The Palouse

 

After the harvest

Sony A7r FE 70-200mm (103mm, f/8 1/400 ISO 50)

 

Dusty work

Phase One DF/IQ160 Schneider LS 240mm (f/8 1/500 ISO 50)

 

There's a region in southeastern Washington and north central Idaho that is a major agricultural area producing primarily wheat and legumes.  One of the features that makes this area unique is large areas of level land are rare.  Undulating hills with crops can be seen for miles.

 

Old Storage

Sony A7r FE 24-70 (24mm f/11 1/320 ISO 50)

Close up

Phase One DF/IQ160 Schneider LS 240mm (f/4.5 1/320 ISO 50)

 

We've know about this area for several years however we just hadn't been able to visit it due to our other shooting commitments.  That is until this past August when we decided to take the time and do an all too short visit as we made our way north from Arizona to Jackson Hole.  The trip from Tucson turned out to be a little over 1500-miles and took 2 1/2 days.



 

Old Barn

Phase One DF/IQ160 Mamiya LS 55mm (f/8 1/400 ISO 50)

Palouse Field

Phase One DF/IQ160 Mamiya 120mm (f/11 1/200 ISO 50)

 

Having no experience in the area we decided to spend time in Moscow Idaho and travel into Washington State just barely scratching the surface.  We visited the areas around Pullman, Palouse and Colfax finding stunningly beautiful areas that just begged to be photographed.

 

Palouse Harvest

Sony A7r FE 24-70 (31mm f/8 1/200 ISO 50)

 

Palouse Afternoon

Phase One DF/IQ160 Mamiya LS 55mm (f/11 1/200 ISO 50)

What should you expect is rolling hills with depending on the season, crops or crops being harvested.  Beautiful skies, beautiful colors on the ground with an almost dreamlike quality.  Old buildings that have seen better days as well as dusty roads.

 

Sony A7r FE 24-70 (70mm f/8 1/160 ISO 50)

Phase One DF/IQ160 Mamiya 80mm (f/2.8 1/2500 ISO 50)

 

This just scratches the surface of what you can expect and from our too short stay; we are already planning return visits. 

 

Image Samples:

What we've posted are great examples of how well the Sony A7r can work beside a 60 megapixel digital back.  You'll notice that in each case we're shooting using the lowest possible ISO.  The f/stops range from wide open at f/2.8 to closing down at f/13.  Another note is that we primarily shoot in full manual mode being that we decide which stop we use, likewise the shutter speed.  It's easy in a mirrorless camera like the 7r as what you see in the viewfinder is what the sensor sees--which means what you see is what you get.  It gets slightly more complicated when using a camera with a mirror like the Phase One DF where you need to be aware of the readings in the camera viewfinder. 
 

Sony A7r FE 70-200 (144mm f/13 1/200 ISO 50)

 

You'll also notice none of the images were captured using the Cambo WRS technical camera; not that Don didn't want to.  The sole reason none were taken is that the camera was sitting in Jackson Hole.  We have a return trip scheduled very soon and Don has every intention of using the Cambo as well as the infrared converted Sony A7r.

 

Having limited time as we did, we stayed close to the Palouse Scenic Byway visiting areas near Colfax, Palouse, Pullman and just skirting Steptoe Butte.

 

We'll be going back...

 

 

Sandy & Don