Golden Fields
Golden fields at sunset near Carranballac in Western Victoria, Australia.
A trip to the country can be rewarding on so many levels. Photographing golden fields, with the last light of the day, can be an especially rewarding experience.
Dreaming Of Golden Fields
Do you dream of golden fields? It’s not an uncommon dream. In fact it’s quite popular. Dreams of fields suggest freedom or a need to rejuvenate mind and body by embracing mother nature.
Sunset suggests transcendence or, at the very least, that a period in your life is coming to an end and that a time of rest and rejuvenation is about to follow.
We should look on dreams of golden fields as a sign that peace and happiness are close at hand. What’s more we should take the opportunity to make changes in our life to ensure that the positivity we experience when visiting golden fields becomes a more common state of mind going forward.
Fields Of Gold Meaning
Do you know that beautiful song, Fields Of Gold by master singer/songwriter Sting? I heard it again recently and I stopped to ponder the words.
They’re quite deep and I thought long on what meaning the term Fields Of Gold might hold for me.
So much of the song seems to be written looking back on a blissful time spent together between two young lovers.
It's a beautiful concept and a place where I'm sure many of us go to, in our own minds, as we think back on our own life's journey.
Much of the lyric is written from the perspective of one wanting the other partner to remember important times they shared.
Indeed the phrase "you'll remember me" must be important as it's repeated a number of times throughout the song.
But there's also parts of the song written from the view of a third person who seems to describe the feelings of one looking on.
"Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth" suggests to me the experience, shared by many, of lost love and of a broken relationship.
Likewise the phrase "you'll forget the sun in it's jealous sky" is interesting. The concept of the sun being jealous of the relationship between this couple is, I think, a metaphor as it refers to the sun as a transient body, one that is not of this world.
I believe the term fields of barley is used throughout the song to symbolize human, earthly love. However, I feel Sting is using the term fields of gold to symbolize that the love of the two human characters in the song will, ultimately, transcend into a more spiritual love.
Ironically, the character of the sun is jealous as it will always be transcendent or other worldly and, therefore, will never be able to experience the beauty of earthly love.
All Great Photos Are Like Going Home
The photo illustrating this post was made on the way back to Melbourne following a few days break with family and friends in my hometown, Hamilton.
While home I was asked to photograph a family portrait for a friend whom I went to school with. I also photographed her wedding, long ago, in my days as a wedding and portrait photographer.
I’m so glad I accepted the commission for the family portrait, which involved a quite large extended family, as the circumstances surrounding it were quite unique and can only add to the importance of those photos over time.
I was a bit late leaving home and faced arriving back in Melbourne in the dark. That wasn’t a problem, though I really wanted to make a photograph of Victoria’s Western District landscape en route.
The light was actually pretty bleak and uninspiring as I drove past the usual suspects: sites I’d driven past and wanted to photograph for years.
Finally, just on sunset, the clouds opened up enough to allow a beautiful warm light through onto the surrounding landscape.
I pulled the car over near Carranballac and was able to make the above photo with the last light of the day.
Subject and Meaning In Landscape Photography
It’s a simple and quite picturesque image but, like most folks, I usually respond positively to this kind of subject matter.
The image speaks to me of hard working farmers and the nostalgia we often associate with country life.
Most of all I feel the image is about the transforming and transcendental nature of light. It’s a concept that underpins much of my photography.
Fields Of Gold | Be There or Not at All
It’s very exciting to be photographing during what’s known as the golden hour.
Sadly, the event is often too brief. Needless to say you need to be in the right place at the right time and have your camera set up and ready to go.
Most important of all you need to have your wits about you so you can react to changes in light and construct a strong composition in the limited time available to you.
In this regard Iceland is very much a landscape photographers dream. A beautiful country where, weather permitting, the long days of summer see an extended sunset and afterglow followed quickly by a prolonged pre-glow and sunrise.
If we could set our watches by the Icelandic golden hour we’d all live a very long and happy life. That is, assuming you don’t mind staying up and photographing throughout those long Icelandic summer nights.
