Living against the beautiful backdrop of Slievenamon, near Fethard in Co Tipperary, Harry Ryan (13) enjoys farming with his parents, grandparents and brother and sister. They live on the family dairy farm where they have just dried off their cows for the season with the promise of plenty of calves this coming spring. Harry tells Irish Farmers Journal Junior that he enjoys helping his father on the farm and especially likes feeding the calves.
However, this past year, Harry has also turned another interest – photography and videography – into a busy side hustle. HR Agri Photography has started taking up nearly as much of his time as the farm, as he captures farming at home and on other local farms throughout the seasons.
Turning a hobby into a business
“I started in about January of this year,” he explains. “I bought a video stabiliser for my phone and I started filming my dad doing slurry and me feeding calves, then in March I bought a drone. I started going around here – with my grandparents, Jim Ryan Contractors, SAS Slievenamon Agri Services, all these different places with the drones, and that’s where it started.
“A lot of my pictures are taken here [on the home farm], but a lot are taken on other people’s farms. We always get permission from the contractor and the farmer and then we send them on to Redrock, the contractor - even the Irish Farmers Journal sometimes [you’ve published me before].”
Future goals
Harry’s older brother currently attends Kildalton Agricultural College in Piltown, just 40 minutes from the home farm. Harry hopes to do the same someday.
“I’m always off with my dad farming and feeding calves,” he says. “I want to go to Kildalton, like my brother, and then I want to go out to Australia – but I also want to keep taking pictures and videos. [Living on a farm], you can always go for a walk; you’re always active. During the pandemic I had friends who had to stay in their house and I was lucky to have plenty of space to walk around. I go to school in Fethard and I’m a first year student. Not too many of my classmates come from farms, there’s only one other [farm kid] in my year.”
Harry Ryan at home - pictured here with some of the framed images he has taken over the past year / Janine Kennedy
Speaking with Harry you can immediately sense his strong work ethic, so it comes as no surprise to learn that, in order to purchase his drone, he sold kindling sticks around his local community the previous winter. When he isn’t working or farming, he enjoys video games, LEGO and other farm-related activities.
Harry sent in a few of his favourite images from 2023, so Irish Farmers Journal Junior asked him to describe them in his own words. Don’t tell IFJ photo editor Philip Doyle, but there is officially a new agri-photographer in town.
This coming Sunday (26 November), Harry will be selling his photos at the Christmas Fair and Tractor Run in Fethard. The fair will run from 1-4pm while the Tractor Run will take place at 5.30pm. While busy, it is obvious that Harry has a very bright future in agriculture (and art) ahead of him. Harry has a YouTube channel H.R.agriPhotography where you can view his videos and drone footage.
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Junior Farmer Writes: Stabilisers - the future of Irish suckler farming
My first job: Picking spuds, baby-sitting, coaching and packing peat
Living against the beautiful backdrop of Slievenamon, near Fethard in Co Tipperary, Harry Ryan (13) enjoys farming with his parents, grandparents and brother and sister. They live on the family dairy farm where they have just dried off their cows for the season with the promise of plenty of calves this coming spring. Harry tells Irish Farmers Journal Junior that he enjoys helping his father on the farm and especially likes feeding the calves.
However, this past year, Harry has also turned another interest – photography and videography – into a busy side hustle. HR Agri Photography has started taking up nearly as much of his time as the farm, as he captures farming at home and on other local farms throughout the seasons.
Turning a hobby into a business
“I started in about January of this year,” he explains. “I bought a video stabiliser for my phone and I started filming my dad doing slurry and me feeding calves, then in March I bought a drone. I started going around here – with my grandparents, Jim Ryan Contractors, SAS Slievenamon Agri Services, all these different places with the drones, and that’s where it started.
“A lot of my pictures are taken here [on the home farm], but a lot are taken on other people’s farms. We always get permission from the contractor and the farmer and then we send them on to Redrock, the contractor - even the Irish Farmers Journal sometimes [you’ve published me before].”
Future goals
Harry’s older brother currently attends Kildalton Agricultural College in Piltown, just 40 minutes from the home farm. Harry hopes to do the same someday.
“I’m always off with my dad farming and feeding calves,” he says. “I want to go to Kildalton, like my brother, and then I want to go out to Australia – but I also want to keep taking pictures and videos. [Living on a farm], you can always go for a walk; you’re always active. During the pandemic I had friends who had to stay in their house and I was lucky to have plenty of space to walk around. I go to school in Fethard and I’m a first year student. Not too many of my classmates come from farms, there’s only one other [farm kid] in my year.”
Harry Ryan at home - pictured here with some of the framed images he has taken over the past year / Janine Kennedy
Speaking with Harry you can immediately sense his strong work ethic, so it comes as no surprise to learn that, in order to purchase his drone, he sold kindling sticks around his local community the previous winter. When he isn’t working or farming, he enjoys video games, LEGO and other farm-related activities.
Harry sent in a few of his favourite images from 2023, so Irish Farmers Journal Junior asked him to describe them in his own words. Don’t tell IFJ photo editor Philip Doyle, but there is officially a new agri-photographer in town.
This coming Sunday (26 November), Harry will be selling his photos at the Christmas Fair and Tractor Run in Fethard. The fair will run from 1-4pm while the Tractor Run will take place at 5.30pm. While busy, it is obvious that Harry has a very bright future in agriculture (and art) ahead of him. Harry has a YouTube channel H.R.agriPhotography where you can view his videos and drone footage.
Read more
Junior Farmer Writes: Stabilisers - the future of Irish suckler farming
My first job: Picking spuds, baby-sitting, coaching and packing peat
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