With the heartland Spring comes the season of planting the new crop and, while I've been away from farming for a couple of years, I still am drawn to the excitement of the seasonal events of planting and harvesting. Not only are the manly pleasures of large equipment at hand, but there is the thought that at this time of year thousands of farmers in our part of the world are involved in a concerted effort to either plant the years crop or harvest a bountiful crop. With many farmers a season makes their livelihood and a good or bad crop will spell the comforts for the coming year.
As the years have passed Americans have become more and more removed from the rural roots of our pioneer ancestors. With each passing decade our individual connections with farming, either through living in the rural community or having a relative that is actively engaged in the land, has been erased by the passages of life. Today, much of America is probably unfamiliar with the day to day struggles and seasonal ebb and flow of the farming practices. It still is a simpler world, but is being changed by ever increasing demands of larger farming operations needed to sustain family incomes.
I'll not soon forget the times in the field, from picking up rocks to having "lunch" at the edge of a harvested field and I'll never forget being in command of a large piece of farming equipment doing a variety of farming tasks. I'm grateful for the opportunities that life's little curves have provided to a city kid and thankful that instead of saying "I've never done that before" I instead exclaimed "why not?"
The above scene was captured outside the small town of Fostoria, Iowa and after having seen the on coming of what could eventually be a beautiful sunset I combed that back roads of the area looking for the work of planting this years crop in progress. A split neutral density filter helped to tame the brightness of the sky so that the image contrast would be reduced for the final processing stage.
For more views of my work visit:
"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa http://www.apieceofworkinc.com
"Art On 16th" http://www.hankhallarton16th.com
Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com
Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com
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