Sometimes you’ve got to get dirty

Posted by on Apr 21, 2011 | Comments Off

There’s nothing like starting a work day lying belly-down in an asparagus field.

Unseasonably cold weather has delayed the start of the asparagus harvest this year and harvest in the Yakima Valley is just getting underway. Fernando Martin, left, and Pablo Lopez harvest asparagus in a field near Outlook, Wash. April. 21, 2011. (GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic)

This photo is an outtake from a soon-to-be published story on our local asparagus harvest. Asparagus are a semi-big deal around here since it’s the first crop of many to be harvested each year in the Yakima Valley.

I wanted to make a photo which emphasized the asparagus (since it is the focus of the story) so, with a 16-35 mm lens on a 1D Mark IV I flopped down in the soft dirt of the field and got up close and personal with the asparagus.

Of course I and my cameras got pretty dirty doing the shot but I’m mostly pleased with the result. The photo might have been better if the worker on the left was bending over to cut asparagus. I wish I had been able to shoot this a little earlier in the day (this was shot shortly before 8 a.m.) when the light was better but the workers didn’t start harvesting until 7:30 this morning.

Every time I do a harvest photo I’m impressed with the farm workers’  strength and stamina. Working in the fields and orchards is truly hard work and I have tremendous respect for those folks who can work in the fields all day. Asparagus harvest is especially difficult because you’re constantly bending over to cut the asparagus. Compared to the farm workers’ task, my job is easy.

–Gordon King