Hayfield Horizon: A Serendipitous Turnaround Near Epes, Alabama

Jul 29, 2026

Hayfield Horizon: A Serendipitous Turnaround Near Epes, Alabama

Sometimes the best photograph of the day isn't the one you drove out to shoot.

Back in April 2024, I was driving down toward Epes, Alabama, on my way to photograph the famous white chalk cliffs along the Tombigbee River. Spotting a quiet roadside pond with incredible cloud reflections, I pulled the truck over to grab a quick frame.

After wrapping up the pond shot, I turned around 180 degrees to head back to the truck—and that’s when this view took my breath away.

Stretching out behind me was an open, rolling pasture dotted with a single, weathered round hay bale sitting beneath a staggering, bright blue April sky.

A vibrant, wide-angle landscape photograph taken from ground level in a rural pasture near Epes, Alabama. A single dark round hay bale sits on a lush green field under a brilliant, clear blue midday sky filled with scattered white cumulus clouds. A treeline borders the field on the far left.

Getting Down to Ground Level

There wasn't any grand, calculated blueprint behind "Hayfield Horizon." I just saw a scene that felt naturally right and reacted to it.

I crossed the quiet country road and stepped into the field. To capture the full scale of the sky and give the solitary hay bale its rightful presence, I dropped down low near ground level.

Standing on a roadside in rural Alabama always comes with a tiny bit of lingering tension—I kept waiting to hear someone yell at me for trespassing on private pasture—but the field stayed completely quiet. It was just me, the midday sun, and a crisp spring breeze.

Getting It Right in the Camera

When you capture a bright spring afternoon in the South, nature does most of the heavy lifting for you. The contrast between the fresh green growth and the intense blue sky was already sitting right there in front of the lens.

My philosophy has always been simple: get it right in the camera from the start. I don't believe in heavy, unnatural over-editing. For "Hayfield Horizon," I brought the RAW file into Lightroom, applied the default Vivid preset to match how bright the day felt in person, tweaked the exposure slightly, and left it alone. What you see is simply what was there.

Behind the Shot: Technical Specs

For the photography and gear enthusiasts, here is how the Sony a7 IV captured this midday spring light:

  • Camera Body: Sony a7 IV (ILCE-7M4)

  • Focal Length: 35mm

  • Aperture: f/4.5

  • Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec

  • ISO: 100

You can find "Hayfield Horizon" available as a fine art print in my Open Country & Fields Collection.