Okay, One More Farm.

I was up at Spirit Creek Farm near Cornucopia, Wisconsin, this morning for what will probably be the last farm photo expedition of the fall. The main part of the growing season is fairly well behind us now and the possible snow fall this evening seems like a good end-cap for the year. This has been a great fall of learning about our local food producers and how they're working to feed our community. Thanks to the Sauter-Sargent's and everyone who found the time to make these photos possible.

Like every farm visit, this morning was educational. I learned about what it takes to grow cabbage, and what it takes to turn that cabbage into sauerkraut, and what it takes to build a certified kitchen. But the real stand out lesson of the day was this: the personal habits of male goats are appalling. Appalling. I'll just leave it at that.

More Farms.

I made it out to a couple more farms at the end of last week and the beginning of this week to get the a few more images in the series I'm shooting for Northland College on local food producers (see a couple posts down for some of the earlier shoots in the series). Above are Steve and Landis at Hermit Creek Farm and below are two shots of their beautiful produce. Below that are the McCutchens at Angle Acres Farm and some of their heritage breed livestock. Thanks again to all the farmers who have taken time out of their busy schedules during a critical part of the growing season to help me get these photos. You folks are all amazing. Keep up the great work.

 

Farms.

These are the first in a series of photos I'm shooting for Northland College of the local farms and farmers who are providing sustainable foods for the campus cafeteria. This project has been amazing. Great people, beautiful places, and, of course, amazing food. Before I get too far, I want to give a special thanks to all the farmers who have a made time during a really busy season to help with this. You guys are a amazing. Above are Todd and Kelsey from River Road Farm. And below is the lettuce they're growing.

This is Chris Duke of Great Oak Farm with his laying hens, and below are his bees.

And then, the two photos below are a soy bean field I passed along the way. I'll probably get sued by Cargill or Monsanto for even photographing these genetic mutants. In fact, there's probably a man in a Monsanto cap slashing the tires on my car right now.

While it still makes for an interesting photo, this is text book monoculture: massive fields of the same subsidized crop devoid of ecological balance and nutritional value. It's crazy that we call all three of these things farms. They are not the same. Not even remotely. After walking around at River Road Farm and Great Oak Farm constantly surrounded by a diversity of life, this field of soy feels like the surface of the moon. Even stranger is the fact that we as a society have decided to aid and abed this version of agriculture that serves us least while we place nearly insurmountable road blocks in the path of the others. Agribusiness has played us all for fools. And, sadly, it worked. Time to open your eyes, everyone. Time to change.

Kraut, Curtido, & Kim-Chi. (& Pesto...& a couple other things.)

Over the past couple weeks, I've been working on some new photography for Spirit Creek Farm in Cornucopia, Wisconsin. If you're not familiar with their products, Spirit Creek specializes in lacto-fermented foods (read this if you're not sure what lacto-fermented means). They're also making really delicious garlic scape pesto now, too. Great stuff. I've been a huge fan of their curtido for a while and, beyond being a brat-grilling must at our house, their kraut was also a Good Food Award winner in 2011 and 2012. That's no small achievement.

I love food photography like this. Partly I think, because I love prepping and plating the food for the shoot (real chef's are probably cringing at what I've done with these, but I'm still proud of them). There's a little part of me that thinks I should have been a chef. Maybe in my next life.

Food.

 

Shooting some food this week. I love this stuff. And not just because you get to eat it when you're done...but that certainly doesn't hurt. Watch for a few more great food images this week and next as we roll through a couple more shoots. And, of course, Marvin had to throw his two cents in on the shoot. That crazy little guy.

Food.

And now for something completely different: Food. I spent part of last week down in Eau Claire, Wisconsin shooting food images for a catalogue--a big change of pace from the other things I've been working on lately. It felt good to stretch some different photographic muscles for a few days. Food is all about arrangement and lighting. You spend all kinds of time setting things up, making small adjustments, arranging scenes, tweeking the lighting, and then you take one photo, break it all down, and set up something else. It's way different than making portraits or covering live events--a lot calmer, a lot more calculating. You can really zone in on building the image one element at a time. It's a cool way to work, really focused. The end of this week is going to be something else completely different too. It's already been a pretty crazy fall and things aren't slowing down yet. Stay tuned.

 


Food.

 

I did a photo shoot for the Ashland Baking Company earlier this week to help fill out their new website. I'm finishing up the post processing this evening. Looking at these photos is making my mouth water. Kealy and Jess did an amazing job preparing some absolutely beautiful plates for the shoot. Then after we photographed them,  I did an amazing job devouring the food off of those plates. Frickin' delicious. I was so stuffed by the end of the shoot I could barely carry my equipment out to the truck. Here are a few of my favorite frames: