Photographing a Farm or Agricultural Business

South Georgia is full of agricultural operations with genuinely photogenic work and almost no photographs of it. That is a straightforward opportunity.

Why it matters commercially

Buyers, partners and customers increasingly look a business up before they engage with it. An operation with no images looks smaller and less established than one with a handful of good ones, regardless of what is actually true.

For anything selling direct — produce, meat, services — photographs are the product presentation, and stock images of somebody else's farm are worse than nothing.

What to photograph

• The land itself, at the right time of day and the right point in the season.
• Equipment working, which is more interesting than equipment parked.
• Hands and detail — the close-up work that shows what actually happens.
• The people, photographed as they work rather than lined up.
• The product at its best point.
• The operation from the air, where it adds something rather than just being aerial.

Timing is everything

1. 1.Season first. There is a window when a crop looks like itself and it is short.
2. 2.Time of day second. Low light across a field is the difference between a photograph and a snapshot.
3. 3.Weather third. Overcast is fine; harsh midday is not.
4. 4.Work schedule fourth, because footage of actual work is what you want.
5. 5.Plan the shoot around all four rather than around the diary.

Getting a year out of one day

A single well-planned shoot in the right season can produce enough material for a year of social content, a website, print and anything else needed. That is a better use of a budget than a shoot every quarter that catches nothing at its best.

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