Overall winner — Lynn Scarborough
I am 61 years old. I live on my husband’s family ranch located in Lake Placid. The ranch raises beef cattle and has some citrus. I am a housewife who sometimes raises the orphan calves along with feeding and caring for a few horses. My other hobby is my love of photography, which I recently started doing about 2 years ago. I mostly take pictures of wildlife here on the ranch and the beautiful landscapes that I am blessed to see everyday. My husband bought me an electric buggy so every morning and late afternoon, I am usually out taking pictures. I love my life!
Agriculture category winner — Lora Gene Young
I am 30 years old and I travel a lot! Photos are my way to document the beauty of the places I have been. I mostly do nature and landscapes. Here is the story about the morning I took the photo, “Red berries and barbed wire in the rain. A cold day in May.”
It is pitch dark when I wake up. I silently attach the lights to the solar powered batteries, light the gas stove and put on the kettle. The guys begin to stir, the slightest noise can be heard all over the one-room cabin. I will have breakfast ready for them, especially large amounts of coffee, by the time they are up and dressed. They have a long morning ahead of them as they stalk the elusive tahr.
Once the guys are gone and the breakfast dishes are cleared the sun is starting to peek through the mountains. Now it is my time. I dress warmly. It is May, but here in New Zealand it is the start of winter and the mornings are cold. I grab my camera and head out into the gray mists.
In the paddock by the river there are Hereford cattle grazing. Cattle on a misty morning with the mountains towering in the background. That is the image I am trying to capture, but as I crawl through the fence a spot of color catches my eye. Spots of red in a bramble of briars. I turn my attention away from the cattle.
This new idea is a better opportunity. I have always loved fences. The way they define and shape a landscape, just as they defined and shaped the agricultural industry. The barbed wire fence disappears into the briars, red berries are all around. The raindrops hang from the berries like winter coats on this cold day in May. A bright splash of color on a misty morning.
My feet were cold and wet, but it was worth it for the postcard perfect shot. The cattle did not cooperate, so I am glad I took the time to take this shot first. I hope to get many more when I return to New Zealand next week.
Natural resources category winner — Cassie Kendrick
I am 21, about to be 22. I am a senior agricultural communications student at Texas Tech and will be graduating in August.
I took this picture on my family’s cattle ranch in Santa Anna, Texas, where I grew up. My grandparents live there on a huge hill where you can see everything for miles around. When the deer start moving in the evening before the sun goes down, you can always see them from the hill. My grandparents have really grown to love watching the them over the years so they started throwing out corn for them so they would come closer to the house. They’ve been doing that for so long now, they can rattle a coffee can full of corn and the deer will come running up to the back porch.
On the day that I took this photo, I was sitting on the back porch with my camera and brand new 70-300mm lens when my Pawpaw rattled the coffee can and a little fawn popped straight up out of the grass. We had no idea that she was even there. I love the photo because you can really see the curiosity on her face before she took off running for the porch. It reminds me of the awesome life I have back in my home town where I get to see such amazing things.
Faces of ag and natural resources winner — Colin Lowe
My name is Colin Lowe and I currently reside in Brighton, Colorado. I work for a dairy check-off company promoting dairy, nutrition and physical activity in the school systems covering Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. I am a native Oklahoman who attended Oklahoma State University. I graduated in 2011 with a degree in agricultural communications with a minor in agricultural economics. I am 24 years young and have recently moved to Colorado. I am an avid sports fan with baseball and golf being my favorite pastimes.
I took the picture for an assignment at OSU in my Features writing class. I have a friend who introduced me to LC Derricks upon learning I was looking for any potential leads to complete a story on. Mr. Spencer Nero told me about this remarkable cowboy and I knew right then and there that I had my story. All I needed to do was be introduced. At first, LC was very apprehensive about having someone come out and talk to him about his life. After talking to him for a few hours, he seemed much more relaxed. If I lived in state, I would definitely go and visit him every 6-7 months just to check in and say “hello.”
The picture was an afterthought after we began talking. I grew up in the country and have shod a few horses in my day, but not near the number that LC has done in one day! As we began talking about shoeing horses, I asked to see his tools of trade. The picture was taken in his tack room. The smell of rich leather and hot iron filled my nose instantly as soon as he opened the door. I took several pictures that day but was not into photography near as to the extent as I am today. There were many pictures I wished I would have taken had I known more.
My wish is to go back in the next few years and do a recap shoot and report of him. His health is slowly declining so I needing to do this sooner than later. I know there are thousands of stories he could tell that would not only be factual, but probably a best seller among the horse and western folks.
