a new camera! Can’t wait to hear more about your farmer pictures in future!