We recently sold our beef cows and rented out our pasture to a dairy farmer who is keeping his young cows on it.
I have been trying to get a decent shot of them all summer without success.
I would have never believed how much difference there is between the two varieties of cows if you told me. But now that I have handled both I realize that they are as different as night and day.
From a photography point of view, it is much easier to photograph beef cows, who are quite aloof and guarded. They tend to watch closely from a distance so it is easy to snap a bovine portrait with their ears up with a zoom lens.
Dairy cows, on the other hand, are friendly to a fault and are licking my sleeve whenever I am in the pasture. It is very difficult to get a good shot of them when they are on top of you!
They immediately proceed to put their head down and proceed to graze if I do happen to finally get them to ignore me. Again - not an award-winning shot!
Dairy cows usually stick together like glue which makes it difficult to grab a nice solo shot whereas beef cows seem to have a larger personal space requirement - and are therefore easier to do portraits of.
Lastly, most dairy cows seem to have the black face that has the eyes disappear into. Most beef cows I know have the white face like this one (who does happen to be a dairy cow)
So- this is the best shot I have managed to do this so far this summer. Oh well - will keep trying!
Fascinating! Now I know something about cows; thanks for sharing that info for someone who has never been less than a mile away from a cow, except in a package at the grocery.
I like your persistence and determination. Eventually pays off, doesn't it?
I'm so sorry to be so late with this challenge for you. The afternoon was full of meeting with someone over the updating of our club annual "yearbook" for our upcoming club year. And I sat down this evening, reviewing your project and watching TV, and just realized that I fell asleep at some point in the process (NOT bored by the photos, just tired!)
I'm going to give you a refinement of a challenge you have already done, as I see, like another partner of yours, that you mainly take photos of what comes your way. For your challenge I'd like you to make a still life composition with at least five different objects you have chosen and arranged yourself. Any objects are fair game. Extra points if one or more of the objects are ones that you would not ordinarily think of combining with the others. How does that sound?
Wendy, I just now discovered you and was fascinated by your picture depicting Grant Wood's Gothic couple! Love it! The actual Gothic house is in Eldon, Iowa not far from where I live. We have been there, dressed up in costumes provided & had pictures taken...but they are no where as original as your picture!!
Great shot of the dairy cow.
the framing is so good on this and somehow you have captured the gentleness of the cow. Thanks for the write-up too. Interesting how the beef and dairy cattle can be so different.
I love your info about cows! Thank you for writing it up! Next time I see some I will look at them more carefully to see how they behave and their facial markings. Nearby where I live there is a country park and over the Autumn months they put 3-4 cows in one of the fields to chomp/mow down the grasses. These cows are used to people and dogs walking by them on a day by day basis but one time I had my Jakey [collie x] out with me and one of the cows locked onto him and started to run towards him..... it totally freaked me out and I had to scream and clap my hands at it to try and distract it away. Thankfully that worked, but it scared the life out of me I can tell you! Since that time I am always really cautious of them, especially when I am out with the dogs and have to walk through a cow field - here we can walk through farmers fields if there are "rights of way" through the field. Most times, all they do is group together but they really do stare and stare and stare... I asked a farmer once why they do that and he said they are just curious that is all. Many is the time too we have all walked past cows in a field and instead of staring from a distance they all run to the fence and stare as we walk past. I don't mind so much when they are behind the fence but it still freaks me out a little bit though, lol. Nice shot anyway. @farmreporter
I'm so sorry to be so late with this challenge for you. The afternoon was full of meeting with someone over the updating of our club annual "yearbook" for our upcoming club year. And I sat down this evening, reviewing your project and watching TV, and just realized that I fell asleep at some point in the process (NOT bored by the photos, just tired!)
I'm going to give you a refinement of a challenge you have already done, as I see, like another partner of yours, that you mainly take photos of what comes your way. For your challenge I'd like you to make a still life composition with at least five different objects you have chosen and arranged yourself. Any objects are fair game. Extra points if one or more of the objects are ones that you would not ordinarily think of combining with the others. How does that sound?
Great shot of the dairy cow.