Commercial: White Oak Pastures for The Local Palate – Bluffton, Georgia

When the folks from The Local Palate (a Southern food culture magazine) contacted me about shooting at White Oak Pastures for and editorial feature, I had to Google it.  Turns out, this gem of a place was just over 2 hours away from me.  Publix even carries their ground beef – but, all this time, I had no idea this farm existed.  I headed to the farm’s general store in search of the owner, Will Harris, and was told I could find him just down the street in the town’s old courthouse, which was now his office.  But first, I took some snaps of the store.  The farm promotes zero waste, meaning they make use of every bit of the animals they raise and process, not just the meat.  Hides are tanned and turned into leather bags and accessories, while other parts of the animals are dried and turned into dog treats.

I took the short walk to the old courthouse, and was greeted there by a very muscular dog who would’ve been intimidating if he hadn’t broken out into a big grin when I spoke to him.   A no nonsense kind of guy, Will Harris was ready to get down to business, so he and I hopped into his Jeep Rubicon so he could show me around.  Many of the vegetables they grow had been harvested recently, but I was able to photograph some okra plants and a nearby beehive before moving on the visit the chickens, pigs and goats.

Last, I photographed some of the cattle as they were being moved from one pasture to another (something I hadn’t personally witnessed before and found really interesting), and then took a few shots of the man himself.

While the entire magazine spread isn’t available online, you can read the text of the article and see a few of the pictures HERE!