Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: crops

Yesterday, 8 August 2019, was more of a barn day than a bird day. A while ago, another photographer had mentioned that a few barns in a certain area SE of Calgary had been removed and I was curious to see if I could tell which ones were missing. There is one huge barn in particular that I am always hoping still stands. I would love to be able to get photos from both sides of it, but it is way out in a farmer's field that is, of course, private property. Standing in the road, I can only get a distant shot and I had a problem with heat distortion yesterday. There is an old, round, wooden grain bin and a smaller barn just near the barn, too. I think the first time I ever saw the barn was on 21 January 2015, when I took my daughter out for the day. My intention yesterday had been to leave early in the morning, but it was already 10:45 am when I climbed into my car. Seeing the weather forecast for the next six days included rain on each day, I knew I just had to do this trip yesterday. Some of the roads I drove to get to my destination(s) were familiar, but others less so. There are two or three highway intersections that are confusing to me and I usually end up taking the wrong turn. For a change, I turned off the main highway going south before my usual turn, in order to shorten the distance. My first sighting was a distant Red-tailed Hawk perched on a wooden fence at a wetland that used to be a great spot, but now is totally dried up. After a quick stop at a tiny church that I always photograph when I am out that way, I continued east till I came to the three old Mossleigh grain elevators - one of the places I always get confused about which way to drive. Ideally, a dramatic sky would have been great, but I have taken better photos in the past. From Mossleigh, I did my usual exploring, finding that a lovely old, wooden house was still standing. I believe this was built from a kit years ago, and it remains in reasonably good condition. Eventually, I found the large barn that I wanted to see again. It took me a while to work out which road it was on (thought I knew!), but I found it after some driving back and forth. It was good to see the smaller barn, in less then good condition, nearby. The other two times that I have been standing in the road to take photos, a lady has come along the road from a nearby farm and very kindly told me to on in and take any photos I'd like. No-one around yesterday, so I stayed on the road,of course. At one point, I happened to glance up the road and saw what I thought was someone's dog on the crest of the road. When I zoomed in on my camera, I realized it was a coyote, who started walking towards me. Unfortunately, it turned off into the field and disappeared. When I was at this smaller barn, it amused me to see a magnificent Mule near the barn, plus a horse. The Mule looked huge and was a real poser, wanting to be in almost every shot I took. Such a gorgeous creature, that I don't remember seeing before. Once I had taken a few photos, I started on my homeward drive, not stopping anywhere as I could see that, if I hurried, I could get to the Saskatoon Farm in time to get a meal before the restaurant closed for the day. Yay, I just made it. Knowing that Frank Lake was only a short drive away, I couldn't resist driving back south to have a quick look. Found a couple of my friends there and spent some enjoyable time with them. Only took a few photos there, most to be deleted, before heading home. A fun day, though hot and hazy.

On 30 October 2017, I spent the day driving mostly roads that I had been along before (a round trip of 230 km). I still found a few roads so confusing! My destination was partly to check on two old, red barns. Having been there once before, with my daughter in January 2015, I knew that there were several other old barns and homesteads en route. This day was definitely a barn day, not a bird or wildlife day. The leaning barn in this photo looks as if maybe the wooden planks at each end have been removed on purpose, perhaps for the owner to re-use the wood for other purposes, or maybe sold to someone who uses aged wood for artistic creations? The much larger barn of the two I wanted to see was one that I had been looking forward to finding and seeing for the first time, which I finally did in January 2015. I would love to have been able to get photos from both sides of it, but it was in a farmer's field that was, of course, private property. The second old barn that I saw in this area is in far worse condition, but I love it. It was funny, because I was standing in the road and had already taken a handful of photos of this crumbling, weathered structure, when I noticed someone walking towards me in the distance. Talk about deja vu! I started walking towards her and it turned out that she lived at the farm just down the road, but had previously lived in the house next to this decaying barn, and it was her property. She told me to wander wherever I wished, take as many photos as I wanted. I laughed and said that in January 2015, when my daughter and I had been standing right there in the road, a lady came by on her horse and told us the very same story - it must have been the same person! Felt so good! Another place I stopped at on this day was a farmyard full of old barns, sheds and vehicles. I pulled over and got out to take a quick shot of an old, blue truck from across the road. A person happened to just appear, walking across his farmyard, so I called out to him and we had a delightful chat. I think he was very amused at my passion for old things and told me to walk around and take whatever photos I wanted. Which I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I told him what an amazing place he had, full of interesting things - some of which are seen in the next photo. I got the impression that he saw things very differently - lots of old things that needed fixing or tidying up : ) On the way home, I called in at the Saskatoon Farm to see if the restaurant was still open, but it had just closed (3:30 pm). I realized I had been enjoying myself so much that I had totally forgotten to eat anything all day. Managed to get a much-needed cup of coffee, though, and I did buy a box of frozen, uncooked Saskatoon Berry and White Chocolate scones. I bought some of these last time I was there and they are SO good, piping hot, straight out of the oven.

I don't know if everyone is getting so many small things going wrong with Flickr at the moment. It seems as if everything I try to do goes wrong or takes too long to work. Stats are a mess. Last night and this morning, 2 November 2017, we had our first major fall of snow in the city (at least in my part of the city). Still snowing this afternoon, and I'm just thankful I don't have to go anywhere today. Temperature is -10C (windchill -18C) at around 1:30 pm. Stay warm, everyone, and drive safely! Again, all three photos posted this morning were taken three days ago, on 30 October 2017. They show what a varied day I had. I spent the day driving mostly roads that I had been along before (a round trip of 230 km). I still find a few roads so confusing! My destination was partly to check on two old barns that I had only seen and photographed once before. Having been there with my daughter in January 2015, I knew that there were several other old barns and homesteads en route. This day was definitely a barn day, not a bird or wildlife day. I added a touch of filter in post-processing, to bring out a bit more detail. The large barn in a photo I posted the day before yesterday was one that I had been looking forward to finding and seeing for the first time, which I finally did in January 2015, with my daughter. I would love to have been able to get photos from both sides of it, but it was in a farmer's field that was, of course, private property. The second old barn that I saw in this area is in far worse condition, but I love it. It was funny, because I was standing in the road and had already taken a handful of photos of this crumbling, weathered structure, when I noticed someone walking towards me in the distance. Talk about deja vu! I started walking towards her and it turned out that she lived at the farm just down the road, but had previously lived in the house next to this decaying barn and it was her property. She told me to wander wherever I wished, take as many photos as I wanted. I laughed and said that in January 2015, when my daughter and I had been standing right there in the road, a lady came by on her horse and told us the very same story - it must have been the same person! Felt so good! Another place I stopped at was a farmyard full of old barns, sheds and vehicles. I pulled over and got out to take a quick shot of an old, blue truck from across the road. A person happened to just appear, walking across his farmyard, so I called out to him and we had a delightful chat. I think he was very amused at my passion for old things and told me to walk around and take whatever photos I wanted. Which I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! The blue truck in a photo posted two days ago was just one of several old vehicles, mainly cars. I told him what an amazing place he had, full of interesting things. I got the impression that he saw things very differently - lots of old things that needed fixing or tidying up : ) I told him to just leave everything as it is - a photographer's dream : ) On the way home, I called in at the Saskatoon Farm to see if the restaurant was still open, but it had just closed (3:30 pm). I realized I had been enjoying myself so much that I had totally forgotten to eat anything all day. Managed to get a much-needed cup of coffee, though, and I did buy a box of frozen, uncooked Saskatoon Berry and White Chocolate scones. I bought some of these last time I was there and they are so good, piping hot, straight out of the oven.

Yesterday, 30 October 2017, I spent the day driving mostly roads that I had been along before (a round trip of 230 km). I still found a few roads so confusing! My destination was partly to check on two old, red barns, including the one in this photo. Having been there once before, with my daughter in January 2015, I knew that there were several other old barns and homesteads en route. This day was definitely a barn day, not a bird or wildlife day. The large barn in this photo is one that I had been looking forward to finding and seeing for the first time, which I finally did in January 2015, with my daughter. I would love to have been able to get photos from both sides of it, but it was in a farmer's field that was, of course, private property. There is an old, round, wooden grain bin and a smaller barn/shed just to the right of this photo. The second old barn that I saw in this area is in far worse condition, but I love it. It was funny yesterday, because I was standing in the road and had already taken a handful of photos of this crumbling, weathered structure, when I noticed someone walking towards me in the distance. Talk about deja vu! I started walking towards her and it turned out that she lived at the farm just down the road, but had previously lived in the house next to this decaying barn and it was her property. She told me to wander wherever I wished, take as many photos as I wanted. I laughed and said that in January 2015, when my daughter and I had been standing right there in the road, a lady came by on her horse and told us the very same story - it must have been the same person! Felt so good! Another place I stopped at yesterday was a farmyard full of old barns, sheds and vehicles. I pulled over and got out to take a quick shot of an old, blue truck from across the road. A person happened to just appear, walking across his farmyard, so i called out to him and we had a delightful chat. I think he was very amused at my passion for old things and told me to walk around and take whatever photos I wanted. Which I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! The blue truck in the next photo was just one of several old vehicles. I told him what an amazing place he had, full of interesting things. I got the impression that he saw things very differently - lots of old things that needed fixing or tidying up : ) On the way home, I called in at the Saskatoon Farm to see if the restaurant was still open, but it had just closed. I realized I had been enjoying myself so much that I had totally forgotten to eat anything all day. Managed to get a much-needed cup of coffee, though, and I did buy a box of frozen, uncooked Saskatoon Berry and White Chocolate scones. I bought some of these last time I was there and they are SO good, piping hot, straight out of the oven.

A change of season and now the harvest is in. Drove just south of the city yesterday, but the sun wasn't shining. This photo is taken from the opposite direction to the image below. I sometimes wish the area wasn't as hilly, because I can't get both the road and the row of red granaries horizontal. Think I made the mistake of not keeping the slightly uphill road level in my viewfinder and letting the sheds slope down to the right more. Or maybe I'm just sweating the small stuff, LOL?

This row of five old, red granaries or sheds has been the subject of many photographers' images, LOL. Though the sun had not yet reached them, I thought I'd take a few shots. I LOVE golden fields of Canola and there were scattered fields of yellow as I drove west of the city yesterday afternoon. After getting as far as Maclean Pond (off Highway 66, Elbow Falls Trail) and photographing wildflowers, a couple of tiny mushrooms and a Police Car Moth, it was time to head back home via this spectacular scene.