The Koester family is good people.
I photographed the first of two Koester kids four years ago as part of the Gladbrook-Reinbeck class of 2009. Not gonna lie, Koester Child No. 1, Rose, is one of my all-time favs. I've made no secret of that... but the story doesn't end there.
Looking back to that epic day that was Rose's session... how could one forget a senior girl... swapping... ummm... "undergarments" with her mother to get by while calling Papa Steve back at home in the meantime and describing to him where exactly the proper "undergarment" was at so he could make an emergency trip to deliver the missing clothing.
Four years later... as a father of a sophomore daughter, I'm not sure how exactly I'd handle a such a phone call, but all I have to say that NOW I can relate! And now, in retrospect, it makes that day four years ago seem all the more epic to me.
Fast forward to the present day... and being reunited with the Koesters was just as epic albeit for different reasons.
Much more masculine reasons. ;)
I was introduced to lil' brother, Logan, three years ago for family portraits, along with Papa Steve, and while I've continued to bump into the longtime, and now retired, G-R volleyball coach, in Mama Marcia, I KNEW what I was in for on the second go around.
No more volleyball uniforms... or J-Lo hats, heart necklaces or forgotten undergarments. Make no mistake... the Koester Kid v.2.0 session had one focus... and one focus only.
It was time to get our farm on.
We met east of Gladbrook after I put a little gravel in my travel and then borrowing a legit brown farm hoodie after I figured I was tremendously under dressed for one of the first chilly mornings of the year.
The temps and even a little rain couldn't slow down Team Koester as I was SO thrilled that the whole fam made it a point to be at the session. So with many assists from Marcia, Rose AND Steve... we covered every nook and cranny of Logan's future home (at his grandma's), and if that wasn't enough... we hit two MORE farmsteads nearby to get more farm equipment and structures involved.
The neatest part of all of this was catching a farm family during their most important time of the year... Harvest.
Through a dear friend back home, I've found myself more and more in tune with the whole harvest operation. In fact, if I weren't so insanely busy with the studio this time of year... I would love nothing more than to try my hand at driving an auger wagon from combine to truck... but alas... it seems like harvest season is normally a month too early for me to participate. And this year... even EARLIER.
The drought that we've endured this summer/fall has made all of our seasonal expectations accelerate by two weeks or more. The fallout resulted in me getting to take advantage of legit harvest operations, through MY work. I'm not sure that the Koesters expected this.. but I'm certain that they weren't complaining on how things turned out in the end.
And neither was I.
I may have been "robbed" of getting to the the right hand man for Waterbrook Farms locally, but as a small consolation prize, I got to see, even for a few minutes, how Koester Farms did their thing.
I shot nearly every farm "weapon" available from nearly every angle for several hours... and I'm not sure Logan would have had it any other way. Dude can flat out tell WHAT make and model of tractor is driving by on a gravel road without even looking.
"Sounds like a John Deere 8100 to me," said Logan as we were posing behind a corn crib.
I peered around the corner... Sure enough. That's what it was.
Seriously, dude?
I look over at Mama Marcia. She just shook her head. Looked at Sister Rose... "Bryan... Dad is JUST as bad. They are two peas in a pod."
I have no doubt that that is the gospel truth. Not just because I got to see it first hand that day... but even if I hadn't, I trust those two ladies' opinions like few others on this planet.
The whole day was like living out a dream for me... and I know that if that after nearly two decades in this business... if it turns south for me, I know that I'm chomping at the bit to get my #agswag on and earn my stripes as a country boy. Whether I ever get the chance to legitimately do that, I have my doubts. But i know this much, even if I never do, I did get to see it all in action that day.. and for that, I feel a LITTLE more in touch with my Iowa roots.. and am thankful for that.
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