June 20th, 2026
Nikon D4S & Tamron 70-210/4
The Early Bird Gets the Worm
The heatwaves hit us this weekend. I figured it was finally time to take the Tamron for a spin and shoot the “drowner scarecrow” I wrote about here a few weeks back. It’s the second half of June, which means the sun rises very early, and for this trip to make any sense at all, I had to be on location no later than 6:00 AM. That’s when the sun would be hitting it perfectly from the east.
So, I got up at 5:00 AM. Yes. At 5:00 AM. On a Saturday. Of my own free will. I got dressed quickly, grabbed my camera gear, hopped on my bike, and set off on a 10km one-way trip.
Just past 5:00 AM, it was actually quite pleasant. Empty streets, temperatures slightly below 20 degrees, and most importantly, the morning was supposed to be cloudy with a few sunny spells. That meant there was a chance for some nice, localized patches of light.
Long story short, I reached the spot after about 30 minutes. I located the scarecrow and started working the scene. I began at the northern edge of the dried-up pond, but I just couldn’t manage to separate the scarecrow from the background properly. The photo was just a flat, monotonous blob of gray and green. I decided to ride down to the southern edge. Things looked a bit better there.
This composition at 210mm is quite pleasant. It’s framed somewhat like a close-up 50mm shot - obviously, the lens compression is completely different, but you know what I mean when it comes to layering the planes in the frame. In the foreground, the scarecrow peeks out from behind the tall grass, and the overlapping layers create the illusion of a path cutting right through the frame.
In the midground, there’s a large bush or a small tree. In the background, a hazy line of trees with a high-voltage pylon poking through. I like it.
I managed to wait out a moment when the sun timidly broke through the clouds, casting a soft light right onto the bottom of the dried-up pond. Here, I dropped the focal length to 122mm, which allowed me to capture how the sun instantly boosted the saturation and warmth in the frame. It also immediately increased the contrast, especially in the sky. The composition became a bit more complex, and this is roughly how I’d arrange the planes if I were shooting close up with a 35mm.
And here I zoomed out to a wider 70mm, and I really love this shot, too. Generally, I've grown quite fond of creating wide-angle compositions using a short telephoto lens - if you catch my drift. The scale of the frame allows me to think about it in wide-angle terms, where the main subject is a tiny but very crucial part of the composition, deeply grounded in the context of its surroundings.
Unfortunately, the window of good light had closed, but I decided to push through the weeds - which were waist-high - to reach the exact southern tip of the dried-up pond. It’s a miracle I didn’t pick up a single tick. A miracle I wasn’t bitten by a viper... or a drowner. I waded through the thicket, mosquitoes tried to eat me alive, and I was even attacked by some exceptionally brutal slugs that left slime trails all over my boots and pants. But I managed to nail this central shot at 175mm.
I tried a few different compositions and focal lengths from this perspective, but this one probably sits best with me. I stood there for another 15 minutes, hoping another patch of light would appear. But judging by the movement of the clouds and a sudden shift in the weather front, I realized I could stand there for an hour, and by the time it cleared up, the sky would just start pouring down scorching heat. I definitely didn’t want to ride back home in those conditions.
In the end, I took a few dozen shots, and these four made me genuinely happy. The plan is to return here at the end of August when the first morning fogs might start rolling in. And I’ll absolutely be hunting for fog in October. Imagine this with the golden hour during the golden Polish autumn - it could be incredible.
I packed up my gear and started heading back. I passed by my favorite little fishermen’s hut, but the lighting wasn’t much different from the shots I already have of it. Instead, I decided to check out where the path next to a certain abandoned house leads - but more on that in a moment.
Abandoned House, 122 Hodowców Street
I’ve been passing by this house for a while now, and it sits in a garden overgrown as hell. There’s a path running right next to it, and I decided to see exactly where it leads... and it leads... wait for it... nowhere. There’s no passage to the ponds behind the house. But I noticed a hole in the fence, and through that hole, I spotted the back door. I checked it out, and it turned out to be open-ish. As in, not locked.
I pulled my second setup out of my backpack, brought along just in case: the Canon R6 with an EF 17-40mm f/4. Did I mention I bought a Canon R6? No? Well, consider it mentioned. Why? It has fewer megapixels and features IBIS, which I’ve really started to appreciate in scenarios exactly like this. But wait, you have the Lumix S1 and S5IIx, and they also have stabilizationb - better stabilization at that! Ah, shut up!
Inside, it was dark as a tomb, and to be perfectly honest, there wasn’t anything particularly interesting, aside from a room that, judging by the colors on the walls, might have been a child’s bedroom. There were also two blue armchairs and the gutted remains of a TV. I took exactly three shots in total.
I snooped around for maybe a minute and immediately evacuated. The house is built in the style of the cube, which was super popular here in the 70s and 80s. Meaning, it literally looks like a flat-roofed cube. I just checked Google Street View, rolling back the preview to 2018, and back then, the garden was well-kept, and the house was clearly inhabited. So the total collapse of this place happened just a few years ago. Why? I have no idea. It’s abandoned, and it certainly doesn’t look like anyone is prepping it for sale.
Oh well. I packed up and biked home. I walked through the door exactly at 7:50 AM, took a shower, and since the rest of the household was still in bed and my daughter had a sleepover at school, I crashed in her room for another hour. By the time I woke up, the real inferno had started - a solid 33 degrees in the shade.
On Sunday, I went to shoot the New Orleans parade in Bielsko, but I’ll write about that in a couple of days. So, until next time!
That last scarecrow shot is the chef’s kiss!