This is probably going to be part I of my Chickens portraits.

If you follow my personal Facebook, you’ll know that I recently watched the documentary Chicken People.

Its a really great documentary. And as someone who is definitely not a “chicken person,” I did greatly identify with the people featured from the poultry community. I grew up in 4-H showing rabbits and horses, and now I am greatly attached to specific breeds of dogs like the Leonberger. I love animal husbandry; I love that you can care for an animal and also be a caretaker of that breed by being a good steward.

So, after watching the documentary, and really giving a good think on it, I thought, I should photograph some chickens. Because they really are beautiful. So, my sister-in-law let me photograph some of her flock. She got these chickens in December 2021 and we photographed in March 2022, so these are young chickens. They each had their own personalities. But they really did seem to like to pose for the camera, which I was not expecting at all. Some of them were more into posing than others, but they all seemed to like it well enough.

I entered “The Conspiracy” and “Squad Goals” into the Animal Image Makers 2022 Competition. I’m really invested in getting my title as an Animal Image Maker; its important to me that I get a credential in the type of photography that I have really invested my time and skill to pursue. Out of (8) images entered, I merited (meaning I received points) in four (4) images. And of those four images, these two of the chickens placed in the top ten of the Other Domestic Animals category. There were over 40 entrants in that category across the country, so I felt really good about having placed with these.

I also entered The Conspiracy and First of All, How Dare You in my District Competition for PPA, and of the four images in my case, those two merited! Districts is the Professional Photographers of America judging for PPA members from Texas to Georgia—that’s Louisiana’s district. So I was pretty pleased about that. Now those two images can enter the International Photographic Competition in August! I’m still looking for two images for my case, so we’ll see what I can come up with. But I’m happy with my chickens, if nothing else.

Chickens!