PHOTOGRAPH INFO

Jakey works at the Thaler dairy farm, as you may know if you've been following this blog for awhile. In this photo he's leaning on the 2000-gallon milk tank in the milk house. The tank is filled and emptied every other day. (One gallon = 8.6 pounds x 2000 = 17,200 pounds of milk. They get paid by the pound.)

The sticker behind Jakey says, "Farmers Raise Everything But Prices." The bucket of milk in the left front corner is set aside for a few of the calves.

The Thalers have been installing a new "milking parlour" -- a fairly high-tech structure that will allow for more efficient milking -- for the last few months, and I've been photographically documenting the process. Yesterday I was there to photograph a new wall being built and the bricklayer turned out to be a Mennonite man. (There's a large Mennonite and Amish community in eastern Pennsylvania so it wasn't unusual.) The Amish and Mennonite generally don't like their photos taken so I held back out of respect.

The Mennonite bricklayer was fascinated by my camera, however, and asked a lot of questions about it: how it works, how much it cost, why it's better than a point-and-shoot from Wal-Mart. I was equally fascinated by the precision in his work and asked a lot of questions about that, too. At the end of our 45-minute conversation he offered to let me take his photo if he was shown working rather than posing.

It was an interesting exchange!

Camera settings and post-processing: Shot with the Canon EOS 5D and the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens at 24mm, ISO 1000, f/10, shutter 1/100s. Curves, color balancing.

Thanks for visiting Durham Township!

--Kathleen

Great story Kathleen. Thanks for taking the time to give us all such a rich background for your photos...I think that is one of the things that adds such richness to your photoblog. (Rob in Vacaville)

Very nice portrait, Kathleen. I like the natural window light and how half of Jakey's face is thrown into deep shadow. It creates a very dramatic effect, reminiscent of an old Humphrey Bogart portrait.

Thanks for the story about the Amish and Mennonite bricklayers. My father is a retired bricklayer. Damn backbreaking job that is. In high school I worked as a laborer for him for a couple of summers, constantly mixing "mud" (mortar) and hauling brick up the ladder and scaffold in "tongs". But when you're finished you can stand back and look at something beautiful and useful that will be around for generations. No wonder he wanted his picture taken of him while working. He was probably darn proud of his work.

I'm no fashion Guru, but I can tell you that the shoes go with the pants.

One of the few times when you were able to use a rather slow shutter to catch the normally very active Jakey pausing for a moments respite.

Excellent shot, love the personal feel to this - he's always off doing something so nice you caught a non-working image of him :)

do you have any future plans to shoot Jakey posing by the lake on a very hot summer day? preferably around sundown when the light casts orange.

Wonderful story.

This is another excellent shot of Jakey. He must have quite the fan club by now!

I enjoy the photos of Jakey on the Thayer farm, including this one, and the explanations you post with them. I appreciate your documenting small farm life in PA.

I think if you made a Jakey calendar, lots of folks would buy them up. My favorite still is him throwing hay. *swoons*

I was there when we installed this tank. It was so big it had to stick through the back wall. We put big posts in the ground to protect it. We used to back loaded hay wagons in the gate behind it. Sometimes we had to use a tractor with no power steering - yes the good old days.

The old tank was square and fit inside the building. It built up ice during the day so when you added the warm milk, it could cool it quickly.

The big news with the new round tank, the one in the picture, was that it had an automatic washer !!! I still remember the joy of hooking it up the first few times. The old one had to be washed by hand. To me, the worst job on the farm.

Just a bit of history for you.