Hay Field Photo Shoot Walk
@bagarad (14283)
Paso Robles, California
June 13, 2012 1:22am CST
For a couple of weeks now I've been driving by this scene on my way to town, but I've never had time to and a place to park in order to take a picture. Not far away from this scene is another I was itching to shoot, but there's barely room to walk on the street beside it, let alone a place to park.
Today I decided it was now or never. I needed to walk for exercise, and I drove to the parking lot of a nearby winery. From there I walked to this scene and on the way back to my car I took the other road where the bales were round. I had never seen round bales before in our area, though I remember seeing them in 1989 when we drove through Iowa on our way to the East Coast. I'll try to remember to include a picture of that scene when I answer a comment.
I don't know why I love seeing the hay fields so much and the harvested hay which has been baled. Maybe it makes me feel as though I really live in the country. What particular sight in your area give you a warm feeling inside when you see it? Do you know why you feel that way?
2 people like this
9 responses
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
16 Jun 12
We saw a lot of hay in fields on our trip up past Santa Maria toward Salinas. I like seeing hay fields a lot too, especially the bales. Well, I did grow up in the midwest, so I guess it is a comfort scene from home. But one farm we passed last week was very interesting because they had two pillars of hay bales stacked up very high, like I had never seen before. I wanted to stop and take a photo, but we had already stopped for 3 hours of golf and had to make some time in order to get to our next stop before it was too late.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
16 Jun 12
Where was that farm with the very high bales? Close to Santa Maria or Salinas? We'll be driving south through Santa Maria sometime next week. Of course, that doesn't mean the bales would still be there. I took my pictures in the nick of time. When I drove by the locations where I took them yesterday, the bales, square and round, had been moved from their fields. I'm glad I didn't wait for the weekend to take the pictures.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
18 Jun 12
I'll keep an eye out for it tomorrow on my way south.
@inertia4 (27978)
• United States
22 Jun 12
I have to say that that is beautiful country. We would never see anything like that here in Brooklyn. Can you imagine if there was a place here in Brooklyn like that? That would be strange and funny. And it would be totally out of place. But I do like the country sometimes. I am at that point in my life where I would like a more simple life then being here with all the noise and traffic.
@inertia4 (27978)
• United States
28 Jun 12
I am not a real nature freak. But I do enjoy the simple life sometimes. I love the city but it was more exciting when I was younger. I was always going out and I was hardly home. Those were the days. But now I am looking for something more simple. If I had the money I would like to move to P.A. They have some nice areas there. I used to go there all the time and still do from time to time. I guess lots of it has to do with being familiar with things. I lived here in Brooklyn all my life, so it is like part of me. I know if I moved I would not be able to get some of the rings I can only get here. But being that P.A. is not that far away, I could always take a drive into Brooklyn once in a while. And besides, most of P.A. where I want to go is full of ex-New Yorkers and Jerseyites. So it is getting more and more familiar for someone like me.
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
22 Jun 12
I agree this would be a strange sight in any urban area. That's one reason we chose not to live in an urban area, though we have lived in suburbs of Los Angeles for most of my life. Life in Templeton is pretty simple. If you love nature or art or photography, you never run out of things to do.
1 person likes this
@peavey (16936)
• United States
13 Jun 12
What makes me good about the country, although I don't live out there any more, is a corn field stretching away in the distance. You can smell the corn when it's hot and it rustles in the breeze. Although I know that most corn any more is GMO and I wouldn't eat it, it still looks like country, home and comfort to me.
When I was a teenager, I went to work in the hayfields before most people baled hay. We put it up in loose stacks after mowing and raking it into long windrows. We got sunburned and thirsty and tired and I loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Many farms around here put hay up in those huge round bales. I think they're easier to handle with tractors, and a lot faster to pick them up and dump them where you need them when you have a big tractor.
I love the look and smell of a hayfield after it's harvested using any method.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
13 Jun 12
Your feelings come through as though you'd written poetry -- beautiful. I love looking at the hay fields growing and when they'd harvested some of it, and after the bales are in the fields. Thank you for sharing your experiences. They add a lot to the discussion.
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
22 Jun 12
One thing I love about this area is all the trees. Even my old neighborhood in Newbury Park has a lot of trees. I had forgotten how many until I went back Tuesday and Wednesday. There is just something about a tree that speaks to me. I can see why the trees you see when you are almost home comfort you.
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
13 Jun 12
Baled hay IS a wonderful sight. It's proof of the abundance of the land, and something to stash away for when the weather is not so forgiving. When we first moved to this place we agreed that the previous owners could come in and harvest their hay crop, which they did. They made square bales and one of the most enjoyable afternoons was spent watching the driving around in a pick up whilst one (very muscular) chap chucked them up and onto the back. Of course, I'd never allow someone to drive a pick up around my field now, but it was fun to watch.
A couple of things always make me take notice when I see them. One is lizards and snakes, the other is citrus trees. We rarely see snakes and lizards, and certainly not citrus, in my native country.
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
13 Jun 12
Lovely photo.
We're too cold where I live for citrus too, although we're preparing a little corner where we think we may have created a warmer microclimate. I'd love to have a lemon tree as I am always needing one, yet they don't sell them anywhere close by,
I think the square bales tend to be smaller and are easier to deal with without machinery. They're also more suited if you have fewer animals to feed. I've always thought they'd be easier to store as well, but perhaps air in between the round ones when stored helps to preserve them. I honestly don't know.
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
13 Jun 12
Farmers here in Missouri use the big round bales more often than not. It is beautiful both to the eyes and to the nose lol to observe a newly mown hay field.
I can almost smell it now.
1 person likes this
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
13 Jun 12
One of my fondest childhood memories is the smell of fresh mown hay. Has it rained, that will disapate the smell. Or if it has been awhile. Maybe next mow you can stop and 'smell the hay'. lol I wish I had a camera, my daughter does and I encourage her to get out in nature with her camera. she does kids and portraits and weddings and graduations.
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
13 Jun 12
It's funny. I don't recall smelling these fields -- not even when I walked to the top of a hill right beside it. Maybe it was the delay between when the fields were mowed and when I had time to go and photography them. I was pretty far from where the first picture was taken. The second picture was taken at least a week after the hay was baled.
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
15 Jun 12
In my area it is the Cherry Blossoms in the spring and the autumn colors in the fall. I love both seasons. It is not too hot or too cold.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
16 Jun 12
I don't think I've ever seen cherry blossoms here. Yet I think some people have cherry trees. I like cherries.
@myfb2009 (8296)
• Malaysia
14 Jun 12
Hi Baga, this type of nature photo always reminded me of my lovely grandparents' paddy field. I remembered that whenever i was having my school holiday, my parents will surely bring me to my grandparents' paddy field. At that area, i can feel the beauty of nature and watch my grandparents' scarecrows... But, it is sad to said that it didn't last long. A developer bought that land from my grandparents and developed it into housing area. Nowadays, if i wants to visit paddy field again, i will need to travel faraway places since i don't live in countryside anymore.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
14 Jun 12
That is sad. I love your picture. Somehow I never imagined scarecrows in paddy fields. You learn something new every day. I'm sorry the land which is part of your childhood memories was developed. At least you still have the memories.
@Rick1950 (1573)
• Lima, Peru
18 Jun 12
Actually the image you've posted shows a marvellous sight of the place where you live. I myself would get pleasant feelings seeing those fields. An artist would have a great stuff for creating his paints. Around the place where I live, and 20 miles far away located, the landscape is different but also interesting. I'm attaching an example. I don't know why I have nice feelings when I see such marvellous landscapes, but they are part of the beauty of life.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
18 Jun 12
Actually, we have a lot of plein air painters in our area. They love painting the vineyards and abandoned barns and such. Your picture is also of a lovely place. I think beauty can be found almost anywhere if one is trying to find it. Maybe it's in a single flower or tree.
