Benz World Blog » Farm

Blueberry Farm

Jason Benz — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 04:16:05 +0000

These blueberries at Riparian Farm in New South Wales are bursting with flavour and ready to be picked. The industry has been impacted by Covid border closures. Even Australians stranded abroad are only trickling back into the country as seats on flights are strictly limited to the number of spaces in hotel quarantine. The lack of backpackers in 2020 risks delicious food going to waste. My inner pragmatic green knew I could help and the farm is in the warm end of the state which is a beautiful place to defrost after a cold Blue Mountain winter in my van.

Berry picking is the perfect antidote for anyone who has become stir crazy in lockdown. Nature, laughter and reggae can be heard in the fields every day. A handful of pickers carry speakers, when they are spread over the hillside, the mix of music in the breeze evokes the sound of festivals, which now feel like part of history. Physically, it is easier than expected. Unlike most jobs, the human body is perfect for selecting and picking berries. Our colour eyesight and nimble fingers evolved for this purpose. Fresh air, light exercise and plenty of vitamin D, one healthy way to ride out a pandemic.

Anyone in NSW interested in helping with the harvest from May to November contact Mountain Blue.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Sheep Clone

Jason Benz — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 09:25:42 +0000

This sheep was photographed in Rutland. The idea for the image was inspired by a suggestion my mum made. The aim with Photoshop is usually that the viewer is unaware the image has been altered. As this image is trying to convey the message of cloning, for once the manipulation was made obvious. It is the best selling image I have ever made from the UK. In addition, it was the 4th bestseller worldwide giving it an automatic place on my home page. That was until today when it was overtaken by this image which my brother inspired.

I currently in Kalgoorlie to photograph the mines and get some repairs done while planning a route to Darwin.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Yamada Point

Jason Benz — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 06:38:54 +0000

In 2017 I have been working on the coral reefs around Okinawa in Japan. These waters contain the oldest and largest reefs in the Northern Hemisphere. This area has experienced some of the most devastating effects of climate change which has accelerated coral bleaching. This coral plantation at Yamada Point was built by local fishermen and is now the largest man-made coral field at over 2.5 hectares.

These images are a result of a collaboration between Panedia, Google, The Ocean Agency and the XL Catlin Seaview Survey. This project takes up most of my working week, although I don’t do the Photography, I have a lot of fun working on these beautiful images in Photoshop.

Scottish Longhorn

Jason Benz — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:38:08 +0000

This is a Scottish Longhorn Highland Cow, although it looks like a creature from Star Wars. As it came towards me I had to tell remind myself this is only a herbivore despite looking more dangerous than all carnivores I have photographed. This shot was taken last winter near Grantham in the UK.

We are over the worst of the jet lag from travelling back from Australia and plan to walk to a pub in Granchester tomorrow.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is be available for download here.

Fake Beef

Jason Benz — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 07:59:01 +0000

This is one of the many horses in the fields around Gonerby in the UK. Before I took the base image I had planned to give the whole horse a frisian cow texture in order to illustrate the current beef/horsemeat scandal. Despite the mild spell this weekend all the horses had blankets on. By only changing the blanket it made the final result believable and the compositing easier.

This image has had difficulty getting accepted for Stock Photography at first, however BigStock were the first to accept it and it is available for download here.

Tin Horse

Jason Benz — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:50:32 +0000

This is one of over fifty art installations we saw near Kulin on our way to Wave Rock. We took a slight detour to travel along the Tin Horse Highway but it was worth it to see the ingenious ways local farmers recycled old junk into these humorous sculptures. As you can see from the background it has not been all blue sky here. Western Australia has been experiencing an exceptionally wet year since we landed 7 weeks ago. Some areas have had a year’s worth of rain in a single day. We have seen a little flooding but nothing like the scale the eastern states experienced last year. I am told the sandy nature of the ground here ensures Western Australia can absorb a lot of water. We will be spending one more night on the road before arriving in Hopetoun which will be our base till the end of January.

John Deere

Jason Benz — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:13:39 +0000

This is a 1943 John Deere tractor which has been lovingly restored for classic farm shows. This may be the last post from the UK as we are in the final staged of moving to Australia. I will try to post more often once we are out there. Next stop Perth.