For all the grand sights to see around northern California what caught my eye the most was right outside Davis. Just south of town, in the middle of an ag field, was a half collapsed old barn or farmhouse. With its slanted old shingle roof and surrounded by overgrown old farm equipment it looked like the perfect subject for a photo.
Now that I knew what to look for I could spot the old building from the I80 overpass just before the downtown exit. I searched it out on google maps and found the levy road that would take me most of the way to it. I just had to wait for the right time to go.
With only one morning assignment and a fog that thickened as the day went on Saturday turned out to be the perfect time to go. I loaded up the backpack with my 'artsy' lenses, hopped on the crusty old mt bike, and headed south. The fog was thick enough that I couldn't see the building which was less than a 1/4 mile off the dirt levy road. I cut down off the road into the dirt path between fields. Not only did I pick the muddiest path to ride but I also ended up one field away from where I wanted to be. I hiked across the dirt clods of the plowed field and used my bike as a stepping stone to cross the 5 foot irrigation channel. Two lessons learned here: walking or biking thru mud is a good aerobic exercise and don't wear the new shoes when mud may be involved.
The old barn was cool but wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped.
When searching on google maps I also saw the a field east of the old barn peppered with a few oaks. I couldn't pass up this iconic image of Yolo and Solano counties. A flock of blackbirds was working its way around the field and I moved into position to line them up with an old tree.
Same field, looking north along the fence line
Utility pole across the field to the west of tree.
South of that first oak was a cluster trees including two standing dead trees. Their skeletal remains made for a nice contrast with the living trees nearby.
These trees looked as if they'd been put in place on purpose. They balanced and framed the scene so well.
On the way back to the levy a couple more oaks in a field of grass seedlings.
This last photo I think was my favorite for the day. Placing the camera almost on the ground and using vignetting from a wide open aperture gave it the feel of an old, large format photo. Sounds like a good reason to dig out my old large format camera and wait for good time to go back.
