Hope

an unexpected portrait.

I spent some time with some pig farmers the other day...boy do you have to be dedicated to be a pig farmer. Wow. I'm a bit in awe of what she goes through on a daily basis.

Anyway, pigs are intelligent and intensely curious. They are natural learners and love a good routine. If anyone approaches their pens they immediately start looking to see if you've got a 5-gallon bucket with you. Even if you don't (you can feel their disappointment) they will still greet you with grunts of enthusiasm. They are very chatty creatures.

So even though this particular group of youngsters was active and rambunctious at the time I shot this, this one image came out stunningly more poignant and introspective than I had in mind. I wanted to isolate one pig from its compatriots and somehow it worked out this way -

http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Animal...0_o5XQH-XL.jpg

It's as if it knows it will end up in a blue plate special one day.

Olympus E-30 | ZD 12-60mm | ISO 200 | 1/40 sec | f5.6 | B&W conversion in Lightroom

I could never get past the smell. Other than that, pigs are pretty cool.

Yeah, it's overpowering at first, but then it recedes a bit. I wouldn't say I got used to it, but these little guys helped -

http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Animal...7_bBXEf-XL.jpg

Go to a chicken farm first. The pigs will smell great. - TF