“Hey Katie H…”
“Yeah?”
“You know how you asked about going on a shoot with me?”
“Yes…”
“What are you doing at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning?”

And that’s how I wound up, cold and shivering, in a pig sty, at 6 AM on a Saturday morning. Several people had called requesting tight shots of pig snouts, and we had none. Joel decided to remedy the situation. A farmer in Bennett, Nebraska, was kind enough to let us photograph his pigs. We left at 6:00 because that let us get there and “case the joint” before the light got good.

The previous day had a high of 80 degrees, so I figured with two shirts and a jacket, I’d be okay. Wrong! It was around 35 degrees, if that, spitting rain every few minutes, with a wind chill of probably ten degrees. Joel hadn’t dressed for it either and had all sorts of fun trying to keep his hand warm.

Pigs are pretty disgusting creatures. I’ve read all sorts of articles about how they’re really clean and sanitary, but folks, I’ve seen ‘em live. They eat each other’s poop. How sophisticated is that? But wait…it gets better. To get the kind of tight shots people are looking for, he had to use a long lens — 600 mm. Lenses this long have to be used on a tripod, preferably with a cable release, but since it was so windy, it wasn’t doing us any good. Joel went to “Plan B.” He slapped on the wide-angle lens, pre-focused at a distance of about two feet, and then leaned over a concrete fence, holding his $2,000 F5 about 3/4 of an inch above the pig muck. Pigs are curious, and so they’d snort and snuffle right up to the lens.

“Oh yeah…that’s what we’re looking for! Come to papa…” As well as being talented, Joel is very entertaining.

Joel’s wife complains about how his propensity to shoot several rolls of film while they’re trying to have a family event drives her insane. Around roll five, I start to sympathize. It’s raining, and windy. I can’t feel my toes, and the light still sucks. Joel “hard core” Sartore keeps shooting. I don’t want to look like a wuss, so I hang in and try not to complain. Joel can’t put his hands in his pockets to warm up, so he’s got it worse than I do.

Roll six – Joel tells me to go warm up the car, and I gladly oblige. It’s about 9:30 now. I’ve been awake for five hours already, and hot coffee sounds really good.