Harvesting olives in Caifornia 2012

[John Kasaian]

I've become interested in an olive grove where olives are still harvested by hand. The conditions are interesting---below the canopy of olive branches is dense shade, above is glaring sunshine. The harvesters are on ladders both above and below the canopy. I'm planning to do a lot of bracketing, mostly exposing for the shadows but I thought I'd see if anyone here had some suggestions? I'll be shooting the 5x7 Speeder handheld, loaded with HP-5+

[Drew Wiley]

A lot depends on the brightness range. I'm assuming that most of this will occur in open
sun rather than overcast if it's out in your part of the world. I've done a number of orchard
shots in the Central Valley with HP5, and it's doesn't have very good shadow separation at box speed. A bit of a toe. I don't know how your preference to carbon print will affect this, if you have that in mind - it will probably help recover the high values if you do choose a slightly lower ASA to keep the deep shadows luminous. I like HP5 for its good
midtone contrast and strong edge effect, but that means normal or plus dev, not minus.
So I resort to masking when the neg gets too dense. But contact carbon is a whole different ballgame. I still have childhood memories of working in the orchards, though
picking itchy peach fuzz wasn't my favorite task. We helped out the Takahashi family when they were starting back up in Clovis after the horrible relocation era. Are they still
in town, maybe out there in Copper Ave?

[John Kasaian]

A lot depends on the brightness range. I'm assuming that most of this will occur in open
sun rather than overcast if it's out in your part of the world. I've done a number of orchard
shots in the Central Valley with HP5, and it's doesn't have very good shadow separation at box speed. A bit of a toe. I don't know how your preference to carbon print will affect this, if you have that in mind - it will probably help recover the high values if you do choose a slightly lower ASA to keep the deep shadows luminous. I like HP5 for its good
midtone contrast and strong edge effect, but that means normal or plus dev, not minus.
So I resort to masking when the neg gets too dense. But contact carbon is a whole different ballgame. I still have childhood memories of working in the orchards, though
picking itchy peach fuzz wasn't my favorite task. We helped out the Takahashi family when they were starting back up in Clovis after the horrible relocation era. Are they still
in town, maybe out there in Copper Ave?

Yes the are! In fact the Verni olive grove is just up the street from the Takahashi stand.

[rich815]

In such conditions I've found overexposing by a stop and then 20-25% less development time to work really well. Got some beach shots that work great.

[Drew Wiley]

Thanks, John.

[Darin Boville]

I some sort of fill possible? Reflective panels?

--Darin

[Drew Wiley]

Gosh I can't imagine what that neighborhood is like now. It was well out of town when I was a kid, and when Clovis was distinctly separated from Fresno both by fields and by
cowboy attitude. Somewhat the other direction from Copper Ave I remember when the
Dry Creek dam burst and cut a deep sluice almost like a slot canyon. I had a ball crawling
thru all the heaps of mastodon and camel bones sticking out the bottom and sides of the
rhyolite ash everywhere. The Takahashi's had just a tiny farm and little house, but with
hard work sure built up their business fast. One thing I miss about this coastal area here is
all the fresh fruit. We can grow apples, pears, and plums well, but not much else.

[Doug Howk]

Maybe pre-flash the film. I've used a white-balance filter as described by Ralph Lambrecht in "Way Beyond Monochrome"

[John Kasaian]

Gosh I can't imagine what that neighborhood is like now. It was well out of town when I was a kid, and when Clovis was distinctly separated from Fresno both by fields and by
cowboy attitude. Somewhat the other direction from Copper Ave I remember when the
Dry Creek dam burst and cut a deep sluice almost like a slot canyon. I had a ball crawling
thru all the heaps of mastodon and camel bones sticking out the bottom and sides of the
rhyolite ash everywhere. The Takahashi's had just a tiny farm and little house, but with
hard work sure built up their business fast. One thing I miss about this coastal area here is
all the fresh fruit. We can grow apples, pears, and plums well, but not much else.

Yeah if you look hard to the West from the Takahashi fruit stand, you can just make out the clubhouse "tower" at the Copper River golf course.
I've been told that Mary Pickford's old mansion is still standing in the eucalyptus grove.

[Drew Wiley]

I of course despise developers, that is, the sprawl types, but without mentioning names,
the rich guy who did that all the Copper River stuff actually was a neighbor up in the hills,
meaning he lived about a mile away. Friendly enough fellow. When you walked into the tiny
tiny little Mex restaurant in town (incredible food) it was all cowboys and Indians, and everyone from millionaire to broke cowpoke all looked the same, right down to the cow poop on their boots. What I really miss is all the open range between Clovis and the hills,
where I used to roam with my little Pentax. Incredible rock colors and cave colors up above Dry Creek, then the fog would lift and a bull would spot you ... I still have some
white petrified palm wood bookends from the Pliocene sandstone formations in there.