{"id":1857,"date":"2011-09-29T11:35:08","date_gmt":"2011-09-29T02:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2011-09-29\/1857"},"modified":"2011-09-29T11:35:08","modified_gmt":"2011-09-29T02:35:08","slug":"stages-of-the-rice-harvest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2011-09-29\/1857","title":{"rendered":"Stages of the Rice Harvest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 140mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/13, ISO 2500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGradations <\/span>\nfive rice paddies in the mountains of north-eastern Osaka Prefecture, Japan\n<\/div>\n\n

In yesterday's post I talked about the highlight of a recent<\/span> scooter\ntrip into the mountains of rural Nara Prefecture, meeting a friendly<\/span> farmer\nlady<\/a>. Prior to meeting her, the highlight was enjoying the scenes of\nrice harvest, so today's post is few shots from various places prior to\nmeeting her. Most are from the very rural edge of Katano City, Osaka\nPrefecture, just prior to crossing over the pass to the equally rural edge\nof Ikoma City, Nara Prefecture. As always, the photos have map links under\nthem.<\/p>\n\n

In the photo above, I was going<\/span> for the same vibe as in these photos<\/a> from a\ncouple<\/span> of years ago, but the result is, unfortunately, just too bright and\nmonochromatic to grab my attention. Oh well.<\/p>\n\n

You can see the same area from a different<\/span> angle in the next shot....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAtlas<\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

The long bamboo poles he's carrying are used in the rice harvest, as we'll see in a bit.<\/span> In the shot<\/span> above, he's walking toward his house, which\nyou can see better in the next photo...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 80mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 220 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nViolent Wind Damage<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

An isolated section of rice was smooshed flat for no apparent reason,\nbut I asked<\/span> a farmer<\/span> and he explained that it was the wind, like a small<\/span>\ntornado...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n“From a Small<\/span> Tornado”<\/span>\nso I'm told\n<\/div>\n\n

One sees this kind of damage from time to time. I'm not sure<\/span> I buy<\/span> the\ntornado theory due to the lack of circularness in the smooshed-rice\npattern, but I do<\/span> believe that a violent<\/span> downdraft, say of wind raging down\nthe mountain during a typhoon,<\/span> could be forcefully enough to snap the\nstalks. This rice, I was told<\/span>, will likely be salvagable because it wasn't\npushed under water. I don't<\/span> know when the damage occurred, but a couple<\/span> of\ntyphoons<\/a> that swept\nthrough the area at times this month are likely culprits. At the moment<\/span>,\nall the fields are drained of water in preparation for harvest.<\/p>\n\n

There's a road-side vending machine next to the house, which seems to\nfunction like a small<\/span> convenience store for folks in these parts. The farmer<\/span> I chatted<\/span> with had walked up from his field further down the\nmountain to get a drink.<\/span> We had a<\/span> nice chat.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>3200 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGentleman Farmer<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Just to offer a bit of perspective on the location, here's a view<\/span> of the\nhouse and rice paddies from a bit<\/span> up the road, looking out toward Katano\nCity in northern Osaka Prefecture....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 125mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/11, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPerspective<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The tall buildings in the foreground of the background are about 8km away, here<\/a>. The tall building<\/span> in the haze in the far background is about 20km away, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

To the right of the farmer in the photo above, you can see some red flowers at the edge of the rice fields. They were growing in bunches in random spots here and there...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2500 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRed Spider Lily<\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

They made for a nice spot of color against all the green. I had no<\/span> idea\nwhat they were, but looked them up to find that they're red spider lilys<\/a>,\nin Japanese, higanbana<\/i>\n\n (\u5f7c\u5cb8\u82b1)<\/span>\n\nliterally “equinox flower”. Wikipedia tells me that because the bulbs are\npoisonous, they're often planted near rice fields to deter pests like mice.<\/p>\n\n

Here's a closer view of a bunch that I came<\/span> across later, near the side of the road.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Once the rice is ready to harvest, as all this rice is, they'll cut it off just above the ground...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 82mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 220 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nReady<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStubble<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The lowest paddy on the mountain had already been cut, but the rice not yet bundled and hung to dry...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDuring Harvest<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The bamboo poles sticking in the ground are the beginning of a framework<\/span>\nfor hanging the rice bundles to dry. You can see<\/span> the farmer at the right\nside of the photo with a stack<\/span> of bamboo, as who I suppose<\/span> is his wife in\nthe background working on making bundles...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2500 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nUnder Construction<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 102mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBundling<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Moving over the mountain pass into Nara, near the lady I chatted<\/span> with\nyesterday, I came across<\/span> some areas with cut rice hanging to dry...<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/10, ISO 560 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDrying Out<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/10, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The combination of hills, rice paddies in various stages, vegetable fields, etc., made for some nice scenes...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nQuintessential Farming Vista<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The next sequence shows an ever-closer look at the rice...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 125mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>5000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 280 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRice<\/span>\nUp Close and Personal\n<\/div>\n\n

Here's a full-resolution crop from that last shot, to show some detail\nin the rice husk. (It was a handheld<\/span> shot while crouched down at the edge\nof a rice<\/span> paddy, with the wind blowing, while half concentrating on\nlistening to the farmer lady tell her husband about me somewhere off in the\ndistance.... so please excuse the lack of sharpness.)<\/p>\n\n

\nHusk<\/span>\nfull-resolution crop from above\n<\/div>\n\n

I'll post more from this trip later, but for reference I posted<\/span> this kind of thing four years ago, in\n“The Rice Harvest<\/a>” and\n“The Rice Harvest, Old-School<\/a>”. And for the<\/span> flip side, there's\n“Preparing a Paddy<\/span> for Rice Seedlings<\/a>”.<\/p>\n\n

Continued here...<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In yesterday's post I talked about the highlight of a recent scooter trip into the mountains of rural Nara Prefecture, meeting a friendly farmer lady. Prior to meeting her, the highlight was enjoying the scenes of rice harvest, so today's post is few shots from various places prior to meeting her. Most are from the very rural edge of Katano City, Osaka Prefecture, just prior to crossing over the pass to the equally rural edge of Ikoma City, Nara Prefecture. As always, the photos have map links under them.<\/p>

In the photo above, I was going for the same vibe [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1,2,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}