A cornfield awaits complete harvest along Minnesota State Highway 60 between Faribault and Zumbrota, Minnesota.
IT IS THE FORMER FARM GIRL that drives me to turn my camera toward the fields this time of year, to the harvest of corn and soybeans.
Harvest in progress along U.S. Highway 10 east of Appleton, Wisconsin.
This past weekend provided the perfect opportunity to scope out the harvest on a 600-mile round trip through southeastern Minnesota across central Wisconsin to Appleton (just south of Green Bay) and back. Lots of windshield time with the husband. And lots of time to observe rural Wisconsin and rural Minnesota and capture those scenes with the quick click of my shutter button while passing by at highway speeds.
A cornfield awaits harvest along Interstate 90 in southeastern Minnesota.
In most areas, corn fields have faded from green to a golden hue. Soybean fields likewise are transforming to the muted browns of autumn.
A combine works the land along U.S. Highway 52 north of Rochester, Minnesota.
Combines kick up dust.
A vintage grain truck parked along side a southeastern Minnesota field.
Grain trucks rumble out of storage.
Lots of pumpkins harvested also and for sale, these along Wisconsin State Highway 21.
Hurry hangs heavy.
Bringing in the crop along Wisconsin State Highway 21.
There’s that anticipation, that sense of urgency, that hustle to get the crop out. Before the snow flies.
FYI: Here are a few photo tips for all you on-the-road wannabe photographers out there: Clean your vehicle windows. Make sure you are the passenger and not the driver; safety first. Set your camera at a fast shutter speed. Anticipate. Watch the glare on your windows. Then shoot, shoot, shoot.
If results are not perfect, and they likely will not be due to bugs, sun, and a myriad of other issues, use photo editing tools. Crop. Change the contrast. Sharpen if necessary. Get creative as I did here with usage of the artistic “cartoonify” editing tool. And, if all else fails to produce a pleasing image with the impact you desire, hover and delete.
PLEASE CHECK BACK tomorrow, when I take you on a tour of a Tomah, Wisconsin, cranberry farm.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Great photo tips. Our fall foliage trip was a bust this past Sunday. It was just not very pretty at all which surprised me. I did get some harvest pics but the —not so great. Guess we were a tid bit too early.
It’s interesting that you should say this, because the fall colors in the Mississippi River valley area of La Crosse were almost non-existent last weekend too. Usually this region is a stunning array of fall color. Mostly just green when we drove through.
Yep–we drove to Decorah and then up the Mississippi to MSP and it was really disappointing. Boo hoo.
Further into Wisconsin was better, especially on the drive home Sunday when the sun was shining.
You were in one of my favorite towns. Decorah. Love, love, love that place and I still have many photos to publish here from that summer trip to Decorah, Marquette and McGregor, Iowa.
Yep—Decorah is fabulous. One of my favorite places to visit in Iowa.
Ahhhh…..Mother Nature! Fickle! LOL We have about 60 acres of soybeans left. It has been so wet and we will be getting more moisture this week in the form of rain and possibly snow. Uffda….
Sure would like to get it in the bins and finish field work.
Picked the Buttercup Squash this morning…got a good frost last night. 28 degrees….brrrrrr…..
Looks like there will be a lot of corn standing….
Have a great day! Great photos! 😀
Please do not mention that word “snow.” I do not want to hear it. But it is in our forecast, too.
Oh I know Audrey! I know just how you feel…just what we don’t want for quite some time!!!!! I hope that it doesn’t amount to anything. Uffda…too early. Way too early…. 😦
God Bless all the ranchers who are donating cattle to our good neighbors to the south. We feel for you South Dakota. God Bless you too!
You need to tell me more about this, Mere. Cattle donated to South Dakota ranchers???
OK, I just did some online research and found that Mere is referring to the great loss of cattle during the recent blizzard in South Dakota and efforts now underway to help those farmers.
Check out this link to assist: http://agchat.org/2013/10/agchat-foundation-partners-to-help-atlas-blizzard-victims.html
It is so important to get the word out. I sure hope that ND helps out too! I am going to donate $$ I don’t raise cattle.
Farmers and Ranchers have to stick together…you never know when it will be your turn.
That is so true. Thank you for tipping me off to this situation in South Dakota.
Oh the farm memories your post brings to my mind! I loved going into the pumpkin field as a kid and I wanted the most odd pumpkin too:) Beautiful Captures of the Harvest. Happy Hump Day!
Thanks, Renee.
There weren’t any pumpkin patches around when I was growing up except the one in our garden. That sort of dates me, I guess. But that worked great.
There’s just something about all these pictures that I love , the subject, the color, the tone and light…. I just love seeing the tractors in the fields. I chuckled about your tips for photographing out the windshield….I do all of those things 🙂
We are two peas in a pod in so many ways, aren’t we? Love of all things rural. Love of photography. Love of God and family…
I agree 🙂
So much corn! And yes, it certainly has gone from green to brown. I love how you can just pull up and buy a few pumpkins direct from the farm – I pay so much for pumpkin! I’d love to wander over the patch and choose my own xx
We saw so many roadside pumpkin stands in Wisconsin. So many. Way more than I have ever seen here in Minnesota, although we also have these here. Often places that sell pumpkins offer children’s activities and hayrides and such to attract customers. These are the large-scale operations, not roadside stands.