Before and After
OH! FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE! If you’re going to share a before and after photo to try to convince people to transition to regenerative agriculture, can you take the time to do it right? The image here is obviously fake, yes, but some examples aren’t much better. So, how do you do it right? There are two types of photos that are used to show the benefits.
One is adjoining fields, which is the easy one. It solves many of the problems that come with showing improvement over time. It still depends on whether you believe the person who posted it. There could be other factors at work.
The tough one is the improvement over time. A set of photographs, side by side, show the same field in the past and in the present, whether it’s five years apart or ten. Here’s where people go wrong.
- The camera is not in the same position so there is no way to see that it is the same place. Nothing matches. Not hills in the background or a tree or boulder that shows in one and not the other. The camera has to be in exactly the same location and aimed in the same direction. The first photograph has to be planned to show landmarks that will still be identifiable later.
- The camera does not display a date so there is no way to tell if it is the same time of year. For a viewer, the question that arises is, “is this just the same place in May and October and the difference is only seasonal?” Whether it’s a camera that can display a date and time or source files that are dated, the matching time of year is important. Without that, you convince no one.
- The camera does not produce a high-quality image. Even if the first two suggestions were used and everything was done right, if the image is not sharp enough to easily see that it’s the same place and the same time of year, you lose. Your audience includes naysayers of all kinds. You want to prevent any doubt if you want to promote this healthy effort for planet and people.
