Scarecrows and Victorian values

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Scarecrows are a common sight in Lincolnshire, particularly on the Fens where vegetables are grown. Predation by wood pigeons is quite significant, and farmers have turned to methods old and new to keep the birds off the crops. Researchers tell us that the most common method, propane-powered bird scaring "gunshots" - a single report shortly followed by two more - is actually the most effective. However, a wide variety of other devices are used.

Hawk kites flying from a cord at the top of a tall pole are frequently seen and seem to be ineffective. Cut up plastic bags fixed to the top of softwood stakes to make flags that fill a field and crackle in the wind are also popular and equally useless. Spinning, shiny propellers or balls with faces appear to be less common that a few years ago, perhaps an indication that they don't work either. The most annoying bird scarer, and mercifully only infrequently seen, is a day-glo scarecrow that periodically inflates and stands up to the accompaniment of flashing lights and a siren. As far as I can see that device is about as ineffective as the traditional scarecrow of the type seen in today's photograph.

Given our government's fixation with market economics and its desire to push youth and the unemployed into a job, any job, no matter how low paid or worthwhile the work is, it can only be a matter of time before we see the return of the Victorian method of bird scaring. So look out for boys walking the fields, throwing stones at the crows and pigeons, in exchange for their daily pittance.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 90mm (180mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec
ISO:500
Exposure Compensation: 0
Image Stabilisation: On

Fruits, vegetables and names

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A shopping trip to Stamford found us in the market buying buying a couple of items. Whilst my wife made the purchases I headed over to a stall selling fruit and vegetables, attracted by the bright colours and the arrangement of the produce in stainless steel bowls.

As I looked at what was for sale I was somewhat envious of the flawless quality of each item. Though we have grown items of produce that equal the standard on display, we do end up with quite a few less than perfect pieces. I comforted myself with the thought that such perfection comes at a price, often in terms of taste, and commonly with regard to the environment. "Give me spots on my apples but leave me the birds and the bees, please", as Joni Mitchell put it. Moreover, the distorted and deformed examples that we grow and happily eat never make it to the market stall but are separated out to be used in sauces and prepared foods.

A further thought came to my mind as I looked at the peppers and aubergines (and potatoes) shown in the photograph. Though they are undoubtedly fruit, biologically speaking, they are often - at least in the UK - regarded as vegetables (and called such) because of the way they are used with savoury rather than sweet dishes. Moreover, we are somewhat confused in these islands by the English name(s) that we call the sweet Capsicum annuum. Most commonly they are peppers. However, that causes misunderstanding because chili peppers are often called by this name too. Capsicum was used more commonly in the past but seems to have fallen out of use. That name was specific and gave rise, as far as I know, to no misunderstanding. Sweet pepper is also commonly used, probably as a deliberate attempt to prevent the confusion with chili peppers noted above. It's not one of the most problematic linguistic quandaries, but precision in names is helpful and it would be convenient if we settled on one explicit name and used it to the exclusion of all others. However, in a country that perversely uses both the metric and the imperial system for measurement, I'm afraid there's absolutely no chance of that!

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 14.2mm (38mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5
Shutter Speed: 1/100 sec
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Sweet peppers

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I can take only a relatively small amount of credit for the produce that grows in our greenhouse. Most of the work there is done by my wife though I do help to get it ready for the growing season, clear it after that period has ended and I also do maintenance jobs periodically on the structure itself.

The food crops that we regularly grow in it are tomatoes (Gardener's Delight has been our preferred variety for many years) and green peppers (we've tried quite a few varieties but not settled on one). Each year, alongside these staples, something different is given a try; this year it was other varieties and colours of sweet peppers, chili peppers and aubergines. Of course, the greenhouse also holds quite a lot of flowering plants and is used for bringing on flowers and vegetables that are to be planted out in the garden or vegetable plot.

2012 has been a year of mixed fortunes in the garden and the greenhouse. Dull, rainy and unseasonal cold weather in spring and early summer doesn't usually result in flourishing plants. So, in the greenhouse the tomatoes haven't been as good as usual. However, the peppers have done quite well. When my wife brought a collection into the house recently she suggested they might make a photograph. Not being one to miss an opportunity I waited until she'd cleaned and polished the peppers then I put them on a shallow glass dish and photographed them on a sheet of my favoured black vinyl. The deep colours show off well against black. I used a sheet of white vinyl as a reflector to get the natural light just as I wanted it.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
F No: f11
Shutter Speed: 1/3 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Sheep on the Fens

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I grew up in sheep country. The hillsides and "tops" of the Craven district of the Yorkshire Dales used to be crawling with them, whilst on the improved grass of the lower slopes and the river valleys it was the beef and milk cattle that took precedence. That area of the Dales still rears a lot of sheep, but the omnipresent Swaledale seems to have given way to a wider range of breeds since the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001. The diet of Dales sheep is grass in its many varieties. When that is unavailable mangolds are sometimes given. During this year's very dry spring I saw farmers delivering concentrate by quad bike to the sheep and lambs on the limestone uplands.

One of the surprises I got following my re-location from the north west of England to Lincolnshire was the sight of sheep on the Fens. I'd visited this area before, but only during spring and summer, and hadn't seen sheep in the fields, or very much pasture on which they could live: a few "hobby" sheep kept in paddocks near farms was about all. So I wasn't ready for the arrival of significant numbers once autumn got under way. What happens on the Fens as far as sheep go is very beneficial for their owners and for the vegetable growers on whose fields they are deposited. Around October flocks are brought in and put onto fields where a crop hasn't sold and has gone to seed, or where the crop has been lifted and there is still plenty of green leaf remaining - as with cauliflowers, for example. If the field already has a sheep-proof boundary the animals are simply turned onto the crop and they eat their way across it following an electric fence that is moved once they have stripped an area. On fields without hedges or other boundaries an electric fence is all that is used to contain them. Often the owner leaves a few hay bales to supplement the green diet, and I have seen "licks" in some fields. A payment in cash or kind can accompany this activity, and the fields must benefit from the manure that is deposited. The owners of the sheep have the the benefit of fresh greens for their animals at a time of year when the vigour of the grass on their upland pastures is in decline. Sheep can be seen on the Fens through the winter, and gradually start to disappear come spring.

The animals in today's photograph had only recently been introduced to this field of unwanted vegetables, and the height of the crop was hiding many of them. I stopped the car on the adjacent lane as I drove past when I noticed the low sun outlining the bodies of a group of nearby animals. Perhaps I should consider this image another one resulting from my self-imposed task of taking more contre jour shots.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 200mm (400mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/1250
ISO: 400
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Home-grown produce and flashguns

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I own three flashguns but I've never liked using flash. Every now and then I used a T20 with my Olympus OM1n, usually for family snaps, but occasionally for church interiors. I have an old Nissin 360TW that has both a small fixed flash and a large moveable head. I used that on the OM1n too, and on a couple of other film and digital cameras that I've owned, for portraits, architecture and more creative images. And finally, a few years ago I was given an Olympus FL-36. I suppose for some that might seem an embarrassment of riches as far as flashguns go, and you might be wondering why I have that number despite my protestation that I don't like flash.

The truth is, I think I should be able to take advantage of the possibilities that flash offers. The fact is I don't, in fact can't; and for two reasons. Firstly I'm not very keen on, in fact I'm hypersensitive to, noticeable flash effects. The shadows that a flashgun can produce spoil many images for me, as do the unnatural highlights. Bird photography is particularly susceptible to the latter, and can make a shot look very artificial. It's something you see less of with the better high ISO performance of cameras, but it's still around. The second reason I don't like them follows on from the first: because I'm not keen on the effects I don't use them often enough to improve my technique. I recognise that some photographs aren't possible without flash, and I used them for that reason in the past. And, if you trawl the photographs on thos blog, you'll find examples - often still life images - where I've worked at improving my handling of flash. But, by and large, I prefer natural light.

The other evening I turned on the lights in my kitchen and a beam shone into the adjoining utility room and illuminated some vegetables and fruit that we'd picked from the garden. A photograph suggested itself so I got a reading lamp and a flashgun. I took several shots with both, and found I preferred those lit by the reading lamp. It was more directional, with deep shadows and contrasting highlights, more Caravaggioesque, and so I prepared a shot for posting on the blog. The following day I looked more closely at the flash shots I'd taken, all of which had the light bounced off a piece of white corruflute. Closer inspection showed them to be more subtly lit, with more detail, better colour accuracy, and more attractive. Most importantly, they didn't look like they'd been lit by flash. I processed one of them, increasing the contrast a touch, and I have to say I'm very pleased with it. It is, of course, no longer Caravaggioesque, but is more of the Dutch school; perhaps van Beijerenesque. Which is quite appropriate really since I now live in the area of Lincolnshire known as Holland!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm macro, (70mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/80
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
Flash: Olympus FL-36