Photographer: Scott McClurg

Camera: Nikon D1X

Grain handler Rob Smith, of Pomona, signals a truck driver to raise his load of corn last week at the North Lawrence grain elevator. Area farmers have filled the local elevators with this year's exceptional crop.

Lens: 17mm

ISO: 400

Shutter: 1/250

Aperture: f5.6

This picture was the result of an assignment about the area corn harvest being really good.

I knew I didn’t have a lot of time, which meant I had to stay near town rather than driving around the outskirts of Lawrence looking for combines. The clock was also ticking as far as available light.

When I arrived at the North Lawrence grain elevator, there were several trucks waiting to drop off corn, and I knew I would be able to make an interesting picture. Right away I noticed the trucks were dumping their corn in an enclosed space, but the sun was low enough to light the backs of the trucks.

So I waited for the right kind of truck to come along. Some dumped from below, which made it much harder to make pictures of people doing anything since the corn only dropped about a foot. Once the right kind of truck arrived, I shot trying different techniques, fill flash, available light and silhouette.

By metering for the available light which came from behind the grain operator, I was able to make a silhouette that looked more natural than if I had lighted the subject with a flash.