Exif data: NIKON D300, Focal Length: 200 mm, Aperture: f/5.6, Exposure: 1/2500 sec, ISO Speed: 200, Flash: Not Fired
13/11/2008 at 00:43
Category: [landscape]  
71 comments
 

• And I thought they were clouds, Sherri! I guess the farmers know what needs to be done...I hope??
  Ginnie @ 2008-11-13 01:00:41
• Beautiful lonelyness. I love compositions like this but somehow I never find just 1 tree ;)
  Beautiful.
  Angelique @ 2008-11-13 01:03:15
• me too, I thought grey cloudy sky.
  
  This one tree, looks nice
  Omar @ 2008-11-13 01:05:23
• Seems like a ghost tree.... interesting shot!
  Liang @ 2008-11-13 01:34:48
• Magnifique peinture de céréales mûrissants !
  petitlouis @ 2008-11-13 01:36:18
• Bon respect des proportions ! Une belle peinture !
  Vink @ 2008-11-13 01:48:15
• stunning perspective and focus for a beautiful landscape
  BoB @ 2008-11-13 02:23:36
• To photograph simplicity isn't simple. With this photo you succeeded however impressively. Very well spotted and executed, beautiful image.
  Reiner @ 2008-11-13 02:29:51
• Wonderful composition, simple and effective. Like to spot the smoke only on the second sight in the sky.
  alex @ 2008-11-13 02:55:28
• Simple and effective, I also thought it was clouds :)
  Dave G @ 2008-11-13 03:06:04
• Love this image. So pure and simple. Didn't know that they burned the fields after harvest. I learn something new every day!!!!
  Marcie @ 2008-11-13 03:12:50
• The selection of the plane of sharpness makes the scenery almost a maze, encouraging the view to jump forward and backward. What I would see as a flaw in many other pictures gives a strong depiction of reality here, as smoke and burning and heat usually create those kind of atmospheric effects, not allowing the eyes to rest easily on a point
  Markus Spring @ 2008-11-13 03:30:57
• Nice empty picture. I like the quieteness in it.
  Bouncing Light @ 2008-11-13 04:44:09
• Aha, that was the thing burning in yesterdays picture?! Love the single tree it gives the image a very melancholy feeling.
  Frida @ 2008-11-13 05:30:09
• oh I love this one. very nice compo and unusual use of dof for this kind of landscape shot.
  nissou* @ 2008-11-13 06:04:27
• Great image- well chosen aperture, lens etc. We burn the heather moors here too (deliberately!) and, as with your Youtube clip, I always wonder how much small mammal and insect wildlife gets killed or displaced when we do this- worries me!
  david wilson @ 2008-11-13 06:14:12
• ooooh!! this definitely looks cool to me.. love the solitary tree in there and this is a very intriguing foreground.. great shot! :D
  Rian @ 2008-11-13 07:00:26
• Excellent image...beautifull in it's simplicity.
  Susan @ 2008-11-13 07:02:24
• I love that distant tree over the field
  yz @ 2008-11-13 07:03:17
• Cool! Pure, simple, very nice.
  beanow @ 2008-11-13 07:10:55
• The mood and the composition are outstanding!
  roentarre @ 2008-11-13 07:18:13
• Wonderful image. One of your best in my humble opinion.
  Jim Browning @ 2008-11-13 07:23:08
• I love the smell of burning soybeans in the morning.
  clarence @ 2008-11-13 07:58:04
• The smoke clouds are fabulous, as is the composition and perspective. It feels (if you have a furtive brain!), like a rock concert crowd, with the tree as the centre stage....
  
  Superb
  FLOOG @ 2008-11-13 08:23:21
• Very nice bleak, open, and lonely picture. Really conveys a lot in a elegant way.
  Mike @ 2008-11-13 08:55:58
• wow! excelent shot, nice pov.
  Arash @ 2008-11-13 09:07:23
• I like the isolation of the tree against the pattern of the Soybeans.
  anton @ 2008-11-13 09:54:55
• The tree all by itself makes a fine first-place-to-focus and is quite an eye-catcher. The overall image and comment (and video) make this a very strong post. Well done.
  don @ 2008-11-13 10:04:35
• Sweet shot. There is something heroic about that tree standing a lonely vigil.
  Michael Rawluk @ 2008-11-13 10:25:42
• Love the single tree and the softness and tone of the foreground. Excellent!
  Terry H. @ 2008-11-13 10:40:20
• Beautiful focal point. And excellent dof!
  Raffi @ 2008-11-13 11:31:03
• Wow sherri the desolation in this shot is overwhelming. Seeing that one tree Towering over the bleakness is an amazing sight. Awesome!!
  Andy @ 2008-11-13 11:38:29
• It couldn't be more perfect. The little trees serves as an anchor for this photo. You have an eye for placing something in the center of attention that has nothing to do with what you're photographing.
  Rachael @ 2008-11-13 11:42:02
• Very, very cool, Sherri...love the shot of the lone tree and the billowing smoke from behind. Love everything about this...I'm glad you resisted the temptation I'd have to B + W process this shot...nicely done!
  Hess @ 2008-11-13 11:50:26
• Nice Sherri
  [terrorkitten] @ 2008-11-13 12:08:04
• very fine photo!
  grant @ 2008-11-13 12:31:49
• Superb! Great use of space and I love the focus with the blurred foreground and background. Wonderful composition.
  AC @ 2008-11-13 16:25:18
• I love the minimalist approach to this, including the relatively static composition.
  613photo @ 2008-11-13 17:58:57
• Unbelievable shot, wow! You've outdone yourself!
  Robin @ 2008-11-13 18:30:19
• I too thought they were clouds, have seen controlled burnoffs before, but you have captured this superbly the soybean field almost looks like plush carpet to me,
  JJ @ 2008-11-13 19:49:59
• great smoke.
  michele @ 2008-11-13 19:58:12
• That lone tree now must stand watch as the land surrounding it replenishes itself for the coming year. Well composed.
  Sean @ 2008-11-13 21:40:05
• what an incredible shot!!!! i would love love love to have taken THAT PICTURE!
  Elaine- @ 2008-11-13 22:31:12
• Nice perspective, love that lone tree, great shot.
  Zing @ 2008-11-14 00:51:21
• This is a perfect photo. The dof, the lonely tree, the smoke ... great !
  cako @ 2008-11-14 01:02:32
• Wonderful large perspective, with only this tiny tree. Like it.
  SwissCharles
  Phototherapy @ 2008-11-14 03:47:27
• Across the minimalistic carpet of soy beans my eye quickly homes in on the blurred background interest created by the smoke and atmospheric veil over the rice field. Clearly everyone is impressed by this shot and rightly so. For me, it is one of those pov's where I sense that warm cozy close to mother earth feeling. Nice one!
  gavin hart @ 2008-11-14 04:04:49
• I feel sad for the lone tree almost. This is a beautiful shot Sherri! I feel I'm in this place. well done.
  Radel @ 2008-11-14 04:41:13
• Fascinating capture Sherri. Interesting image with the fire, solitary tree and the wide view of the soybean field. Great shot and perspective.
  John Maslowski @ 2008-11-14 06:28:33
• Beautiful composition. Excellent DOF and colors! This capture is really amazing. I really love the idea of this single tree in the middle.
  David Léonard @ 2008-11-14 08:39:19
• Pleasing for all the best reasons. Excellent work!
  Michael Skorulski @ 2008-11-14 09:15:40
• Again, this is a striking image that could have been taken in Africa. Sherri, you are a master of symmetry and balance in composition.
  Chris Cardelli @ 2008-11-14 10:15:50
• This appeals to me a lot, nice one Sherri
  Nig @ 2008-11-14 11:08:32
• That is some detail!! Impressive! And the smoke in the distance with the lone tree is really cool :)
  Arjan - PlasticDaisy @ 2008-11-14 11:39:28
• That's a wonderful image. I hadn't seen a soybean field since I moved from Nebraska to Washington, but I recognized it right away. We do field burns here, too, with some of our wheat fields. Helps eliminate pests and is quicker to plant. Thanks for visiting my site and for the nice comment.
  Toni @ 2008-11-14 11:53:15
• Minimalistic good!
  Joachim @ 2008-11-14 12:34:21
• Yes indeed. I find the changes in the landscape so startling after harvest. Beautifully captured.
  martie @ 2008-11-14 13:13:06
• Geez, Sherri - I love this. That lone tree. Imperceptible changes of the slow growing soy - against the violent changes brought by the fires beyond.
  Stephen Phillips @ 2008-11-14 13:55:06
• I see trees like this all the time but can never see a way to make a good image out of them like you have here.
  12bitphoto @ 2008-11-14 13:55:42
• Stunning composition and DOF! excellent shot!
  Giovanni @ 2008-11-14 14:36:45
• Interesting perspective Sherri. Seems to go on forever.
  Turnbill @ 2008-11-14 15:11:17
• The lone tree emphasises the vastness of this landscape. the shot has documentary value, too.
  Andrew Gould @ 2008-11-14 15:58:56
• I like how you singled out the tree in the field and the dim colours give it a special tone overall. Nice image.
  Andres @ 2008-11-14 20:18:30
• Did the tree live?
  Nick @ 2008-11-14 21:10:32
• Wow. This looks almost other-worldly. Nice.
  Caryn Caldwell @ 2008-11-14 21:34:09
• I often wondered, and now I know. I really like the depth Sherri, the detailed textured of the feeds, billowing clouds of smoke and the one lone tree. The one lone tree just kills me every time.
  bluechameleon @ 2008-11-14 22:23:17
• Love the composition, beautiful shot!
  Ashish Sidapara @ 2008-11-15 01:37:02
• The lone tree... Beautiful!
  LGB @ 2008-11-16 12:08:25
• Nice empty picture. The compo is awesome !
  Denis @ 2008-11-16 12:58:00
• Such a wideness and the lonely tree - like your picture.
  Cerstin @ 2008-11-19 14:50:24
• great use od the rule of thirds..
  Westy @ 2008-12-02 13:24:59

...they set the fields on fire...

Burning the fields simply makes it easier to work the land after the rice has been harvested.

Soybeans ready for harvest are growing in the forefront of this image. The fire is in a distant field.

This type of burning is done by the farmers and is not the same as a controlled burn where the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission set the prairies on fire.


In my photographic work I’m generally attracted to places that contain memories, history, atmospheres and stories. I’m interested in the places where people have lived, worked and played.
- Michael Kenna, (Photographer)