Spring Trip To The Farm
Visit to a family Hobby Farm. Even though as growing up I spent a lot of time on my grandparents, uncles and others farms, sometimes working or mostly playing. Those days are gone and it is always a pleasure and treat to return to one and see the things that stay the same and trigger memories from long ago.
This was a visit to a family farm. A good friend of one of the photo club members. Went on a week night with possible rain storms forecast. The sky was overcast with breaks of sun ever so few. Which isn't always a bad thing. Clouds can add to a shot.
Upon arriving I was meet by the family dog. Made for a good place to start taking some photos. He was very cooperative and set when I ask him to.
For Sale
From there we meandered over to the horses, they were well behaved and glad to see us and have the attention, (more likely looking for handouts) and didn’t mind posing for a few photos as well. The horses had been rolling in the mud so they were not in the best condition to be posing for photo.
For Rent
But I did manage to get a couple good ones from this guy.
For Sale
From here we wandered into the pasture. We have had a lot of rain in the last few days so the field was quite wet and muddy in several places.
These two white and black calves seemed interested and curious about us but still kept there distance. Amazing with all the mud that they are still pretty darn clean.
This one though curious wasn’t going to let us disturb its rest. And watched us move around the pasture ready to abandon its resting place if we got to close.
Look at those eye lashes!
As you can see they kept a tight watch on us to make sure we didn’t get out of hand or to close.
Shortly the rain started to come down lightly with a steadily increasing amount. As you can see from the photo of this guy. You can see the rain streaks and beading on his back and face.
Not sure, but from this shot you would think that it was all about the dog. Can you say vanity!!!
Good side pose.
For Rent
Couple of the moms
About this time the sky started to open up and we headed to the nearest shelter. Which happened to be the horse shelter. After a few minutes in the shelter with the horses the rain started to quit and slow down to a tolerable level so we decided to head to the vehicles. On the way the sun popped out from the clouds and a double rainbow appeared.
And looking back to the west into the sun you could see it was starting to clear up. Which leads us to our next adventure.
Of in the distance looking through the woods from the pasture you could see a neighboring barn that has been let go into disrepair. Will probably end up in eventual collapse as so many old barns do.
The small farm that we were at was part of a larger older family farm. We decided to drive about a mile to the original farm house and barns to see what we could find to frame. So it was time to say goodbye to a newly acquired friend.
The Bigger Picture! The Original Farm Homestead
Upon arriving the farm consist of a well kept early 20th century farm house, main barn and several outbuildings. The barn as you can see from a couple of the photos has been recently painted and in pretty good condition considering the age.
One of the first things that caught my eye was this handle leaning against the window frame in the barn. Just a sign of past, present and future work needing to be done.
PHOTO ABOVE - The stone pile alongside the barn was an essential building component. Used for walls, fences, wells and anything that could be thought of. They were quite plentiful on most all farms. As the farmers had to remove them from the fields as to not break equipment that could hit them.
PHOTO RIGHT - The name of the silo manufacturer “The Smith Silo Co Oxford Mich” is a blast from the past. As these old concrete silo’s haven’t been built for many decades.
A few other photos that I thought were interesting.
Mechanics shed metal roof collecting pine needles.
This is an old hand crank device on the side of the barn that you can sorta see in a couple of photos back (in the dark shadow part). Not quite sure what is does. But most likely was some kind of silage release mechanism. You can see the double cable from the device going up the ladder shoot of the silo. Was probably quite high tec in its time.
Not sure what, but a large flywheel with a belt still in place. Sitting among the old abandoned and broken equipment and machines.
This old milk can and the barrel drum outside the mechanic shed also made interesting photo subjects.
If only it could talk. This old conveyor could tell some stories of times gone bye.
The next building that I wandered around was the equipment shed. This chain collection caught my eye. Kind of think that the HDR helps highlight the age and used look.
An old universal drive joint poking up from the old equipment among the wild raspberry pickers and weeds. Kind of looks like a dinosaur head?????
This is the back wheel on an old truck frame. As you can see there is fence wire wound around the rim. This was a quick way to wind old fence wire, Or could be used for any other convenient purpose.
Several more old rims with wire wound on them.
My favorite shot from the day. This old tractor was parked just inside of the barn doors on the back of the main barn. Doesn’t look like it has been moved in awhile, with the miscellaneous junk piled on it. Also in the back you can see the handle in the window from an earlier photo. But from this side you can tell its a pitch fork.
Final photo from the farm is of a “Friday Butter Printer”. The name is stamped in the upper cross section just below the wash tub. Not sure what a butter printer is and why you can only use it on Friday. But none the less makes for an interesting photo.
When going home from any photo shoot/opportunity, I try to take a different route. Since the camera is already setup and on the seat next to me. Never know what you may see. There were several photo opportunities of different wildlife on the drive. But nothing that really caught my eye or was out of the ordinary.
But this cat was stalking something near the ditch as I went by. When I stopped the car for the shot, he looked up at me for a split second and snap.
Also on the way home. Not sure what road now but saw these barns that I thought made great subject pieces.
Liked the rope hanging in the treee. Was a play toy for the kids back in the day before video games. Doesn’t look like it has been used for awhile now.
This was the perfect shot as the sun was trying to shine from cracks in the clouds and through the trees as it was setting in the west. This barn will probably be gone in a few years unless the roof trusses get some support soon. As you can see from the dip in the ridge and the bulging at the bottom from fatigue over the years. About to give way.
