The boy is thinking about the calf and the calf is thinking about the unfamiliar feeling of having its hoofs trimmed.
That’s one interpretation of the photograph shown above, but one of this shot’s beauties is the emotions that viewers can read into it.
This particular photo appeared in The Western Producer last spring. Camrose based reporter Mary MacArthur, a skilled photographer, saw the emotion in Josh Read’s face and posture, and in that of his 4-H calf, when she attended a Cardiff, Alta., 4-H workshop.
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Read, of Oak Hill Boy’s Ranch in Bon Accord, Alta., was one of the club members who received help with calf grooming, trimming and clipping before a show.
This photograph was recently judged photo of the year by the American Agricultural Editors Association in its annual photography and writing contest. It also won first place in the portrait/personality category.
Another MacArthur photo was awarded honourable mention in the portrait/personality category too.
Regular Western Producer readers will be familiar with MacArthur’s work in photography and writing. She has won awards for both in the past.
So has farm management editor Michael Raine. In this year’s AAEA contest, Raine won first in the pictorial category and first in the feature category of the photo competition.
In the writing competition, a column I wrote about spaghetti farmers won third for humorous article.
Readers often tell us they enjoy the photographs in The Western Producer and those comments encourage us to watch for good shots that illustrate articles and provide snapshots of prairie agricultural life.
We are fortunate to be aided in this effort by talented staff members as well as freelance photographers, some of whom go to great lengths to obtain their art.
For example, Kevin Link of Strathmore, Alta., a frequent contributor, had a close encounter while shooting a lightning storm last month.
Writes Link: “One of my favourite things to photograph is lightning. In the past I have had lightning strike closer to me than I like but last night (July 13) I parked my car, opened the window and “bang!” A bolt of lightning hit the upper edge of my car door and then my forehead.
“I am just guessing it hit my car first because otherwise I don’t think I would have made it in to work today. Surprisingly, it only hurt for about a second or two and only my scalp. Then my eyes watered for about 15 minutes and all was good.
“To top it off, I didn’t get any good photos that night.”
