And The Lands Shall Burn

Plumes of smoke billow into the air, carried by the prairie winds as the flames that dance upon the earth below lend an orange aura to the scene. Presumably, this is part of the controlled range burning that farmers engage in every year in rural Kansas.

In Your Heart Shall Burn

Since I first moved to Winfield I've become obsessed with the cottonwood tree that towers over the other trees around it, and sits directly across the field from the back of my apartment. I've photographed my so-called Tree-Across-the-Field crowned with bright yellow leaves and covered with frost. I've shot it surrounded by flash after flash of lightning, and watching over field after field of grazing deer. I think tonight's photo is the most unique, however. As the sun set, the area filled with smoke from another controlled field burn, this one the closest yet, directly behind my tree. Once the light finally started to fade from the western sky, another light started to make itself known -- the glow of blazing fire behind my favorite tree. The fire has died down now. It never crossed the dirt road that separated the burning fields from my own back yard (and it probably had almost no chance of doing so given the wind and the dedication and vigilance of those that engage in these controlled range burns). Even so, the photograph I've captured is forever, and will crown my Tree-Across-the-Field collection...at least until I catch a tornado back there. Tree-Across-the-Field is my longest running photo project. If you want to see more, you can view the entire gallery here: https://art.katzmatt.com/Projects/The-Tree-Across-the-Field

Air Quality

After a quick detour down a dirt road to check out a particularly large smoke plume I turned my camera further down the road, where smoke from the same fairly large range fire was wafting across the dirt road. A wind energy farm can be seen in the distance. There was just something I found really eye-catching about the road through the smoke, leading to the wind farm beyond.

The Wretched

This one small tree stands scarred: blackened and burned by the fire that still flickers and flares around it. In the foreground flames can still be seen consuming any fuel they come across as the smoke fills the forested area behind.

Blue Sky Burning

Driving along highway 160 in Kansas, during the springtime, means you're going to see the smoke from the controlled range burns that happen this time of year. Sometimes those burns come right up to the edge of the road, as is the case here. While the whole field was burning I was drawn to this particular corner where the fire was slowly lapping at the trees that had stood there for who knows how long. The large cottonwood, laying on the ground, was being burned from the inside. The orange of the flames can be seen burning within the branch that sticks up from the ground. Behind these trees the fields are blackened, and the sky is filled with white and grey smoke for miles.

From the Inside

Flames consumed what remained of this fallen cottonwood tree from the inside. I stayed at this location for a while taking a mix of photo and video hoping to capture the moment when this branch finally gave in to the combined efforts of the fire, the wind, and gravity but it never did...at least while I was there. I'm sure it's fallen by now, but I would have liked to see it for myself.

Smoke on the Plains

Spring in rural Kansas means that you'll often see great plumes of smoke rising in the distance. Although sometimes these fires spring up from acts of carelessness, or deliberate harm, in most cases they're part of the controlled range burning that happens this time of year. If we quickly query Wikipedia, we find out that "controlled burning reduces fuels, may improve wildlife habitat, controls competing vegetation, improves short term forage for grazing, improves accessibility, helps control tree disease, and perpetuates fire dependent species." So while the sight isn't uncommon this time of year, I still find it absolutely wild every time I catch a glimpses of one of these massive smoke columns blooming over the road, or the wave of flames reducing a field of prairie grasses to soot and ash

Out of the Frying Pan

The fields were open, and plenty of unburn areas stood where several cows could be seen watching the burning field nearby, but this one cow wanted a closer view I suppose. I don't know if the heat bothered them, or if the scorched earth where they stood had already cooled, but whatever the reality from their perspective, from where I was standing it seems a little close for comfort.

Tree, Close Up

A close-up of the tree in a burning field.

Tree in a Field of Flame

A tree standing out in a burning field.