Barbara Wilder and Vicki Cunningham
Not all field trips in the SaddleBrooke Photography Club involve traveling a long distance. Recently some of the members visited a local Farmer’s Market in Catalina, just a short drive from our homes. Our Garden, six acres of organic vegetables, fruit and nuts, is located on Stallion Lane just off Edwin Road. They gave us the opportunity to photograph a field of sunflowers, grape arbors, peach and pistachio groves and fields of various vegetables.
When we head off for a photography field trip, there is usually a list of items to photograph such as farm tools, insects, contrasting colors, patterns, etc. This will make you open your eyes and try a little harder to find a pleasing subject that you might not ordinarily notice. As Vicki Cunningham remarked, “There is always magic and an adventure in this world if you look under the sunflowers and around the plants that are in plain sight. I find some of the best pictures in those dark little places that no one else has thought to peek into. You could capture something well worth your time that is a prize photo in those shaded spaces.”
Often the pictures that are taken by our club tell a story that others will delight in. Taking a few pictures of things that remind them of their childhood in a faraway place is always a winner. The chickens we photographed seemed to be entertained when we asked them to pose through the wire. “Peck a little, talk a little, cheep, cheep, cheep talk a lot, peck a little more.” They were wide-eyed wondering what we were doing with the little square boxes that clicked. Even the bright green scarabs seemed to be marching somewhere. Jessie and his wife posed in a very interesting pose with a pitch fork. Bet you can’t guess what painting this looks like!
It is so good to follow that wide-eyed instinct we were all blessed with as children and see between the leaves into Never, Neverland. “Why, that’s not just a shovel in the corner, that’s a tool to dig a little fort for our soon to be big new pistachio tree.” There was a peach being eaten by more than a hundred bright green scarab beetles that looked like a Christmas tree ornament; iridescent and shiny. Baskets in the farm house were filled with fresh peaches and vegetables to buy for a little change. The peaches looked like a Cezanne painting. It is such a blessing to go to this wonderful place. Come to Our Garden on a Wednesday; pull up a chair and sit a while! Be sure to bring your camera and your pictures to the SaddleBrooke Photography Club on a Wednesday or Friday morning 9:00 a.m. to noon in the Agate Room to share with the club! We are a bunch of great folks. We would love to have you visit and stay!
After a week or so, we choose and edit our best shots and gather for a wrap-up to see a slideshow of the members’ submissions. It is always enjoyable to see how different each person’s view is of possibly the same subject.