Extracting the Extraordinary From the Ordinary

Ed Heaton looks for the light with the Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD lens.

Article By Jennifer Gidman

Images by Ed Heaton

Heaton’s Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD lens allows him to fully concentrate on his craft during his imaging explorations and while conducting his Creative Composition workshops and tours. The 18-270’s compact size (the world’s smallest, fastest 15X zoom optimized for use on APS-C DSLRs weighs in at just 15.9 ounces), as well as its focal-length range, provides Heaton with the flexibility to capture whatever he encounters during his travels. “The 18-270 is much faster and a whole lot lighter compared to the previous version,” says Heaton. “The filter diameter on this lens is 62mm — a full 10mm narrower than before, which definitely makes a difference when I’m on the road carrying it around.”

One of Heaton’s favorite activities is scoping out the rustic gems of the Pennsylvania countryside near his home. He especially enjoys photographing neighboring farmhouses and barns, using natural elements to complement the man-made structures in his compositions. A rusted red barn against the backdrop of fall foliage at its peak, for example, presented the perfect photo op one sunny October morning. “It was about 10am when I spotted this building,” he says. “It’s private property, so I parked on the side of the road. I couldn’t tell if the building was in use or abandoned, though the grass hadn’t been mowed for a while — it came up almost to the height of the hay bales on the edge of the property. I decided to use those bales as a compositional element in the foreground, with the barn and foliage in the background. I shot the image at a focal length of 55mm at f/22 for 1/10th of a second.”

Transforming a weathered old building into a compelling photographic subject also involves discovering the most aesthetically appealing angle. “The Winding Glen Farm is about one mile from my house here in Pennsylvania,” says Heaton. “When we moved here 27 years ago, my friend’s parents owned the farm. Now an Amish family owns it. I really wanted to show the farm’s dimensionality by giving it that type of three-quarter-view treatment: By seeing both the front and side of the farm, it creates more depth for the viewer. I try to avoid straight-on shots that just make a building look flat.”

Ideal lighting conditions and an alluring sky often get Heaton out of his car and into the fields when he’s meandering the roads that cut through the Amish countryside. “It was sunset, for example, when I spotted the Winding Glen Farm,” he recalls. “I’m really into the weather — I’m always watching the clouds, the light, the sky. I noticed the light on the side of the barn and the cloud formations and thought, ‘I have to shoot this.’ I got this photograph at 42mm, 1/8th of a second at f/16.”

A more temperamental sky drew Heaton to the Strasburg Overlook, a scenic area near the Strasburg Railroad tourist attraction. “I was driving along when the clouds caught my eye again,” he explains. “Light was streaming through the clouds onto all the other farms — I was hoping that once I got to the overlook, those same light beams would light up the valley. I sat there for about two hours waiting for that show of light to happen. Although it never took place the way I originally envisioned it, I got that dramatic sky instead. I found out later that a tornado had gone through in the distance, which created all that drama.

Heaton also specializes in photographing Mother Nature on her own, composing dreamy waterside scenes or capturing the early morning mist drifting over brilliantly hued valleys. “When I’m shooting streams or other water shots, I always try to drag my shutter for as long as I can to give that soft, cotton-candy look,” he says. “One of the shots I took in Zion National Park in Utah, for example, was shot with a 4-second exposure, at 21mm, f/16.”

Heaton rose before the sun to photograph the autumnal mist that envelops Pine Creek Gorge, a National Natural Landmark also known as Pennsylvania’s “Grand Canyon.” “The fall colors were at their peak here in northern Pennsylvania,” he says. “On cool, crisp mornings like that, the valley fills up with fog. I got there before sunrise and took a 30-second exposure at f/11, 25mm. I intentionally left the image a little bit blue to capture the feeling of that cold, crisp air.”

Frequenting the nation’s most iconic sights, including Arlington National Cemetery, Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., gives Heaton further opportunity to put his 18-270 to the test. Although Heaton relies on a tripod for most of his landscape and nature work, he often uses the 18-270’s Vibration Compensation feature while sightseeing — both his close-up of the Ben Franklin Bridge (shot at 1/160th of a second, f/8, 30mm focal length, with an ISO of 400) and the reflection of the Jefferson Memorial’s pillars (1/60th of a second, f/4.8, 35mm focal length, with an ISO of 800) were handheld shots that benefited from the 18-270’s VC technology. “When I’m kicking around town, I don’t want to carry a tripod,” he says. “The VC helps a lot when I’m shooting handheld. In terms of carrying one versatile lens that can handle a variety of shots, the 18-270 is perfect.”

To see more of Ed Heaton’s images, go to http://www.edheaton.com.