I recently had the pleasure of photographing the Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) Annual Grassroots Summit at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny, Iowa. Once again, I was reminded of just how much I enjoy working with this group!
The Iowa Corn Growers Association represents thousands of Iowa corn farmers and serves as their collective voice on agricultural issues at the state and federal levels. ICGA works to advocate for policies that support Iowa’s corn growers and help create opportunities for long-term profitability for farm families.
The Grassroots Summit brought together farmer members from across Iowa to discuss the issues that matter most to them and the future of their farms and communities. The keynote speaker was Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, who grew up on a family farm in northwest Iowa and continues to be involved in farming today.
Of course, one of my favorite parts of photographing this event is the people. I have worked with Iowa Corn for several years now, and I genuinely enjoy every minute of it. The group is made up largely of farmers, and they are some of the nicest, most down-to-earth people on the planet. There is always a great combination of serious conversations about agriculture and plenty of laughter and good-natured fun. It makes my job incredibly enjoyable!
For this year’s Summit, I brought along two Nikon Z9 cameras, giving me a great combination of versatility and speed. My lenses included the Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 II, Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 II, and Viltrox 14mm f/4. The combination allowed me to capture everything from super wide shots of the entire gathering to tight shots of the presentations, candid interactions, and group portraits. For the posed group photos, I had a pair of Godox AD200 strobes with Westcott umbrellas set up over to the side.
It was another memorable event with a fantastic group of people, and I am already looking forward to the next opportunity to work with Iowa Corn. Photographing people who are so passionate about what they do is one of the things I enjoy most about being an event photographer!
