Mar 02 - Clearing the driveway

Mar 02 - Clearing the driveway, originally uploaded by DamnBeavers.

My old faithful Wheel Horse C-120 garden tractor with snowblower attachment. I have the 42" mower deck and the straight blade attachment (for use a a plow) for this tractor. I believe this tractor is circa 1974. It gets a lot of attention when I mention it at the local small engine repair (I go in for parts once a year or so). It just came back from service a couple of weeks ago, it got a carb rebuild & the snow chute was repaired (now I can control direction without getting off the tractor). The snowblower is a single stage, with the throttle on full, power to wheels set to Lo (directing most of the power to the PTO) this thing will throw some snow. You can barely make out the spruce tree to the right (it is about 15 feet from the tractor). Had I thought about it, I would have used a wider angle lens to get the full snow stream.

As this IS a Self-Portrait, I have to provide some details.

I set the camera on my Tripod (Bogen 055MF3, Culman Head, RRS QR Plates). Portrait orientation (RRS makes this easy). I have this Chinese Knockoff Timer Remote Cable called "Aputure". It allows me to set a Delay (The amount of time before firing starts), a shutter release value (which is meaningless on the camera if I have anything but "B" for Bulb set), an interval timer (the time between shots), and a counter (the number of shots).

For this shot, I set the delay to 20 seconds, that was enough time for me to get onto the tractor and moving forward into proper frame. I left the shutter release value set to 0, an interval of 4 seconds (between shots), and a counter of 20. One pretty cool feature on this timer (and the camera in general) is that with Autofocus on, the AF will lock on for each shutter press. This kept my back in focus when I was in front of the center AF point (You can set any AF point in the camera the center provided the most coverage for this shot).

The camera and lens was well-protected in my garage, I put the lens hood on to minimize any errant snow-flakes (or salt) from inflicting optical harm.

I've always wanted to get a shot of me on the tractor, I'm glad I did this!