Regina (Rural Roots Canada) – Picture this: You have written a story on this year’s harvest.
It outlines this year’s conditions and the tough situation farmers are in as they race against time to get the crop off. It’s sharp, concise and engages the reader.
The only thing that is missing is a picture that everyone can relate to. One that pops off the page, shows the same landscape they farm on, uses identical or similar equipment, and shows the same crops they grow year in and year out.
Searching the internet can be a long and arduous process, as many of the farm photos out there miss the mark when it comes to what it is like to farm in Canada. When you ultimately find an image, the accuracy of the information behind it can be a bit shaky. The picture says wheat, but it looks more like barley. It doesn’t instill a lot of confidence.
Your brand depends on quality photos that tell a factually correct story.
This is where the owners of Farm Stock Images Canada, Cole Christensen and Delaney Seiferling, saw an opportunity for innovation.
“Our mission is to arm the Canadian agricultural industry with accurate, high quality and impactful images,” says Christensen, who is also the owner of Cole’s Ag Communications.
He says the idea was born out of the frustration as a communications and marketing person to find the images he needed.
“I got tired of seeing the same agricultural photos used over and over again and purchasing from some of those bigger stock image companies where the crop was labelled wrong, the region was labelled wrong, or didn’t have the right growth stage or season.”
After having to overcome this problem over and over, he finally had enough and figured it was time to address it and create a solution.
He says getting accurate information starts with the talented photographers and videographers they work with.
“They have to provide those details of locations where they shot, not down to the farm specifically, but we want the proper region, we want the proper season, we want everything to be marked in there.”
They take a step further, having agronomists and other experts verify the photos submitted.
Christensen believed this solution also had to overcome stereotypes to truly reflect the agricultural community.
“How many times have you seen that older male farmer photo, where he’s got the overalls and chewing out a piece of straw?”
In his role as the owner of Cole’s Ag, Christensen understands the importance of brand and the role photos play in building and maintaining it.
He says when you buy a photo from them, you trust them with your brand.
“We know that accuracy is the most important thing, especially for Canadian agriculture, where you’ve got people looking at these marketing materials who know their stuff, so we need to make sure that we have our ducks in a row as well.”
The company is now working to expand their offering to include video clips as well.
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Painting a Picture
Setting high creative standards is evident in how they have built this business. What has also been clear is their commitment to building a collaborative culture with photographers and videographers.
“We wanted to support a lot of our local photographers and videographers, and the people you see do awesome work in the Canadian agriculture space.”
Christensen, who is a member of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation, knows first-hand about the talent that is out there and wanted this website to work not only for the business but also for the creative talent who are contributing photos.
“We want to feature those photographers and their collections, and we want to make sure that if you trust us to help showcase your work, we’re going to do right by you.”
By prioritizing those relationships, Christensen and Seiferling look to build a community where entrepreneurs like themselves can thrive.
Despite the website only being launched a short time ago, the number of photographers and videographers who have reached out who want to work with Farm Stock Images Canada is growing, which has Christensen excited.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but are they the right words? Farm Stock Images Canada is a platform working to answer that question with an emphatic yes, and in doing so, is helping the agriculture industry tell its story.
