3 Creative Graduation Photo Ideas for 4-H and FFA Member

Graduation is a major milestone in a young person’s life, especially for those who have dedicated their high school careers to 4-H and FFA projects. These students spend years getting up early for morning feedings before school, and spending their evenings washing, practicing, and feeding again. And spend almost every weekend in the spring and fall at a show, it is important to capture them with the animals they have worked so hard to raise.

Here are a few ideas to help you do just that!

Chickens in the Rocking Chair

This was one of my absolute favorite shots to capture! To pull this off, we needed a few extra sets of hands to hold the chickens and the turkey. Once I got into position, I counted "1, 2, 3!" and the helpers quickly stepped away. I used a high shutter speed and "burst mode" to catch the exact millisecond the birds stood still. I also loved that we did this right in the middle of the show ring; by framing the shot carefully, I was able to remove the gates and other distractions from the background for a nice, clean picture.

Banner and Ribbon Wall

This is an idea you can adapt for almost any location. We set this one up in front of the auction ring, but you could also use a livestock trailer, a stall, the side of a barn, or even hay bales. The possibilities are endless!

To get started, gather all of your awards. You will need some props to help with the display—like paint cans, brushes, or wire—just be sure to use something that won't ruin your ribbons when you hang them. We also used feed pans and pallets to add an extra layer of volume to the scene. In this shoot, the graduate wanted to include all of her show heifers from over the years, so she honored them by including the stall signs she had kept.

Cowgirl Up!

This was such a fun, creative shoot! We found a great spot with cows off in the distance, set out a cute antique rocker, and started shooting. For a personal touch, we swapped the graduation cap for a cowgirl hat! We looped the tassel through the band of the hat to get it to stay in place. If you plan on doing a "hat toss" photo, keep in mind that it usually takes a few tries to get the perfect shot—and try to pick a day that isn't too windy! Finding a tree with beautiful colors will also help make these pictures pop.

Busy keeping photography just so easy

 “Photography is so easy; you just look and push a button.” The reason the photography world is so competitive is that everyone thinks exactly like that. But as a matter of fact, it’s not easy. It is extremely frustrating, especially in the new digital age where everyone thinks they are a photographer. People complain about how expensive it is to hire a professional when they feel they can "just take a picture" on their phone. The same goes for videography and media as well. No one realizes the amount of work put in, all of the behind-the-scenes effort, and the overhead that goes with it. It's not just “click,” “print,” and “here's your picture.” It is so much more. Let me break it down for you.

I believe it is important to know the basics of art itself before even looking through a lens. If you ever took an art class in high school, these terms might sound familiar to you. Art is basically broken down into three categories: Elements of Art, Principles of Design, and Composition. These are all keys you should be looking for before you even take the picture. Learning these will help you in the long run with any artistic endeavor you might pursue; they are the building blocks to something great. I will dive deeper into these concepts in a later post.

The next step is learning the camera. This is a two-fold learning experience and one that will help you immensely in the long run. To be 100% honest—and you should learn from my experience—I did it backwards. If I would have mastered these two things first, the next steps would have been a lot easier. Now, I often have to remind myself to slow down, back up, and double-check my work, or reach out to fellow photographers if I have questions.

Learning your camera’s settings and how they work is a massive step. Don’t get me wrong; diving in and just shooting does work from time to time. But again, if you want to be good or get better, you must learn the technical side. Every camera brand is different, too. My biggest suggestion—which was suggested to me in the past—is to search YouTube for your specific camera settings. There are so many different builds, brands, and models. While learning those, you also need to master the basic settings: Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, and Exposure. These are key, and we will touch on them more down the road.

Once you have those down, you can start clicking the button to practice putting everything together. Practice makes perfect. Making friends and finding mentors at this point is a powerful tool. But let’s fast-forward to when you are a starting photographer. You have these techniques down, and now you have a niche. You have to deep-dive into that. Learn all the ins and outs of your specific subject matter to better capture what you want. This all takes time, research, practice, and collaboration.

Then, if you're not a freelancer, you start taking on clients. You have to work with different personalities and learn what they want to portray or capture. You’re building a schedule, a portfolio, a pricing structure, a website, social media presence, emails, and photo transport. Do you print? Do you offer digital downloads? Do you have an online store? That is all handled before the "simple" 30-minute or hour-long photoshoot. If it’s an event, there is even more: meetings, details, schedules, and shot lists. Do you need a second or third shooter? Do you need an assistant? Do you need props or backdrops? Then, on the day of the shoot, you spend time getting all your gear ready for that tiny time frame where everyone sees you "just clicking a button."

The shoot is finally over… but wait, there's more. Now you have to download, cull, and edit in whatever way you favor. I use Lightroom and then Photoshop—which, by the way, you have to learn how to use as well. Events and companies usually want logos included. You have to ensure you protect your work with some kind of watermarking. Then, you have to upload them to your photo-sharing website, check back in with the client, and secure the final payment. You might even have to make adjustments if requested. And that's only if they are happy with the results! And lets not forget copy right laws and everything that goes into that as well. Which is a hug rabbit hole we will not jump into today.

Let’s go back to why it’s so expensive. Photographers have to cover significant overhead costs. First, there is the equipment: a good camera body and high-quality lenses can cost thousands of dollars. Then there are memory cards, storage cases, and gear bags. If you use a tripod, you quickly learn that a cheap one will fall apart after just a couple of uses, risking your gear.

Next, you need a powerful laptop or desktop. I suggest a laptop if you travel a lot, but it must have specific RAM and storage capacity, or the editing software simply won't work. Those are just the basics for everyday or freelance photography. If you turn it into a formal business, you also have to pay for a website, fuel for travel, equipment insurance, taxes, LLC fees, domains, and professional media subscriptions.

If you are a studio photographer, you either have to dedicate space in your house or rent a studio, plus buy props for your sets. You can’t keep the same props for every shoot all year round, so that inventory has to be updated. You also need liability insurance, which applies to event and travel photographers as well. I am sure there are things I am even forgetting to mention.

Again, I’ll be honest: I started this photography business thinking I would charge less to help folks who didn't have the budget to pay someone hundreds of dollars an hour. But the longer I do this, the more I realize why the industry is the way it is. So much goes into the "behind-the-scenes" work just so I can show up, push a button for 30 minutes, and leave.

No one sees the other side of it. People often want edits as soon as possible, so you spend another hour and a half editing at home for every 30 minutes of shooting. On top of that, you have to work on administrative tasks and promote yourself to get your name out there. You have to keep showing up to events just to get word-of-mouth exposure. This isn't a business for a shy person; some days, I really struggle with that.

There are so many elements and steps to becoming a high-level photographer, and it takes time and persistence. I have been doing this part-time for three years now, trying to build a business and a name for myself. It has been hard. It becomes even more difficult when your niche is very specific.

I am a livestock and pet photographer, and the livestock and ranching community is very tight-knit. Not everyone you expect to need your skills will actually hire you. Not everyone realizes how a professional photographer or media person can benefit them, and many don't want to pay professional prices. This isn't just in my world; it’s the whole photography industry. Someone once asked me, “Why do you think everyone does photography?” They answered, “Because it’s so easy.”

In reality, it only seems easy.

Picture taken by; Eberspacher Enterprises, Inc.