Ever wondered how long it takes to put a feature together for British Farmer & Grower magazine? Deputy editor, Emily Cole, gives behind-the-scenes access to a magazine photoshoot.
In the world of the media, they say ‘never work with children and animals’. And yesterday, I learnt why. Putting together a feature for British Farmer and Grower is often more difficult than it looks – sometimes we are forced to contend with extreme weather (the recent snow was particularly interesting), we travel to places that even sat-nav can’t pinpoint and we try our best to convince farm animals that they want to pose for the camera, and not eat it. But, none of these difficult, interesting and hilarious details make it to the pages of BF&G. So, here is our new, exclusive, online insight into what goes on behind the scenes at a BF&G photoshoot.
I am out for the day with Clive Leighton, our freelance feature writer, and Adam Fradgley, the artistic brains behind lots of BF&G’s front covers and pictures. It’s 7.30am, we are on the road and, so far so good. The sun is shining, the car is moving and none of us have forgotten anything. And the good luck continues – the motorways are kind to us, and although we are met by three very large dogs as we pull up to the farmhouse (large enough, and with large enough teeth, to make sure that we wait safely inside the car until they are moved on), we quickly find ourselves in a cosy kitchen with Anna Longthorp-Oates, the 27-year-old pig farmer behind the brand Anna’s Happy Trotters.
We are here to profile her business for BF&G’s regular member feature, and after a chat about her life, her pigs and her experiences, we all jump in her truck and head to the pig breeding site, 20 minutes away from her home in East Yorkshire.
Jackpot. There are literally hundreds of piglets, each more photogenic than the last. However, there are also quite a few sows – not quite as photogenic, and ever-so-slightly aggressive. After carrying all Adam’s equipment through the mud, and over an electric fence, the fun and games begin. We have an hour and a half to get the shot we need of Anna before she is due at the abattoir. Mine and Clive’s vague attempts to usher some piglets in the right direction are, I admit it, not the best. Even the sows look unimpressed. Cue a brilliant farmhand with some wooden boards.
I would like to be able to tell you that this worked. It didn’t. After admitting defeat, we decide to go over to another group, who should be easier to negotiate with as this is their first experience of motherhood. After lots of running around, juggling boards and chasing piglets, we eventually get one on Anna’s lap. The piglet in question is unimpressed, and only hangs around for a couple of minutes, but it is long enough to get the shot. Once we have finished with Anna, and she has rushed off to the abattoir, Adam starts the job of taking shots of the sows and piglets.
I won’t dwell on this part of the day, but needless to say we get some great pictures (even if it does mean that Adam spends most of the afternoon lying on his front in mud, has to run away from two pretty scary looking sows and we have to rescue a light from a peckish sow). All in all, it was a great day – Anna tells us it is the most fun she has had on a photo shoot, Clive has got lots of brilliant information and Adam has taken some fantastic shots. But that’s only my opinion – the feature will appear in the May edition of BF&G, so be sure to let us know what you think!
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