Photographing Brim Silo Art

Techniques used

• Techniques
• Normal Style
• Long Exposures
• Nuetral Density Filters
• High Dynamic Range
• Focus Stacking
• Remove People
• Photo Stitching
• Movements
• Tombstoning
• ISO
• Shutter Speed
• Depth of Field
• Diffraction
• Moving the eye around the picture
• Golden and Blue Hour
• Infra-Red Photography
• Raw vs JPG (JPEG)
• Camera Modes
• Expose to the Right
• Sharpness
• Fore, Middle, Far
• Rule of Thirds

• Techniques

Kit used

• My kit
• Apple Iphone 17Pro Max
• GoPro Hero 11
• Fuji GX680 Medium Format
• Linhof Technorama
• Canon 5DMkII
• Canon 5DSR
• Canon 16-35
• Canon 16-35

• My kit

Where to Stay

Brim - Redda's Park

For photography specifically, staying at Brim is the most useful option.

Camping at Redda's Park allows the silo to be photographed:

1. In late-afternoon light.
2. At sunset.
3. During blue hour.
4. Under its solar night lighting.
5. Again the following morning.

This is a considerable photographic advantage over visiting Brim as a short midday stop.

Warracknabeal

Warracknabeal provides a wider range of accommodation and visitor services and is a practical base when exploring the southern section of the Silo Art Trail.

It provides convenient access to Brim, Sheep Hills and other regional photographic locations.

Hopetoun

Hopetoun is a useful alternative base when concentrating on the northern Wimmera Mallee and the silo-art locations around Brim, Rosebery and Patchewollock.

Travelling with a Large Caravan

When travelling with a large caravan, confirm current site dimensions, turning space and access directly with the accommodation provider.

For a large tow vehicle and caravan combination, ease of access can be more important than simply choosing the accommodation closest to the silo.

Photographic Recommendations

16-35mm

The 16-35mm is useful for environmental compositions and situations where working distance is limited.

Avoid automatically using 16mm simply because the silos are large.

Moving farther away and using a longer focal length will normally provide more natural proportions.

24mm Tilt-Shift

The 24mm tilt-shift lens is particularly valuable at Brim.

It allows the camera to remain level while the lens is shifted upwards to include the top of the silos.

This greatly reduces the converging verticals that occur when a conventional camera is tilted upwards.

It is one of the best lenses to use for a technically accurate architectural-style record of the complete artwork.

24-70mm

The 24-70mm remains the most versatile general-purpose lens.

Use it for:

1. The complete installation.
2. Pairs of farmers.
3. Individual portraits.
4. Environmental compositions.

70-200mm

The 70-200mm is important at Brim.

Use it to isolate:

1. Individual farmers.
2. Faces.
3. Eyes and expressions.
4. Clothing.
5. Concrete texture.
6. Sections of van Helten's translucent painting technique.

Fuji GX680

The Fuji GX680 is particularly well suited to a deliberate, high-quality record of the silo architecture and artwork.

Its movements provide considerably more control over perspective and plane of focus than a conventional fixed-body camera.

The camera is less suited to rapidly changing viewpoints, so I would use it after first scouting the strongest composition with the lighter digital camera.

Tripod

A tripod is useful when:

1. Using the tilt-shift lens precisely.
2. Using the Fuji GX680.
3. Making shifted panoramic sequences.
4. Photographing during blue hour.
5. Photographing the illuminated silos after dark.

Circular Polariser

A circular polariser may help control reflections and darken a blue sky.

However, Brim's restrained monochromatic artwork does not necessarily benefit from maximum colour saturation.

Judge the polariser principally by its effect on the sky, concrete and surrounding landscape.

Controlling Perspective

Brim is an excellent location for deliberately controlling perspective rather than correcting everything later in software.

Four tall, adjoining silos create strong vertical lines, making even a small amount of camera tilt immediately obvious.

Conventional Lenses

With the 24-70mm or 70-200mm:

1. Move as far back as the public viewing area safely permits.
2. Keep the camera as level as possible.
3. Use a longer focal length rather than standing close with an ultra-wide lens.
4. Leave additional space around the silos for later correction.

Increasing the shooting distance is particularly valuable because it reduces the need to tilt the camera sharply upwards.

Using the 24mm Tilt-Shift Lens

The 24mm tilt-shift would be my preferred technical solution for a clean, geometrically controlled photograph of all four silos.

Mount the camera on a tripod and level the camera body carefully.

With the sensor plane vertical, use upward shift to move the composition towards the top of the silos without tilting the camera.

This keeps the vertical sides of the silos parallel while still allowing the complete artwork to fit within the frame.

If one shifted frame cannot comfortably contain the installation, make a sequence such as:

1. Lower shift.
2. Central position.
3. Upper shift.

Keep the tripod and camera body stationary and move only the lens shift.

These frames can later be stitched into a high-resolution image with very little perspective distortion.

For the most accurate documentary photograph, use shift rather than tilt.

Tilt changes the plane of focus and is generally unnecessary when the objective is simply to keep the face of the silo sharp and the verticals parallel.

Using the Fuji GX680

The Fuji GX680 with full movements provides even greater control.

Begin by levelling the camera carefully so that the film plane remains vertical.

Use front rise to include the upper portion of the silos rather than tilting the complete camera upwards.

This is the large-format principle of architectural photography applied to the silo artwork.

If the composition requires more movement than the lens comfortably provides, increase the camera-to-silo distance rather than immediately tilting the camera.

Front shift can also be useful if the ideal tripod position is slightly offset from the centre of the artwork.

Rear movements should be used cautiously.

Changing the orientation of the film plane can deliberately alter the apparent geometry of the silos, which may be useful creatively but is generally undesirable for an accurate documentary record.

For the principal Auspano record photograph I would therefore:

1. Level the GX680.
2. Keep the film plane vertical.
3. Use front rise for vertical composition.
4. Use front lateral shift if required.
5. Use little or no tilt unless needed specifically for focus control.

Using the DJI Mavic 2 Pro

A drone potentially provides a completely different solution to the perspective problem.

Instead of photographing steeply upwards from ground level, an elevated camera can photograph the mural from closer to the vertical midpoint of the artwork.

This can substantially reduce the visual dominance of the lower portion of the silos and provide a more orthographic-looking view of the mural.

Potential compositions include:

1. A near-frontal elevated photograph of all four portraits.
2. An oblique view showing the cylindrical form of the silos.
3. The silo complex within the surrounding agricultural landscape.
4. A higher environmental photograph showing Brim and the surrounding Wimmera Mallee.

Do not assume that launching or flying a drone at the silo is permitted.

Before flying, check current CASA airspace and drone restrictions using a CASA-verified drone safety application and confirm any permission required by the landowner or site operator.

If the photographs are being made for business or other non-recreational purposes, ensure that the aircraft registration, operator accreditation and operating arrangements applicable to the flight are also current.

Never fly over people, operational grain-handling activities or in a way that creates a hazard for vehicles, property or aircraft.

If permission or the legal operating environment is uncertain, use the 24mm tilt-shift or GX680 movements instead.

Which Perspective-Control Method?

For Brim, I would use the available equipment in the following order:

1. 24mm tilt-shift: principal technically controlled digital photograph.
2. Fuji GX680: deliberate high-quality architectural interpretation using front rise.
3. 24-70mm / 70-200mm: conventional photographs from greater distance and individual portrait details.
4. DJI Mavic 2 Pro: additional elevated interpretation only if the proposed flight is legal, safe and appropriately authorised.

Suggested Photographic Sequence

1. Scout the complete installation handheld.

   Identify the strongest position before setting up the tripod and perspective-control equipment.

2. Make the conventional complete-silo photograph.

   Use the 24-70mm from as far back as practical.

3. Use the 24mm tilt-shift.

   Level the camera and use rise to create the technically controlled version of the complete mural.

4. Make a shifted multi-frame version.

   If conditions permit, create a high-resolution stitched image while the camera remains fixed on the tripod.

5. Use the Fuji GX680.

   Make a deliberate architectural interpretation using front rise while keeping the film plane vertical.

6. Photograph pairs of farmers.

   Explore the relationships between the four figures.

7. Switch to the 70-200mm.

   Photograph each farmer individually and then isolate facial and concrete details.

8. Step back into the landscape.

   Include road, grain country and large Wimmera sky.

9. Consider an elevated interpretation.

   If a drone flight has been confirmed as legal, safe and appropriately authorised, make a small number of purposeful elevated compositions rather than simply repeating the ground photographs from above.

10. Return for blue hour.

    If staying nearby, photograph the solar-lit mural while some colour remains in the sky.

How Long

A casual visitor could view Brim Silo Art in approximately 15-20 minutes.

For conventional serious photography, allow approximately 45-60 minutes.

With the 24mm tilt-shift and Fuji GX680, I would allow approximately 1.5-2 hours.

This provides enough time to scout carefully, level the cameras, use movements precisely and photograph individual details without rushing.

If also photographing the artwork during blue hour and under its night illumination, treat this as two separate sessions rather than one extended daytime visit.

Priority Photographs

1. Complete four-silo artwork.
2. Technically corrected complete mural using the 24mm tilt-shift.
3. High-resolution shifted multi-frame photograph.
4. Fuji GX680 photograph using front rise.
5. All four farmers with surrounding agricultural landscape.
6. First pair of adjoining farmers.
7. Second pair of adjoining farmers.
8. Each of the four farmers individually.
9. Close portrait of the strongest facial expression.
10. Eyes and facial detail.
11. Paint fading into weathered concrete.
12. Photograph demonstrating the enormous scale of the installation.
13. Silo against a clean Wimmera sky.
14. Silo beneath dramatic cloud if conditions permit.
15. Warm low-angle-light version.
16. Wider agricultural landscape incorporating the silo.
17. Blue-hour photograph with the solar lighting operating.
18. Night photograph of the illuminated artwork.
19. Elevated landscape/silo composition if drone use is legal, safe and appropriately authorised.