2014 GFF Photos of the Year

Voting is completed!  We have edited this post after tallying votes via Facebook, this blog and email.  We will leave each of the photos as is in their category and simply add an extra label for the winner.  Scroll down to see which picture won our 2014 GFF Photo of the Year!

Best in the Out Standing in Our Field Category

Evening Tomato Harvest

Typically, tomatoes are harvested on the farm mid-afternoon just prior to the final loading of the truck or a CSA Farm Share distribution.  We don't typically end up picking in the evening until September.  And, when that happens, there is usually a farmers market to go to the next morning.  The camera was probably already out on the cart and the evening was shaping up to be a beautiful one.  Tammy decided to grab a picture with Rob in the depths of the tomato forest while the sunset begins to shape up behind the barn.

Best in the Around the Farm Category 
AND
2014 Genuine Faux Farm Photo of the Year

High Tunnel Sunset

Both Rob and Tammy saw this color combination and both of us tried our hands at it.  By the time stamps on it, it looks like this one is Rob's.  But, there are some other versions of the same photo that are pretty nice as well.  Iowa sunsets can be very nice, with lots of subtle color variations.  We just liked how the plastic of the high tunnel changed the color a bit.

Best in the Around the Farm Category (runner up) 

B) Farming on Tatooine

This is another Tammy photo.  While Rob was trying to get work done on the new tractor (June work days can get very long), Tammy decided to try and get a shot of the full moon as it came up to shine light on our work that night.  It was just an interesting artifact of the lens that leads to a shadow moon in the picture.  Of the tries Tammy made with the camera, this is the one where the shadow moon was strongest and looked the most like a 'real' moon.  It wasn't intentional, but it sure ended up as an interesting picture.  

Best in the Veggie Category

The Perfect Black Krim

Black Krim tomatoes have a tendency to have radial cracking at the top and are rarely blemish free.  They just taste so darned good that anyone who likes a top notch tomato will not care much about the looks.  But, when you find a Black Krim that is this free of problems with this kind of color, you just have to photograph it!  Rob and Tammy reserved this particular tomato for their BLTs that night.  Ok... is your mouth watering yet?

Best in the People Category

Photo Bomber Strikes!

Rob takes most of the pictures on the farm, but Tammy is raking in the awards this year.  I know it has nothing to do with the background of this particular picture, it must be the garlic.  Yep, that's it.  In any event, this was one load of garlic from our 2014 harvest.  I seem to recall that she was asking that I stand by the garlic for the picture.  Apparently, I cannot follow instructions.   Or perhaps, I like to extrapolate too much?  Extrapolate is a great word.  Fun to type, fun to say.  And, a fun picture.

 

Best in the Critter Category

Ummmm.  You missed a spot

The tables are turned and Tammy shows up in a photo.  Our outdoor cats are pretty friendly once they get to know you - even if they do tend to hide when large numbers of people appear.  Mrrranda decided to be more friendly to the camera than she used to be.  Se actually ran AWAY from the camera when she was a kitten.  Even if she was initially running to the photographer just prior to the appearance of the camera....  This picture may not be the very best for composition or quality, but with the caption, it makes it well worth it.

 

Best in the Flower Category

Candy Trio

Then, there are flower pictures.  For some reason, flowers caught our attention more this season than some of the others.  There were many good ones to choose from.  We think Rob was more interested in flower pictures this year because we had some help keeping the flower beds looking better.  In other words, we enjoyed them more - which was the goal all along.  If we recall correctly, this day lily is called Strawberry Candy.  Usually, they don't line up in such a tight cluster.  The lighting was right and the background didn't really fight with the rest of the picture.  So, this one works nicely.  We are both big fans of day lilies and iris.  So, if you wonder why so many pictures of different kinds of these show up on our blogs, you know now.