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Next week I’ll post about an oral history book that I’ve found to be helpful. Within the next ten days I’ll post an image of Mother’s (Marion Gunderson) watercolor of which we’ve most recently had prints made. The original and prints are g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s.
On another note, fortunately, Bill and I lost power for only a few hours yesterday. Friends of ours from west central Iowa said this morning that for 1 1/2 miles in either direction of their rural home, there is not a single electrical pole standing. With weighty ice on the power lines, the poles going down is like a domino effect that continues until a line snaps or comes loose from a pole.
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From our wildflower garden. September, 2009. (Click photo to enlarge.)
I’ve been wanting to post a few pre-rain-and-ice winter photos from my time at Gunderland (my dad’s farm) early this week. The wintery weather is getting quite old, especially for those without electricity. Because of that, along with the “gray” weather photos below, to pep things up I decided to throw in the above photo of last September’s “sunshine” and color.
None of these photos are edited, except for resizing (but not cropping) the image files. I thought about Photoshopping these winter photos before posting so they would more closely resemble the actual scenery. I decided against editing them because, for one, I can’t really remember what the actual scenery looked like as far as color and whiteness because it was so foggy that day (Tuesday, January 20th). Also, because the photo shoot that day was an exercise for me in adjusting camera settings, including exposure, I figure I’ll post the original images and learn from them.
Next time I take photos of this wintery nature, I’ll try to have a gray card handy. (I’ll post about the benefit of a gray card sometime, as well. I learned about gray cards in my OLLI Photography Field Trips class.)
The following images are of the same tree at my dad’s farm and from approximately the same direction. For those of you aware of where my dad lives, this tree is to the west of the driveway, close to the gravel road.
Shutter: 1/250; Aperture: f/6.3; Exposure Bias: 1.33; Exposure Program: Aperture Priority; FL: 30 mm; Metering: Pattern; ISO: 200. (Click photo for detail.)
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Shutter: 1/160; Aperture: f/8.0; Exposure Bias: 1.00; Exposure Program: Normal; FL: 23 mm; Metering: Pattern; ISO: 200. (Click photo to enlarge.)
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Shutter: 1/400; Aperture: f/5.0; Exposure Bias: 2.00; Exposure Program: Aperture Priority; FL: 36 mm; Metering: Pattern; ISO: 200. (Click photo to enlarge.)
When I took this photo (immediately above), I tried a variety of exposure settings. If I reduced the exposure at all, the photo looked too dark for how bright the scene actually was. It was pretty bright, but not this chalky white.
UPDATE: In response to Clara’s comment asking from which direction I took these photos, click here for a photo that includes more of the surroundings. If you are familiar with the area, the photo should help give bearings.
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Marion Gunderson Art (and the Farmer's Daughter) 
