Hay Bales on Henley-Berwick Rd

New Zealand is in summer now and last night I visited the Henley Cheese factory. The conditions weren’t great and the image, okay, but nothing special. However, on the way there, I did enjoy a welcome distraction. I love hay bales, straw ones, not the kind shrink-wrapped in plastic, I hate those with a passion.

However, yesterday evening, as the sun was going down, I couldn’t help but turn my camera to the hay bales wrapped in ghastly green plastic on Henley Berwick road. The way the light was catching on the plastic, well, it was lovely, almost mesmerising.

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A tractor in the field, resting after a productive days work. GFX50sii, 35-70mm @70mm, 65:24 crop.

I couldn’t find an amazing composition, but it didn’t matter, I was just enjoying the display of hay bales dotted over multiple paddocks. Definitely worth a snap or 2.

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Henley-Berwick Road. Fujifilm GFX50sii 35-70mm @70mm

When I finally arrived at the Henley Cheese Factory, I’d already had my reward, not in pictures, because I couldn’t do the scene justice, but just by being there to see lovely fields of green plastic hay bales. Not something I thought I’d ever acknowledge. However, that’s the beauty of landscape photography, you never know what is going to look great under the gaze of an evening sun. Here below is a cheese factory pic from last night.

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Henley Cheese Factory, GFX50sii, 110mm f/2 @F8

I’m not sure if I’m getting a bit soft in my old age or perhaps just a little more grateful for the small things, but I did enjoy that hay bale surprise, and I look forward to the next one.

The Medium Format look on Fujifilm GFX: Fact or Fiction?

I have been shooting with the GFX system for over a year now and in that time I have often wondered if I would ever shoot a ‘medium format look’ type image. I have definitely seen the ‘look’ mostly courtesy of images taken with the Mitakon 65mm 1.4. The only fast GFX lens I own is the Fujifilm GFX 110mm F2. The lens has become my go to for portrait work, it has pop for sure, but I have never taken an image and thought, nailed it, thats the look, well, until recently.

I was on a photoshoot with Bulletproof Convertible a local Dunedin band. The band members have a real style about them, with fedora hats, braces and a couple even have beards. So they look damn cool, great subjects for photography. The location we shot at was an old abandoned railway tunnel entry. The tracks have been removed, but the location has shear walls, with shrubs and ferns climbing up the sides. The day was overcast and dark with the location only getting down light. So I cranked the ISO and started the shoot.

Then boom, I got one. I had the lens wide open and when I looked on the back of the camera it was like being transported back in time to Otago during the gold rush in the 1860’s. This is 2023 though, but the way the subjects looked and how the lens rendered the scene, kind of blew my mind. The image had an old film look.

One of the band members asked if I could deliver a sepia versions of the images. Usually I am a little reluctant to convert images to sepia (It reminds me of when I sold landscape imagery in gift shops and the shop owners requesting sepia versions as the browns suit home decor) but I gave it a whirl with my own colour grade and I have to admit, sepia, kind of made it cooler.

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Bulletproof Convertible

So is a medium format look fact or fiction on the Fujifilm GFX? Well, so far from my experience I think I have evidence of the ‘look’ occurring once, yep, just the once though. I look forward to the next occasion. Hopefully it doesn’t take another year.

The Henley Cheese factory though Autumn and Winter

I have been taking images of the Henley Cheese Factory for a good few months now. Every time I visit there is something new to appreciate. It’s like saying hello to an old friend and enjoying a new and engaging story about their life. In this update I want to highlight 3 images.

This is an image I took around 5am in the morning when it was still dark. The night sky was clear and the moon was beaming bright over the landscape. Apart from the background light trails of cars on State Highway 1, the image has the appearence of a bright sunny day.

Henley Cheese Factory by moonlight.

In this next image a thick shroud of fog envelopes the factory. The calmness of this scene with its glass like reflection was very relaxing. When you take the time to slow down and connect with an environment like this it can be really rewarding.

Henley Cheese factory in fog.

The image below was taken during a morning sunrise. The grass is covered in a rather biting frost. On chilly days like this I look forward to grabbing a coffee afterwards.

A frosty morning at the Henley Cheese Factory

Infrared Black and White.

When I started this ‘study’ of the Henley Cheese Factory I wasn’t sure how the journey would evolve. Currently I am consistently photographing the building from about the same perspective. I could change it up, but I find there is comfort in familiarity of form and composition, so for now, I’ll just keep on keeping on. Thanks for stopping by and reading this small blog.

A study in seasons: The Henley Cheese factory in summer

I only learned of the existence of the Henley Cheese Factory last year. On first inspection I couldn’t find a way to create an image I felt good about. I loved the building but its location is right next to power lines, a dirt road and a river. My main difficulty was composing the power lines, dirt road and river as they all run parallel to the building, so it’s very easy to create an image that is very linear and lacks depth. Finally, after trying many different view points, I have settled on an area of the adjacent over bridge where I like the composition. It was then that I thought perhaps I could do a study of the scene through the seasons. As I was in the last of the summer period, this is where my study of the Henley Cheese factory begins.

Sunrise. I don’t use apps to help me plan my photography, I’m not against them, but I like to just pop out and see what’s doing at a location at any given time of year. On this morning there was a good amount of morning mist on the farm fields adjacent to the factory and also a a little floating over the river. The sun was coming up and hitting the cheese factory from the front of the building.

I liked the images from the session, but I became interested in how late evening light at sunset would potentially provide back lighting on the scene and maybe have better character. My gut instinct was right, I much preferred the way the light hit the building in the afternoon. On this afternoon there had been heavy rain fall, but the sun had broke through the clouds. The light cast on the building was really dynamic and I had the bonus of a reflection of the building in the water.

By this time I was hooked on photographing the building. I loved the above image (it’s available in my print shop) but I was still going to keep going back.

Another night and the image above is nice, but the river is not as calm as before so we don’t get to see a nice reflection of the cheese factory in the water.

Another visit and In the image above, the sun is blocked by the clouds so shadow and highlights within the image are flatter overall, making for less of a dynamic scene, but quite painterly.

I am really excited about the next month or so as we are coming into Autumn and the trees around the cheese factory look deciduous. So, in an ideal world I am hoping for a calm evening with good backlight, nice moody clouds in the sky, reflections in the water, plus autumnal colour in the leaves. I’m not asking for too much as I? I will definitely follow up with an Autumn blog.