Dung Duster Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Hi all.

This crop-duster was buzzing over our house just before Xmas spraying the crops on the neighbours farm. (See note last post) The pilots that fly these aircraft are incredibly skilled and fly tight flight paths to ensure no part of the crop is left unsprayed and no spray is wasted. It’s quite a spectacle watching the tight turns, dives and climbs of these very capable aircraft and pilots.

These aircraft are affectionately known as dung-dusters due to the fact that most spend there time spreading fertiliser, this one was spraying some form of insecticide or herbicide I think.

The dairy herds that can be seen in the BG are becoming more common here as there seems to be more money in this form of farming at the moment.

More in WS.

Enjoy, Paul.

Note; There has been a couple of comments about how close the spray is the dairy cows. There is at least 1 Km between the spray and cows. The long telephoto lens has compressed the perspective and they appear closer than what they are. Also as I said in the note they don't like to waste any so it only goes where its needed. Must be expensive ;-).

Matthew-Watt, siolaw, trekks, cfreire, alvaraalto, Docarmo, syd1946, plimrn, jaywalker, Charo, edytungkal, AiresSantos, emjleclercq, ktanska, josepmarin, jhm, jean-marie, robertosalguero, giorgimer, kiwi_explorer, Photo65Net, jafadabret, crckt, danos, Tue, axiotea, MLINES, kaptan has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Matthew-Watt (4463) 2008-01-18 23:55

Hello Paul,

Good day-in-the-life style image showing some more exciting agricultural practice. The fact that the plane is so low is in itself a feature enjoy. It seems that it is on a collision course with that rustic fence. Your photo shows that in a land renowned for sheep, there is also a large amount of dairy cattle (I guess the namesake of Bulls). I would possibly have a tighter crop with less sky, but this composition remains effective and professional. Superb clarity. TFS.

Matt

siolaw (25692) 2008-01-19 0:41

Hi Paul
Good capture of the low flying, tiny little aicraft... the fact we can see the herds and pasture in the distance adds a lot.
Good sharp details
Laurent

dokadak (11490) 2008-01-19 0:45

Hi Paul,

Its an interesting composition, good timing and contrast is added speecial pound of the shot..

cheers
hasan

trekks (14260) 2008-01-19 2:45

Hello Paul

1st time to visit your gallery by chance and what a find! It reinforces my view that NZ is so photogenic, a great place to visit! And you have great photos in the collection!

This particular capture is very interesting to me mainly due to the title of dung duster and the small yellow plane that gives me a 2nd look.

I wonder how it is there, Paul, by cut and paste? Why so, because of its low angle and flight path, it looks like either a stunt or it is crushing down next few seconds.

So, here it comes to your talented shot. By choosing this pov and composition, you have succeeded in tricking me to believe in a crush, or so it seems.

Interesting photography, isn't it? Without this small plane, I guess the photo will just be ordinary landscape view.

Then, you have the herds behind peacefully feeding on grass. It makes such a stunt flight very much more striking, Paul.

Great work. TFS

bill

testmaniac (11832) 2008-01-19 3:42

Hi Paul, interesting place and shot just in the right moment! I like this small aircraft.

TFS and regards,
Philip

cfreire (11635) 2008-01-19 5:58

Hi Paul,
Splendid capture about this crop-duster with excllent freeze of this image. The composition is well frame and rich of several farm's details. The colors are nice and the contrasts, too. Good job. Regards, Consuelo

alvaraalto (5225) 2008-01-19 6:34

Hi Paul,

At first sight I thought the plane has crashed, but than I saw the insecticides from the wings and realized the amazing skills of this pilot. I think the use of insecticides is no longer allowed in Holland and certainly not so close by so many cow.
Excellent picture with the yellow plane in the midst of the green meadow.

Groet Rob

Docarmo (8812) 2008-01-19 6:43

Hi Paul,
Nice capture of this aircraft in a interesting composition including herds and pasture. Lots of details to appreciate on this beautiful landscape.
Thanks for sharing,
MC

bucanas (2209) 2008-01-19 13:37

Hi Paul,
Nice shot,congratulation.
Best regards,
Ralf

syd1946 (17807) 2008-01-19 14:19

Hello Paul,
Excellent capture of the low flight of the plane.An action shot together with a wonderful landscape...Two in one,I enjoy it very much!

Wishes for the weekend,
Thomas

Scharan (13951) 2008-01-19 17:29

Cenário muito bonito e cores maravilhosas Paul...também um ótimo momento para o clic;)
Muito bom trabalho meu amigo, parabéns.
GA
Vera

plimrn (19552) 2008-01-19 18:52

Hi Paul,
Excellent detail and cloro in the well framed shot of this photogenic little plane with the pilot documenting his skill so well for you. Just a little scary to see the spray so near the dairy cows as well. HLJ, Pat

Giorgio (8600) 2008-01-20 2:20

- Excellent shoot, Paul, perfect timing, damage for the disturbance right before Christmas, that made an opportunity for a beautiful photograph, I like this little yellow airplane in foreground and the numerous cows in background, this is very successful, it's well to see your corner, well done!
Have a good sunday.
giorgio

UnTrained (0) 2008-01-20 4:06

Hi Paul,
good capture of this artistic flying. I am always impressed about their abilities of flying close to the ground and in tight spaces. It really is strange together with the cows as it seems to be close to them, this is the effect of capturing with such lenses. Excellent sharpness.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

jaywalker (12186) 2008-01-20 8:17

Hi Paul, A very nice capture of this biplane, the sharp detail is excellent &, I love it’s positioning in the frame, you have managed to nail the crop spray superbly, wonderful strong colours & overall a photo with real quality, kind regards Wilson,

gracious (20017) 2008-01-20 11:16

Hello Paul,
Perfect moment captured in this beautiful shot with a super low altitude of the duster!
good pov with clarity, beautiful colour and details to enjoy your shot
well done, Paul!
TFS
cheers
Tony

edytungkal (4513) 2008-01-20 19:24

Interesting spontaneous shot....
Beautiful contrast from the small aircraft with so many cows on fg, maybe the weather was not on the best but i still enjoy your post, Paul.
tfs

daniel

AiresSantos (41220) 2008-01-20 23:07

Hi Paul
Great capture of the low flying aircraft. Excellent POV, colours and sharpness. I also like the pictures in the workshop
Thanks and have a nice week
Aires

John_F_Kennedy (30545) 2008-01-20 23:33

Good colours and the moving of the spray gives dynamic to the photo. Well done.
Best wishes,
Achim

emjleclercq (14125) 2008-01-20 23:33

Very nice close up, with excellent sharpness. Even if this agricultural plane is very slow aircraft, clarity is perfect for a long lens and the plane seems to be very near th ground.

All the best,

Emmanuel

ktanska (16375) 2008-01-21 0:37

Hi Paul,
Impressive shot! And technically tricky with your long tele. It really flies low, although the angle might lie a little. Also the huge herd of cows is worth noting.
Kari

pablominto (39872) 2008-01-21 1:33

Hello Paul,
This is an interesting aircraft, probably custom built!
The yellow colour stands out well in the greenery, but I still notice quite a few cattle in the background...
Action is well captured here, seems to me like this is low altitude indeed!
Greetings,
Pablo -

josepmarin (33571) 2008-01-21 2:59

Hi Paul,
It is a spectacular and dynamic scene.
The plane flying so down to be able to fumigate the fields, with this yellow color in contrast with the green tones of the landscape and the blue of the sky, the cows and the farms, they have a strong graphical and very attractive effect, with great richness of elements in the composition.
Good work with the management of the light and of the colors.
Best regards,
Josep

jhm (81637) 2008-01-21 3:37

Hello Paul,

Spectacular image, indeed the telelens show this airplane very close to the cows.
It's a very nice picture also spectacular with the airplane almost against the ground.
Composition and colours are very pleasant for look it.
Thanks for sharing.

Best regards,
John.

Charo (31651) 2008-01-21 3:52

Hola Paul,
Una buena perspectiva sobre la granja y el ganado abundante. El pequeño avión hace gran contraste con el entorno.
Excelentes colores y resolución.
Cordialmente
Charo

jean-marie (3088) 2008-01-21 5:39

Hello Paul,
Très surprenant car on ne se rend pas compte du premier coup que l'on est sur une colline. Génial !
Amicalement
JM

emilbo (9097) 2008-01-21 6:39

Salut Paul!
Belle prise de vue à basse de l'avion à basse altitude. La note est très intéressante mais chez-nous les herbicides et et les insecticides ne sont plus permis. Bonne composition et belle ferme avec beaucoup d'animaux. J'aime bien.
Félicitations!... et bonne semaine,
Emilius

fserajian (4451) 2008-01-21 14:05

Hi Paul.

Well captured action shot, the colours are so beautiful, low flying...excellent composition and TFS

Fara

robertosalguero (2759) 2008-01-21 23:45

Hello Paul,

The telephoto lens truly enhanced this image by getting the background very close to the fore. Very nice capture of this little plane in midair. Its colourful fuselage make a nice contrast to the mostly green landscape. Nice work.

Roberto

dip (12406) 2008-01-22 0:33

Hello Paul,
a unusually scene,well captured and composed,
interesting theme indeed.
Greetings,
Dimitris.

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2008-01-22 1:56

Hi Paul,
I thought at first it is spraying dung ... now that would be very eco-friendly farming ... just recycling waste from the dairy cow :) Nice action shot but not good waking up with the noise especially if you have a 'hangover'. Well captured and composed with very good image quality. Well done! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

Photo65Net (43084) 2008-01-22 3:47

Paul,
Very good action catch !
The 400mm worked fine here, I like to the natural colors and beautiful contrasts.
Regards,
JB.

giorgimer (20610) 2008-01-22 4:21

Hi Paul,

I like your moment capture and the color of the plane against the ground and the cows that seem so little.

TFS

Gio

jafadabret (38881) 2008-01-22 11:04

Paul, c'est une photo très spectaculaire de ce petit avion qui travaille pour l'agriculture. Tu devais te faire tout petit au moment de le photographier.
Jacques

crckt (6963) 2008-01-22 18:50

Hi Paul,
This is a good shot and I am amazed at how close this plane is flying. I learned something new today, thanks to you.
Well done,
Shaeri

Graal (57208) 2008-01-23 0:36

Hi Paul,
fine serie (with WS), interesting reportage and good shots. Well quality. I like it.
Gr., Aleksander

danos (31562) 2008-01-23 10:11

Hello Paul,
impressive this low flight of the aircraft,but at the same time a dangerous one.As you wrote in your note, the distance from the cows is about one Km,so the danger of the inhalation of the spraying the crops is less than it seems in the shot.Excellent the contrasted colours and the light.Informative your note too.

Regards,danos

pboehringer (770) 2008-01-23 15:06

No kidding that they do tight turns, dives and climbs. Looking into this shot I wonder where this guy is coming from. It seems that he is coming out of the bush and heading to the fence unless he does some dramtic climb over the next centimeters. Probably must of this perception comes from the compression of your lens and I like this effect a lot.
Peter

Tue (25608) 2008-01-24 1:59

Hi Paul,
Excellent action photo of this aircraft. Great timing too. The rest of the view over the fields is great as well, I like to see all the cows in the background. The light is enhancing. Interesting note too! Thanks for sharing!
Regards,
Lars

mehmetemin (7217) 2008-01-25 0:59

Hi Paul
wodnerufl one, fantastic colours, light and a wonderufl effect on the sea!
Mehmet Emin

axiotea (15895) 2008-01-28 0:05

Hello Paul
A well timed capture of this crop-duster, flying so low! I would not like to have this plane, spreading pesticide, herbicide...above my house. The luminosity is pleasant and there is a good sense of depth.
Cheers
Marilyn

Angshu (33215) 2008-01-28 0:50

Hello Paul
The low flying yellow aircraft has been well captured. Add to that we see almost a hundred (maybe more) cows peacefully greazing in the BG. Good timing for this nice capture.
Regards
Angshu

Bluejeans (31479) 2008-01-29 9:32

Ola Paul ,
Que cena fantastica deste biplano a pulverizar os terras , bom contraste entre o amarelo e o verde , boa profundidade de foto , parabéns !!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

MLINES (10824) 2008-02-03 13:04

Hi Paul, Great action shot of this low flier. It is really low and it is no secrete why there are few old fliers in this profession. Interesting landscape in the background showing many dairy cows. TFS. Murray.

banyanman (7716) 2008-03-28 8:43

Hi Paul. Wow, these guys certainly know how to fly! You did an excellent job in getting the crop duster so well in focus with such a long lens. Did you think about cropping and enlarging this to have the plane more off-centre? (See workshop - I couldn't enlarge it of course, but it gives you an idea of what I had in mind for the cropping). Cheers . . . David

[workshop] [compare] +

kaptan (1442) 2008-03-29 1:52

beautiful colors.sharpness perfect.greetings.well done.nezih