Corn Field

This photo was taken in a corn field at the western end of Portsdown Hill, just before Down End Road crosses the M27 as it heads into Fareham. Shooting just before sunset using a 24-105L lens on my old 7d camera, did require use of a tripod. I had taken a couple of shots before deciding the tripod was a must, but wasn't happy with how they came out. 

The lens I was using was an f4 lens, and more suited for portraits and urban shooting than landscapes, so really not what you would call 'fast'. The aperture was set to f/22 in order to get as much as possible in focus and this did result in a very slow shutter speed (hence the tripod). There was a very slight breeze, so I ended waiting around 10 minutes before I felt the conditions were ideal and I eventually triggered the shutter. 

Overall I was pleased with the sharpness throughout the resulting image, however shooting into the sun resulted in very flat colours in the corn despite some impressive oranges in the sky. The only thing I could do now was to see if running it through Photomatix could provide results I was happy with, without ruining the sky. In the end the best results were achieved by masking the sky and running just the bottom half of the picture through the HDR software and then merging this with the original photo. 

Portsdown Hill stands at 131 mtrs tall at it's highest point and provides spectacular views over Portsmouth, it's harbour and the surrounding towns, and on clear days right across to the Isle of Wight. The hill's open network of paths take walkers through flowery grassland and other wildlife-rich habitats.

The grassland is home to fantastic displays of colourful wildflowers that change through the spring, summer and autumn. It is an excellent place to spot bees, butterflies and hundreds of other pollinating insects. There is also a wide variety of bird life on Portsdown, such as Yellowhammers and Skylarks, and regular sightings of Kestrels and Falcons all year round.