Johnson Branch Photography: Farming and Photos

I was raised in the country surrounded by farms and I was an active member of my high school FFA chapter. Through FFA, I showed hogs, judged livestock, crops, soil, grew crops and participated in a number of other things. FFA was without a doubt the best thing I did in high school to prepare me for the "real world" After having spent so much time hunting on farms and sitting through ag classes and going to farm equipment shows gave me a good foundation to be a farmers wife.

My husband and I are multi-taskers. I am a 911 disaptcher/Photographer and he is a Police Officer/Farmer. My husband and his twin brother have helped their grandfather farm since they were quite young and while their grandfather does incredible for his age (he's 88) they have basically taken over the farming duties. Over the past couple years, I have become more and more interested in the actual farming process. While in college, I would ride in the combine with my husband between classes, but that was more to get a chance to spend time with him then to actually learn anything. Now, I find myself watching weather, something I have never in my life done unless I was planning an outdoor event. I listen to farm reports and check soybean prices. When my husband tells me about a tractor, I am actually interested and not just acting like it to make him happy. ( Don't judge me, I know he does this when I tell him about a new camera (; ) Don't get me wrong, I have always had an agricultural interest, but I tend to be more interested in livestock and small gardening. (My husband's family has not raised livestock in many years.) I guess my point is that Soybean varieties weren't usually a topic of conversation between us until recently. The farm is a soybean farm only. This is rare in Ohio, as most farmers will alternate soybeans and corn each year. So, please don't ask me about corn, all the knowledge I really have on corn variety is sweet, field, indian, and pop! ;)

I consider myself very blessed to have a husband that loves to farm and that this is a lifestyle we enjoy so much. I can't imagine a spring coming that wouldn't be joined by the smell of fresh turned soil and me checking the spray schedule so that my beloved flower beds don't get doused with weed killer carried on the wind from the field that is about 10 steps out my front door. Fall for me always meant deer season and holidays. Now it also means I will find handfuls of soybeans in my washer and dinner will be either delivered to the field or won't happen till well after dark. This year while my brother in law manned the combine, I rode on the side of the tractor while my husband hauled wagons back and forth from the field to the barn lot. As usual, I had my camera and wanted some non-traditional night time farm photos, so this is what I came up! I was pretty happy with the result. God willing, I will have more farm photos in the future! :)