Chicken run
Getting the angle for a PR shot is the mantra that I use again and again. Looking at a situation, and going a bit Leftfield for the press is standard practice. This job needed a bit of that way of thinking to get something striking. Northumbria Free range Poultry was the first organic, free-range poultry farm in the North East, and now supplies retailers in the region with top-quality Guinea Fowl, Ducks, and Chickens – all raised in environments where they’re free to roam, and feed naturally. The only decent way to farm animals in my opinion. The place is awash with birds of all ages, meaning that there are hundreds of cute chicks to see at all times of the year, and my visit was a welcome break from some of the everyday jobs involving a few executives doing a handshake with a trade award in the foreground.
I met up with everyone at Thistleyhaugh Farmhouse, and the maternal figure was busy making the farm boys their second breakfast of the morning. They generally got going at 4.30am, and so by 9am they were ready for a full-english. I was offered some as well, but politely declined, and took her up on a steaming mug of tea. The lads scoffed their scran quickly, the collie got his share, and we all headed out to the fields which were hugely muddy due to recent heavy rainfall and tractor tyres.
The agency brief was simply to provide a range of striking images to promote the farm in the local press and trade publications, so I did some basic stuff outside the heated enclosures, then we all went inside the chicken run. There must have been 500 newborn chicks scuttling around inside the tent, and the noise was deafening. The cuties would jump on your back and lap if you sat down, and there was an overall feeling of natural chaos about the place – wonderful. I had the idea of getting right on the deck and shooting upwards through the mass of birds to the 3 farmers who collaborate in the running of the place. The chicks were just too small to get anything decent, so I did some more basic stuff before moving to the duck enclosures. As soon as we walked in, I knew that I could get something better. The duck chicks were big old boys, and ran around in clumps. I got the boys positioned, and got down on the wood shavings – amongst the duck pooh. I bounced a bit of flash from the wall of the tent behind me, and got a brilliant shot of the three with a group of ducks – just nicely out of focus – in the foreground. The agency used the image slightly cropped – to remove the distraction of the stuff above their heads, but it worked very well. The farm now has a seasonal farm shop providing poultry in their peak seasons – Christmas and Easter, and the produce is available throughout the year in butchers and farm shops throughout Northumberland and Tyne & Wear.
