Tampa, Florida-based agricultural photographer Jeremiah Wilson may have left the NYC-fashion world behind a few years ago, but he still knows his way around a Profoto strobe kit and how to bring a good story to light. Florida Farm & Family is a quarterly magazine for Florida Farm Bureau members featuring content about farmers, local travel, recipes, gardening tips and more. Earlier this year, the magazine reached out to Jeremiah to shoot a cover option for their Spring 2023 issue, featuring a profile on Huey Howard, a Florida rancher who has built a successful cattle company over the last 70 years.
I’ve been shooting for Florida Farm & Family for 1-2 years. They were searching online for agriculture photographers in the Brandon/Tampa, Florida area and found me.
Now 86 years old, Mr. Howard, who’s African American, began his ranching business in 1953 amidst the thick of racial prejudice in the Jim Crow American South, where even purchasing land for a Black rancher was anything but straightforward. Huey relayed,
People would tell me, ‘If I sell you some land, it’s going to make my friends mad.’ Then they wouldn’t sell it to me.
With the help of a friend, Ralph Watlow, who was willing to purchase the land in his own name, Huey was able to secure his first 20 acres for $5,000. The two returned to the bank immediately after and switched the name on the deed to Howard’s. From this initial holding, over the next 70 years, piece by piece, Huey purchased the nearly 7000 acres which now house his over 1000 head of cattle.
Jeremiah teamed with Florida Farm & Family to help share the story and history of Huey Howard and his family’s ranch.
The goal of the feature was to tell a story about the life of the rancher in Florida. I wanted my photos to pay respect to both his professional success as a rancher and also to his legacy as a historical figure who overcame adversity.
Because of its subject matter, this photoshoot was naturally shot outdoors. From his years photographing fashion campaigns on the streets of New York, Jeremiah knew the advantages of enhancing natural with artificial light.
The visual style for the cover shoot is daylight mixed with strobes. Light and bright while maintaining a correct exposure of the foreground and the rancher. I love mixing daylight and strobes in any shooting scenario so my style works out quite well with the magazine’s style.
Discussing this agricultural project and others, Jeremiah shared a bit about the transition from his previous photography specialty to the new one.
I got out of fashion in my late 30s, left NYC, and now shoot mostly commercial work in Florida. I enjoyed the fashion realm, but at a certain point I realized I had the desire to shoot people who are doing real life work and creating solutions that benefit the world.
I became interested in agriculture while spending a lot of time in Brazil with my in-laws. They own an agricultural machine business and I enjoyed shooting the machine, which led to shooting farmers and ranchers. I am interested in shooting large and small farms and capturing how farmers are problem-solving contemporary food issues and adapting to feed the growing world population — with less waste, less cost, and more efficiency.
Through his frequent projects for Florida Farm & Family, Jeremiah has built a strong working relationship with the magazine.
Photo Editor Jess Spence and Photo Director Alison Hunter are super organized with their shoot details are a delight to work with. Their assignments keep me joyful in photography.
The preplanning for this cover shoot followed a process Jeremiah and the magazine have honed over time.
The photo director gives me a creative plan before the shoot, which I use as a guide — ideas like a shot of the rancher interacting with the cows and details of the farm location. On location, there are nonstop interesting moments to shoot on ranches and farms, so it’s easy to overshoot, nonstop. I focus on the portraits and then get a ton of detail shots around the farm. But there are so many factors like rain, heat, animal personalities, animal routines, and how much land needs to be travelled around for the shoot.
The location for the shoot was a ranch in southwest Florida, north of Naples.
This part of the state is largely agricultural and quite different from the coastal life that most people know who live in or visit Florida. I shot at two locations. The first area had a fencing and cattle loading section. The magazine cover image was shot here. The rancher, who is in his 80s, seemed like he was enjoying the shoot and mentioned that we could drive 15 minutes down the road to his very rural cattle ranch open grazing land.
The photoshoot took place a week after a major hurricane, which destroyed a large part of the Fort Myers-area, not too far from Huey’s ranch. Fortunately, the ranch wasn’t damaged, but Jeremiah discovered there was a bit of flooding.
The rancher looked at my car and was hesitant to have me drive. I told him, it’s no problem because it’s a Subaru WRX and all wheel drive! The Subaru did alright. I was a bit nervous driving through extremely thick watery mud pits while cruising back a few miles into the wilderness to see the cattle. We shot some portraits with cattle and the Florida trees to really capture the “Florida Ranch” vibe that is quite different from most of the USA.
In terms of logistical challenges, it was a Floridian standoff with the sun and heat!
It’s sunny, humid, and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and when you’re shooting for a few hours, you get completely soaked in sweat. Always bring a full change of clothing!
I guess dealing with large animals is a risk too, but that hasn’t been much of an issue. I haven’t been charged by a cow or bull yet.
From his years working with talent, Jeremiah has developed a gift for being personable and an approachable camera-side manner.
A lot of farmers aren’t sure what is in store with a photographer showing up at their farm. I’m a calm 41 year old quiet spoken guy. I’m happy to be there and choose to shoot their story. I think the true happiness to be there shines through to the farmer and they loosen up and are lifted in spirit. I ask about their life and farm and then start scouting for portrait locations and ask if they have any preferred spots. I’m quite quick in my location decision making and can pop off a few quick shots. If it works, great. If not, let’s move on to another spot. No stress!
See more of Jeremiah’s work on his website.
Credits
Florida Farm and Family Photo Director: Alison Hunter
Florida Farm and Family Photo Editor: Jess Spence
Further Reading
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