I went back today to the slope of terraced rice paddies that Nils and I visited last week (where the kids played among the paddies) to see it from some different angles. It's been three months since rice was planted, and now some of the hundreds of fields have been harvested, and a few were in progress while I visited..

The pictures on this post are of one elderly couple working on a field.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
10 Seconds' Rest for One's Weary Bones

Don't let the picture above fool you: these people worked, and worked hard. In the scene below, the man drove the small combine and the lady followed along to harvest by hand any rice that got trampled rather than processed by the machine.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 40mm — ¹/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Every Bit Counts

At some point she gathers the accumulated extra and feeds it into the combine.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 102mm — ¹/320 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bountiful Harvest

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/350 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sickle at the Ready

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/750 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
No Strangers to Hard Work

The man then swung the boom of their Iseki Frontier Bi-ba 351 combine over to their little truck, and unloaded the rice.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 80mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Unloading the Rice
or, “Loading the Rice,” depending on your point of view

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/160 sec, f/11, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Fill'er Up

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Keeping an Eye on Things

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — ¹/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Big Pile of Rice (Still in Husks)

Super Closeup
Small crop from the “Big Pile of Rice” shot above

The truck being full, they headed off, presumably to unload and return to continue their harvest. I asked the lady how many truckfulls they expect to get from the small field, and she guessed about three.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 90mm — ¹/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Off to Market

I suspect they'll return soon because he left his boots...

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 80mm — ¹/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ready for the Next Job

Continued here...