# Logger on a Rock Wall (Constructive Critism Please)



## Farmclicker (Sep 8, 2012)

I have been meaning to do a photo shoot of some logging that I am doing, and the other day the opportunity presented itself. It was not done in some large Pine Trees I plan on harvesting, but I grabbed an axe and a cross cut saw belonging to my grandfather and headed out into the woods to get some replicated 1930's type photos. I guess I am trying to learn how to do Black and White Photos with skill and authority...something pretty hard to pull off when you don't have any. I do not have any photo equipment either; this was done with a Kodak Point and Shoot Camera mounted on a tripod with the use of the self-timer.







[/URL] Black and White Logger by Plowpoints[/IMG]


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## The_Traveler (Sep 8, 2012)

The lights and shadows make this composition almost incoherent.
It's difficult to distinguish the dark blade and axe head against the rocks.
The background and the right side of his face are way too bright.

Set this up against a darker background and rocks that aren't so variegated.
Manage all the tone of the colors before conversion


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## PhotoWrangler (Sep 8, 2012)

The saw dominates more of the focus than the logger himself.


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## tirediron (Sep 8, 2012)

You're close, but I'm not sure you nailed this one, at least not in the way you did the train-station shot.  I agree that the lighting is a bit jarring, but given your equipment, there's little you can do about that, and it actually does have an old-world feel to it from that point of view.  

Some of the details bother me.  You're far too clean.  Your shirt looks almost new, and your cap appears to be bright white and clean.  I would search around for a real double-bit faller's axe to add to the mood as well.

You've got a real talent for this sort of work.  You should invest in some gear which will give you that little bit of flexibility you need.  

(Is that really a cross-cut saw?)


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## Farmclicker (Sep 9, 2012)

Thanks for taking the time to review and make suggestions on how to improve.

I am wondering if this may be a location in which to take the photo in the evening. I did this fairly early in the morning, on the south end of a large field so the east sun would be at my back in this photo. With its orientation to the sun, it would only get full sun after 2 pm or so and maybe stop the variegated rocks...or choose a better oriented rock wall, this is New England so its not like we do not have plenty of them to choose from. 

As for the saw TiredIron, you got me on that one, it is technically a two man rip saw and not a cross cut saw. It belonged to my Grandfather, and is a truly relic of that era, but it has an interesting issue, every raker on it is broken off. It took me awhile to figure out why someone would deliberately break off the rakers, but then it occurred to me that before electricity came to this farm in 1956, he cut a lot of ice for the ice box and ice commercially, and for cutting ice out on the stream, rakers are not needed. So I guess technically it is a two man, rip saw, modified to cut ice.

I did make one novice mistake however that was huge...I do not think a 1930's logger would wear a black plastic, digital watch! To a lesser degree, I am wearing a wedding band too, something that was not common until World War Two. I have a lot to learn that is for sure, but I am glad you guys (and gals) point this stuff out because it will make me better as I set up each photo.

As for the camera equipment...insert deep, depressing sigh here...maybe someday, but not anytime soon. I know no one would notice this in the grocery store because retail food prices have gone up, but for us farmers the commodity prices have dropped to 1970 levels. It was a very tough summer and the long range outlook is pretty bleak. On the dairy farm, we are losing about $80,000 per month. I am not sure how long we can continue doing that.


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## amolitor (Sep 9, 2012)

You should be able to do a better b&w conversion. You and the background are quite different colors, so the use of some filtering of green (for instance) before conversion would separate you from the background better.

For the olde tyme look, underexpose. Digital blows highlights for fun and profit, in really digital ways. Film does not love highlights, but blows them out quite differently. Underexpose by at least 0.3 and then fix adjust levels in post, being gentle with the highlights to let them roll off pleasingly. For a really olde tyme look, force a long exposure (1/4, 1/2 second) and hold very still. It changes the look, at least if there's any motion in the leaves etc at all, and it changes the way YOU look, as well.


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## Rick58 (Sep 9, 2012)

You had me on this one. B&W and logging are among my favorite things, but unfortunately...
Tirediron's right, you're far to clean, but you have to be careful not to go overboard to the point of looking phoney. As a fellow farmer, I know what we look like after a day in the summer fields. Snap your shot after throwing 1000 bales and before the sweat drys and you'll nail it. An old metal thermos or lunch pale would also make a nice additional prop.
BTW, I feel your pain regarding the US farmers. We packed it in several years ago and now rent the land to help pay the taxes. Our farm is only 100 acres and I can tell by our loss numbers you're working a much bigger farm, but the bottom line is the same. It's tough and the average consumer has NO idea just how tough!


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## tirediron (Sep 9, 2012)

Interesting - my guess was actually "Ice saw", but I couldn't be sure.  Good luck with the shooting and farming; it's a tough go these days. You've got my respect for sticking to it!


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## Rick58 (Sep 9, 2012)

My grandfather also had a two man saw hanging in his shed. My cousins and I would drag it out and saw away at falling trees in the woods, never really making any progress...good memories. I guess that's a sign of a good photo.


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## Farmclicker (Sep 9, 2012)

I got thick skin...maybe that is why I am a farmer still, and can take constructive criticism well. 

I just want to know how many professional photographer's on here, who make their income completely by their camera, would sell every photo they took by sending in their memory cards to a buyer, letting them download every photo, separate them into high quality pictures, online stock photo pictures and low budget advertising pictures, then after all the photos are distributed to those in retail who bought them, send you a check for what they think your photos are worth. And any money you use to help take those photos, gets tallied up and posted on the internet so that everyone can see what you got paid and when. What photographer would ever do that?

And yet that is EXACTLY what they ask us to do. They come in and take our milk, ship it to a creamery which separates it out into different products, then after it is on the national food chain, completely sold and consumed, they send us a check on what they think it is worth. Any money we get from the USDA to help raise crops, keep animals healthy, or do to conserve soil and water resources, gets tallied up and posted online for all to see, making you feel like you are scamming the American People.

Right now we are losing 80 grand loss per month, yet the price has not dropped a penny in the stores. But this is the kicker, the milk produced right now, we have no idea if it will go up in price, or down again...yet it will be shipped off our farm, divided up, sold and consumed before we will know. It may not seem like a big deal, but we produce milk 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365-1/4 days per year. Even at 2 AM on Christmas, we are milking cows...and just because you may not live in Maine does not mean you don't drink our milk, if you like McDonald's shakes, you have probably had milk our cows produce.

But let me say, we are farmers and love what we do and glad you enjoy those McDonald Milk Shakes, it is what we do, and what we do well. We just wish we could work 18 hour days and not lose $2700 per day doing it.


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## Rick58 (Sep 9, 2012)

I hear ya. Our farm was originally a dairy farm. We converted the barn and added several out buildings to convert the farm into a hog farm. We raised Landrace hog for probably 30 years and did ok. Like any farm, we didn't get rich, but we did ok. After my dad got up in age, my brother decided he wanted to go back into Dairy and we did. Not a big operation but we milked 50 to 75 heads.  That was the begining of the end. No matter how many cuts were made, there wasn't enough money to pay the bills.


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## timor (Sep 9, 2012)

I am reading all of this with some sort of sadness...and shock...and scare. I an sad because of the problems you are describing, shocked to hear about the economic structure of the operation, scared, because whatever goes has political reasons. And just out from curiosity, what is average lactation productivity per cow in your operation ?


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## Farmclicker (Sep 10, 2012)

It greatly varies, but somewhere around 20,000 pounds per year. Or put another way, about 65 pounds a day...about 9 gallons per day. With 1000 cows we are producing about a tractor trailer load of milk per day, 9000 gallons.

BUT...where a farm makes its money is not really based on quantity, but on quality. Since every gallon of milk is tested for bacteria, the lower the bacteria the higher the farm gets for a grade, and a better price. We are a Gold Star Dairy Farm because we go to great lengths to keep bacteria out of the milk. We use surgical grade iodine to clean our cows before milking...it is expensive, but keeps bacteria out of the milk. The same for cleaning the milking parlor, we use more bacterial cleaners and less water because water spreads bacteria, even though rinsing with water looks fresh and clean. There are other things, but rest assured, we put out quality milk...as we should because people deserve safe milk to drink...and we get paid a little more for consistently producing that milk.

The other bonus we get for our milk comes from protein. A lot of products like sports drinks and stuff have protein added, and while people think they come from fish, it actually comes from milk. The creameries have derived ways to break milk down into its separate elements. There is no such thing as "whole milk" any more. They break the milk down into butter fat, protein, water, etc and then put back those elements to give you skim milk, 1-1/2 per cent milk and whole milk (which has sugar added by the way). The highest payout for creameries right now is protein content so we, as farmers, get bonuses for that. In order to get that, we had to totally change how we farm.

Protein comes from young grass. Certain grass types are higher in protein then others, so we had to plant our fields into such grasses like alfalfa, clover, orchard grass and timothy. But these grasses have to be cut at boot stage, about every 21 days. When you are harvesting 700 acres of grass 5 times a year, you use a lot more diesel fuel to get the same tonnage of feed...better quality, but less yield. With the higher prices in fuel, it has been really expensive to keep up with the higher protein milk that keeps our milk prices high. To compete with fuel costs, we have had to go to bigger equipment. It costs more money up front, but we are using less fuel to do it.

If this seems crazy, its really not. Its like being a professional photographer, you can't get the higher quality photos that pay really well with a point and shoot camera...the consistency will not be there. So you go out a buy expensive camera gear, take better photos, and get more money for those better photos. Its the same with dairy farming...we are chasing an ever changing market.

This whole system got tossed on its head however when ethanol was mandated in fuel. We cannot get the protein levels we need solely from young grass and so we employ nutritionists (don't laugh, our cows are treated extremely well since they provide everything we have...pillows in their stalls and nutritionists to ensure they are heathy and comfortable because how comfortable a cow is changes how much milk they give) who compare our feed (corn and grass) and then add in soy meal and grain to get the right balance for high protein milk. Ever since the ethanol mandate, dairy farms have struggled because with more farmers in the mid-west raising corn for ethanol, grain prices have gone up. With less acres being planted into soy beans, and more into corn, it is simply supply and demand...high grain prices. Now add in the effects of the drought this summer in the mid-west and you have extremely high grain prices mixed with very low milk prices. That is why in the last 10 years Maine has gone from 400 dairy farms to 300 and a few dairy farmers committing suicide because they cant stand losing their family farms.

We have always had a family milk cow or two, but we started commercial dairy farming in 1910. For us, our legacy is sheep, and with them we go back to the Mayflower. Being a tailor by trade, my Great Grandfather 15 times removed was needed because clothes were woolen then and we get credit for being the oldest sheep farm in New England, being the first sheep shearing shed in New England, as well as moving to Maine in 1746 and clearing all this land in the 1830's so that we could raise sheep and keep the woolen mills in Camden, Biddeford and Winthrop in wool. We still have sheep, and that is my responsibility, but the high protein feed the dairy farm requires, has an affect on them as well. High protein makes their wool course, so it is practically useless...think itchy here. It does make them put on weight so since they get the same feed as the dairy farm, our sheep mainly provide for lamb on the national food chain and no longer produce wool.

One thing is for sure; farming today is not like it was in the 1970's!

PS: Moderators, I recognize that this is a photography site and not a farming forum, but it seems as if people are interested in how farms today operate. I assure you this is an exchange to explain some of farming today and won't be a habitual thing. I do thank you for your understanding, and latitude in this slight deviation from photography as the main topic of conversation. It is a pleasure to explain to others just how a half a percent of the US population can feed the other 99-1/2%. In other words, I am glad people are interested in where their food comes from. As a farm family who has provided food to this nation since before this nation was a nation, it is my family's greatest honor to put quality food on the national food chain for you. Thank you for buying McDonald Milkshakes, Cabot Cheese, sports drinks, ice cream and pizza...


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## amolitor (Sep 10, 2012)

I continue to be surprised that farmers are not organizing (in the union sense, although a "union" in the traditional sense might not be a good fit here).

The food system in the USA is clearly designed to prevent the farmers from making any money. The supply chain clearly feels that if the farmer has made a profit, the supply chain has failed - they left money on the table, and by golly they are going to fix THAT next season. This is largely because farmers have very little leverage in the system.

We've seen co-ops for, at least, 100 years, but they never seem to get universal traction. They expand, they grow, then they contract and vanish. Structurally co-ops seem to be a better choice than unions, but they don't seem to have real staying power.


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## manaheim (Sep 10, 2012)

I can't see the image for whatever reason but I wanted to compliment the OP on his top-notch attitude in receiving criticism.  I wish I could take it as well.


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## timor (Sep 10, 2012)

Farmclicker said:


> PS: Moderators, I recognize that this is a photography site and not a farming forum, but it seems as if people are interested in how farms today operate. I assure you this is an exchange to explain some of farming today and won't be a habitual thing. I do thank you for your understanding, and latitude in this slight deviation from photography as the main topic of conversation. It is a pleasure to explain to others just how a half a percent of the US population can feed the other 99-1/2%. In other words, I am glad people are interested in where their food comes from.


Salute to moderators indeed. From my side I just want to close my involvement in this topic. I have a lot of questions as I am a trained in farm animal production, but in Europe. After that I spent only 3 years in the field before I decided, that Canada will be my home. Never the less: your productivity is at the top of the world, what you've got there ? Holstein-Friesian ?  I never had any thoughts about farming since I landed in Toronto long time ago, but by reading just your post I can tell right now, what is the killer and that is the distribution of production. In direct therms cost of transportation. Dairy farming in pure form disappeared in Europe some 40 years ago (same reasons as here) and is seen today only as very important supporting element. Milk production should be as close to final consumer as possible, in Europe it's usually 40 miles or less. Think, how far your milk is going ? Can America reverse it's tendency for overgrowing commercial operations ? I said previously, that it scares me, what you said, as I see here a systematic tendency of destruction of independent farming in order to replace it with gigantic corporations. Who controls the food, controls the world.


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## unpopular (Sep 10, 2012)

... farming forums?


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## timor (Sep 10, 2012)

unpopular said:


> ... farming forums?


That's it, no more. Just remember, we film photographers need cows for the gelatine.


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## ceejtank (Sep 10, 2012)

I don't have any C&C except you look too clean for the photo. But I think that was said already.

I like this shot.


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