What does Agriculture mean to you? Agriculture is the foundation of our country. It’s made possible by the hard work of America’s farms and farm families. These individuals have been essential for many years.

Farmers continue to work hard to provide us with the food we have on our tables, the clothes we wear, and the many other things we use & enjoy on a daily basis.

On Tuesday, March 19, we recognized National Ag Day – a day to celebrate the less than two percent of the population who provide food, fiber, and fuel to all of us. Agriculture is no doubt our most important industry and National Ag Day is a chance for us to recognize and show our appreciation for all farmers do.

In celebration of National Agriculture Week (March 17th -23rd, 2024), the Johnson County Farm Bureau Women held a photo contest encouraging local students in 4th-12th grades to enter photos with the subject being “What does Agriculture mean to you?” The Farm Bureau women would like to recognize the following students and their winning photos.

The 1st place photo titled, “Can I Have a Kiss”, was entered by Ava Taylor, a 5th grade student from Laurel Elementary. The 2nd place photo, titled “Rooftop Rooster”, was entered by Christian Harris, a 5th grade homeschool student. The 3rd place photo, titled “Doing What I Love”, was entered by Julia Crews, a 10th grade student from Johnson County High School. Photos earning Honorable Mention were Skylar Mason, a 6th grader from Laurel Elementary School, Tanner Miller, a 5th-grade Homeschool Student, and Sophia Perez, a 6th grader from Laurel Elementary School.

Students who also entered photos into this year’s contest were Joseph Ketola, a 5th-grade homeschooler; Wilson Harris, a 6th-grade Homeschooler; John Ketola, a 6th-grade Homeschooler; Jesse Ketola, an 8th-grade Homeschooler; and Katie Timbs, a 10th-grade student from Johnson County High School.

The Farm Bureau Women were pleased with this year’s participation and would like to congratulate these students for sharing what agriculture means to them.

It is very important that we appreciate the farmer, not only during National Agriculture Week, but all throughout the year. They work hard year-round to provide us with the best quality products possible. Remember, without farmers- there is no food! Thank a Farmer today.

Najee Tobin, whose art will also be showing, is part of the East Bay Photo Collective’s gallery team. A Vallejo-raised artist who focuses on portrait photography with elements of fine art, Tobin says the group’s work is an important part of the landscape for local photographers.

“It’s an easygoing, supportive space where you’re allowed to experiment,” Tobin says of the collective, pointing out the frequent barriers to entry — financial or otherwise — when it comes to doing photography in academia or the world of fine art. ” They just want to see the work, that’s what’s important to me.”

The East Bay Photo Collective hosts workshops on specific photography topics throughout the year. The group also holds an annual gear sale, where cameras and accessories are donated, cleaned up and sold for a low price to aspiring photographers.

Earlier this month the collective held a closing reception for an exhibition that featured photos from the archives of Raymond Cooper, the late Oakland photographer whose images of the Town during the ’70s and ’80s were rescued from a trash can in 2021.

“I see a lot of my friends and fellow photographers in his archives,” says Tobin, reflecting on the event and Cooper’s work. “It was nice to see somebody celebrated for doing what we do.”

‘NOTICE,’ a show highlighting the work of the Oakland Street Photography Collective, takes place on Friday, May 3, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Oakland Photo Workshop (312 8th Street, Oakland).

Whether you’re shooting video, stills, or some combination, there’s a camera that offers incredible levels of excellence in both, and at a price point that’s hard to ignore. Watch it get put through its paces in a 4-week trip to South America, and see how it stacks up against the competition.

The demand for cameras that can satisfy the exacting needs of hybrid shooters has never been higher. Videographers, photographers, and content creators of all stripes routinely work with a blend of still and moving images. The ability to create all of these media types using a single device offers incredible convenience, as well as potentially significant savings in time, money, and effort. Just think about the overhead of going on a trip like the one shown in this video, and having to cart along separate cameras for video and still photography, along with all of their separate sets of batteries, lenses, accessories etc.

One of the issues commonly encountered by hybrid shooters is that plenty of cameras do a bit of both, but are typically much better at one than the other. For example, when using an excellent still photography camera that also shoots video, it can often feel like the video features were something of an afterthought for the manufacturer.

However, this problem seems to be increasingly receding in the rearview mirror as the technology improves and becomes more cost effective. More and more manufacturers are starting to produce cameras that can absolutely hold their own in both video and still photography. The Panasonic Lumix S5IIX is a prime example of this.

In the video presented here, filmmaker Matthias Dangl takes his Lumix S5IIX on a 4-week trip to South America to put it through its paces and to see how it stacks up against the competition – specifically another popular hybrid shooter camera, the Sony a7S III. This video definitely focuses more on the videography aspects of the S5IIX than its use as a still camera, but I can personally vouch for its abilities in still photography, having used one myself. There are some great clips in the video that showcase just what the S5IIX is capable of, and the results are truly impressive. In the course of his discussion, Matthias covers several of the features that will be at the top of the list of must-haves for videographers, including autofocus, stabilization, and color management.

I would also add that this video came out before the major firmware upgrade that Panasonic recently released, which featured significant enhancements to features like autofocus and image stabilization. Based upon the glowing reviews that these upgrades have received from the Lumix community, it seems likely that Matthias would have found even more to like in the performance of the S5IIX on his trip to South America, had these new firmware upgrades already been available at that time.

Bailey Schurke dove headfirst into photography after her wedding.

While having her engagement and wedding photos taken, Schurke became intrigued by the process of documenting the special memories.

Working as a nurse, the idea of doing her own photography stayed on the back burner. Driving back from a vacation and having a lot of free time, Schurke decided to go for it.

A year later, Schurke is opening her own photography studio called Special Moments by Bailey, which is located at 500 Main Street in Coon Rapids. On Saturday, an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at the studio, going from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For her photos, Schurke said she usually leans towards warmer and neutral colors. Saying she captures a little bit of everything, Schurke photographs pregnancies, families, senior portraits and weddings.

However, her favorite sessions are Fresh 48, where she takes photos of newborn babies within their first 48 hours after birth.

“You only have one chance to capture those right after the baby’s born in those 48 hours of life,” Schurke said. “These are very much capturing all those little details, the umbilical cord that’s still on, the baby’s fingers, all that fun stuff.”

In order to develop her skills further, Schurke said she reached out to another professional photographer Aryn Book, who is the owner of Peridot and Lace in Adel.

“She was all on board, this was her first time ever helping someone, so she was also super excited,” Schurke said. “So I got my camera, she helped decide which one to purchase, as well as what lens and all that good stuff.”

The studio used to be the space for Brown Bag & Co., a former home goods store. Around this time, Schurke was looking for a building, but hadn’t found anything she liked.

After noticing they were closing, Schurke reached out to move her photography business over.

On top of her photography business, Schurke continues to work as an OB nurse at the St. Anthony Birth Place.

“I love it, I wouldn’t change it,” Schurke said. “Some days do get long when I work night shifts, so that can definitely take a toll, but I love it. I love being a nurse, there’s just something about that process that I love.”

Being from Elk Horn and her husband being from Arcadia, the couple decided to live in Coon Rapids as a middle ground between their hometowns.

Her husband is Derek Schurke, who works at Outlaw Signs Graphics and Apparel in Carroll. Thanks to his profession, Schurke said he helped her design the front sign for Special Moments by Bailey.

Her parents are Molly Robertson and Terry Robertson of Elk Horn. Throughout the process, Schurke said her parents have been great in helping with the building, whether it’s for construction or painting.

“Whenever I need help, they’re not worried about driving the 40 or 45 minutes it takes to get up here, they’re just more than willing to be up here and help,” Schurke said.

For anyone looking to book a session with Schurke, she said they can message her Facebook account at Special Moments by Bailey, email specialmomentsbybailey@gmail.com or call 712-249-6733.