O'Neill and Atkinson - January 2011
I meet the Wetzel family who own Green Pasture Products at the Weston A. Price Foundation's annual Wise Traditions conference 15 years ago. They've been incredibly supportive of me personally and professionally as a photographer, visual designer/art director and in my role leading Nourishing Our Children. I consider the family to be very cherished friends. At this point, I've visited them in Nebraska twice, however the focus of this blog post is the first time I went in the heart of winter. I was delighted when David invited me to visit them in O'Neill in order to work on a Keynote together. It was the first time I'd been on a farm tour in the snow and I was captivated by the animals and the scenery. I took over 900 photos in 2 days! It has been very challenging for me to pick a reasonable number to include in my album because I like the nuances I see in so many of them. When I presented a much fuller digital album to my mother upon my return, she said "There are just so many cows, and they all look the same." Yes, I can see her point! I captured both the Wetzel's cows and those of his friend Jerry Gotschall who owns Clover Cove Ranch in Atkinson, Nebraska. I rode in the passenger seat as he drove his a tractor and photographed from that vantage point, and was also on the ground and very much in the snow. I enjoyed the fact that both sets of cows were very friendly, used to being near people and willing to pose for me from a very close distance. I captured Normandy Shorthorn Crosses, Shorthorns, Jerseys, Jersey Holstein Crosses and Scottish Highland Crosses as well. There may be some traditional beef breed Angus Hereford Crosses as well in the mix! The last outing, I got frostbite despite many layers of borrowed clothing that made me look about 30 pounds heavier! I took some of it off to reveal to the camera that I wasn't as large as I looked! My camera stopped functioning at some point along the way, until I warmed it up again. I had the time of my life. This was one of the most unique experiences I've had. See the photos and let me know what you think! Scroll down to the bottom of the page to log in/sign up and leave a comment!
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