Dixon photographer puts farms to frames

DIXON — Sometimes, the perfect photo can come out of left field — capturing an unexpected moment that comes and goes in a flash, seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary — other times, it can come out of a corn field.

As someone who’s spent time both behind a lens and on the farm, Tylor Bonnell is well-suited to taking both kinds of photos, whether they’re worth a thousand words or a thousand acres.

Bonnell, of Dixon, owns Frank Photos (Frank is his middle name), a business he started two years ago that specializes in farm, real estate, classic car and aerial photography — but as someone who grew up helping his family do chores on the farm, it’s the ag photos that are his favorite. From planting time to harvest time, farms are fertile ground for telling stories, and Bonnell enjoys being able to help tell them.

“It’s real raw Americana,” Bonnell said. “It’s real America working, and you get to see the generations working hand-in-hand. I covered a harvest season for one family where the grandfather who’s probably not going to be doing it anymore is passing it down to his son and grandson, and it’s cool to get to capture that. It’s something that those people will cherish forever.”

While people and places change, photos last a lifetime, so Bonnell appreciates the importance of making his work picture-perfect.

Bonnell takes time to get to know the people he’s shooting and come up with ideas on what images will best stand out, and during the process he gets to hear many intriguing and interesting farm stories, details that can sometimes help inform his photos.

“The scene usually lays out the composition for you, depending on what time of day you’re going to be there,” Bonnell said. “Generally, evening time you want to try to get the sun setting, and try to get all of the colors and get that kind of dreamy feeling. Playing with all of the colors and compositions are what I enjoy the most about photography, and laying out the lines and drawing toward the right place.”

In addition to standard photography, Bonnell also can shoot video clips and navigate a camera-equipped drone to take aerial photos.

Bonnell prefers candid shots over staged ones, but even if it’s something as seemingly simple as someone just standing, Bonnell can bring more out of it, working to find a good background that can evoke an emotion or tell a story.

“There’s a lot of work and passion that goes into it,” Bonnell said. “I took a picture of an old man standing, and there’s all this dust coming up from the corn going into the bins. I feel like, in that picture, you can sense the whole day. Hopefully that picture will remind you of the whole harvest, that whole couple of weeks that you’re out there.”

For Bonnell, farm photography holds a special place in his heart — the dust and dirt, the calloused hands that point to a life of toil in the fields, the lines etched into a face by the sun that a farmer sees rise and set every day he goes to work, they all say a lot about the men and women who’ve answered the call to farms.

“It’s a lot more personal of a thing shooting at a farm,” Bonnell said. “There’s an attachment. There’s history to it. I cherish those memories from being a kid, and now getting to capture that for people — for a kid who’s 17 now who’ll be 40 one day — hopefully they’ll look back at those times with Grandpa.”

Bonnell, who’s been a local car salesman for the past 15 years, hopes one day to make photography his primary focus, and the farm aspect is sure to remain an emphasis, he said — remembering and honoring his roots.

“I really want to capture everything in their best light and preserve memories, anything from the farm activities to the farm itself and the families who are tied to those properties for generations,” Bonnell said. “Those memories stay for a long time."

Find Frank Photos LLC on Facebook or go to frankphotosllc.com to schedule appointments or for more information.