Harvest time

Straw Bales at Bersted

Nikon D810, 50mm f1.4 Nikkor,1/10 second, f9, ISO 64, tripod

06.18, 26th August 2016

Straw bales at Bersted

Nikon D810, 85mm f1.8 Nikkor, 1/160 second, f9, ISO 64, tripod

06.30, 26th August 2016

There is a reassurance to the continuity of the rituals and rhythms of the countryside. Publications love to mark the changes of the seasons with images from around the country that document the seasonal transitions - and we all enjoy seeing them year after year, never growing tired of them.

Harvest is such a time and presents photographers with some tremendous opportunities for creating images with lines, graphic patterns, shape repetition and warm colours. I glimpsed this field of bales as I was returning home in the car one night. When I got in I used the invaluable online Photography Ephemeris application to check where and when the sun would rise and set in relation to the field.

With a favourable weather forecast, I made an early start and went to the field for dawn. This misty, pastel scene presented itself moments before sunrise. A few days later, the bales were gone.