Okay– so the following is a chronicle of my recent experience in Williamsville MO at the Gross & Janes railroad tie company shooting photo & video for their new website….the process from start to finish (or “tree to track” as they called it) Everyone from the loggers to the sawmill & plant workers to the railroad men were extremely welcoming and happy to share their stories with me– I was even given what I am told is a Williamsville local staple: a Peanut butter and maple syrup sandwich served with chili!
On the left is a white oak tree...the stump of this tree will be sold for whiskey barrels. On the right is a 16 year old hardwood logger who has been logging since age 13 when he started with his grandpa.
This company's hardwood logging policy is to harvest the mature trees only from a plot of land, then they rotate plots so this specific piece of land won't be logged again for another 20 years!
Even with earplugs this was one of the loudest places I have ever been, and so much sawdust in the air and coating everything that I literally coughed it up and had nosebleeds for about a week after my visit
by this point in the trip I was stuffed up and so tired I was practically hallucinating....I started to "see things" in the woodgrain...this is clearly a mouse face.
Thanks for the hospitality, I had a great time and my sinuses are almost totally back to normal!
L Photographie St. Louis wedding photography by Liz Sloan and Kate Hayes
that is going to be the best photography a railroad tie company has ever seen! nice job!