Life on a farm - WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT.

[Krawuntzel]

Hello Marie
I think you did a fine documentary. I remember that as a child - many, many years ago - I always assisted at my grandparents farm in butchering one pig in November.
I could never understand, that people eating meat would not want to know, how their food is produced; even worse are those who do only eat the so-called "best" parts.
Thank you for sharing.
Erwin

[pnodrog]

Us city folks prefer RAW processing to be done with software not with a cleaver....

Thanks for the warning and an interesting set of images.

[Marie Hass]

Thank you, Barry for commenting.

"Life on a farm" it may be, but I don't think it's worthy of inclusion on this website. Sorry, but it's not as though the pictures have any creative photographic merit. Facebook recently has featured pictures of so-called proud (sick) people astride a male lion and a giraffe that they have shot with high velocity rifles in the name of so-called sport.

Please then, help me to improve as a photographer. Feel free to comment on my composition, white balance, PP and other components of taking the actual picture if you choose. Help me to improve my skills. Most of these pictures were taken in Aperture mode. Usually i am an avid manual shooter, but given the comments of others in different threads, I wanted to widen my skills base. For events, i am very pleased with shooting in Aperture mode. There were no missed shots. If you have an exif viewer, you can view the settings.

People take pictures for various reasons. One of the reasons people take pictures is to capture memories. They can also capture moments, tell stories, communicate with others or to improve as a photographer. If I am a story teller, one must be able to tell a logical story. To me, the actual process of documenting events also takes skill and thought. If I am able to submit pictures that evoke a response, whether positive or negative, then i have accomplished one of my goals.

I will not debate you regarding the appropriateness of these images for this forum. Donald, Manfred or any other mods will let me know if there is a problem.

Marie

[Marie Hass]

Dear JohnR,

Thank you for commenting. The fact that you remember this event 50 years later shows that it was impactful. I am sure chicken never tasted so good to you as it did that day!

Marie

[Marie Hass]

Hi, L.Paul,

Love the pun! Thank you for a bit of comic relief.

Marie

[Marie Hass]

Hi, Erwin,

Thank you for adding your comment! It is good to meet people who have good memories associated with staying local with their foods.

Marie

[James G]

Hi Marie, I've only just picked up this thread. I grew up in the 50's and 60's, and spent most summers on my grandparents farm in Ireland. I could have done with your plucking machine... I still have clear memories of my grandmother telling me to select a chicken on Wednesday, and prepare it so it could be lunch on Sunday.

As regards your documentary style, the subject is what it is, and the images complement your narrative very well.

Some people, probably many people are going to disagree with me, but I would use your sequence as a 'teaching' aid when discussing sustainable ethically produced food with students of all ages....

[Marie Hass]

Dear James,

Grassroots efforts for sustainable agriculture is a subject very dear to me. I spend my summers canning all sorts of goodies, both for home use and two local farmer's markets - Wetzel County and Tyler County Farmer's Markets. I am Market Manager of the Wetzel County Farmer's market. Our market was founded by an organization called Grow Local Go Local, which is also part of Grow Appalachia.

I tried to add the tomatillos and the live rooster midway through to give the viewer's eyes a rest from the starkness of the butchering process. i hope I was successful.

Thank you for your comments. They were quite valuable.

Marie