of farm life
Winning photos depict varied joys, beauty and challenges Story by Linda DuBois
Nuts growing on a tree, a stunning vista, a tractor in a field of row crops, a cow nuzzling her calf, a ray of sunlight shining through the haze of a smoldering fire. Each image helps tell the collective story of California’s farmers and ranchers. These are just a few examples of the winning photographs in the 41st annual California Farm Bureau Photo Contest. The contest invited Farm Bureau members to enter photographs that showed a slice of farm and ranch life. They came through with shots of animals, produce, machinery, landscapes and employees hard at work or breaking for play. Cash prizes were given to the adult winners as well as the Budding Artists under age 14, in a category sponsored by the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom. Winning photos are also featured in a calendar.
First Place Maddison Easley Nevada County Farm Bureau
Easley works in land conservation, helping farmers, ranchers and forest stewards manage the land. Prescribed fires are used to improve grazing vegetation for livestock, reduce wildfire risk and increase the land’s overall health. During one such fire at a Nevada City ranch, she was struck by the way the sun’s rays were shining through the smoke and silhouetting the trees “in a very ominous and soothing way. … It was an eerily beautiful scene I wanted to capture on camera,” she says. So, she took out her smartphone and quickly snapped it. “The smoke and trees allowed for great lighting naturally.”
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