IDA GROVE, Iowa, Nov. 3, 2013 — Photographer Don Poggensee and his wife Pam, from here in northwest Iowa, “took four days this past week, to visit four Amish areas in Iowa and southern Minnesota,” he tell us.  “It is always a joy to talk with them and see the changes in Amish life.”

Don says he is often asked how he is able to photograph the Amish, as he has been doing for decades.

“First, it is always good to ask permission and to respect their culture,” he said.  “It usually depends on what the minister of their church group allows them to do.  They pattern their lives around their church beliefs.”

He said he has noticed that “now some Amish have cell phones, because their ministers allow them, if they are used for business use only.”

Most people Poggensee deals with “do NOT allow close-up photos of their faces, but they do allow photos of their activities. Some allow photos of their kids up to a certain ages. It is always best to ask. I was in an Amish store last week and asked an Amish lady if I could take photos of the outside of her shop. Her reply was, ‘Yes indeed, you can take photos of our entire farm also if you like.”

He had a successful photography trip this time, coming home with “20 gig of images.” He shares seven of the photos here.

Here’s the four-horse, one-row corn picker.

 

It’s a slow harvest, one row at a time. A small gasoline engine is mounted on the platform behind the farm, turning the power takeoff of the picker.

 

The grain wagon brings up the rear.  The corn picking machine throws ear corn into the wagon.

 

Neatly aligned corn shocks after the field is harvested.

 

Doing fall seeding near the busy farmstead.

 

Thrashing soybeans.

 

Amish school children at recess.

You can write the photographer by email at donpog@netllc.net or by using the form below here.