By Dan Guttenplan
Natalie McFarland started McFarland Productions in 2014. The multimedia business has continued to grow rapidly over the last few years. Her passion and focus have always remained the same: capturing, understanding, preserving and promoting ranching, farming, Western fashion, and the Western lifestyle. She has always had a love for the western culture, and even at a young age it was unmistakably clear what she was born to do.
McFarland grew up on a small ranch, rodeoed, showed horses in a variety of disciplines, showed livestock, and participated in 4H and Oregon high school equestrian teams. She has trained herding dogs and started colts, worked with sheep and cattle, and has had the experience of racing to finish up a hayfield before a rainstorm hit. She understands the joys, sorrows, wins, losses and hard work of ranchers and farmers.That’s why McFarland Productions can produce authentic marketing materials of ranchers, riders and ropers – it’s who she is.
The love she has for the western way of life is what prompted her to use photography and videography to preserve the western heritage, both old and new.
“I have a passion for agriculture: farms, ranches and agriculture-related businesses,” McFarland said. “Cattle ranches, sheep farms, leather workers, saddle makers, western fashion designers, hat makers, silversmiths… I love to work with them all. It’s not a job. It’s a lifestyle. And those living it know what it means to be a rancher, a farmer, or a cowboy.”
McFarland recently connected with Cowboy Lifestyle Magazine for a Q&A.
Where did you go to college?
“Oregon State University.”
Some of your wedding photoshoots are breathtaking. What is it about Western fashion that makes the photos pop?
“We used to do a lot more weddings when we started. We still love weddings, but we have a limited wedding reach. We do about five per year. On the commercial side, we love working with makers — big and small. We love working with angus and cattle producers; we have clients in the beef industry. We love events. That’s what I love about production. I love showing the full Western lifestyle and promoting the industry as a whole. That doesn’t mean one thing; it’s anything agricultural. I love the variety.”
What would you recommend to a novice photographer in terms of equipment purchases?
“We have a ton of equipment. We didn’t start that way. My first camera was a Nikon D60. I bought it with my high school graduation money. It’s about the cheapest camera I could have bought at that time. The No. 1 thing I did when I started was invest in glass. Get the better lenses earlier. Even though you’re limited in functionality on the camera body, you can do a lot with a lense before having to upgrade to a nicer body. I couldn’t do video, obviously. Then, I went to the Cannon Mark iii. We’ve moved to the Canon EOS 1DX mainly. We have a Sony and a Black Magic and lots of other equipment related to it. Starting out, I’d recommend spending more money on lenses than camera bodies. Learn to use it first. It wouldn’t do any good to spend money on the body if you don’t know how to use it.”
How was your business affected by the pandemic?
“It hasn’t been as bad as you might think. We were shut down for a month-and-a-half last spring. We went back on the road. How we get there depends on where we’re going. We’re set up to fly with our equipment, but it’s a challenge with all of the gear.”
How many people are on your team?
“There are four of us full-time. We have a number of contractors who work with us on a regular basis.”
