There's a little bit of magic when taking photos with animals. That moment when the light of the setting sun falls on the cow & calf standing in the pasture or the moment when the bull lifts his head and stands with his stance of pride and power. With animals, though, they have a definite flair for being unpredictable so there is more required along with that little bit of magic before CLICK the camera captures the moment.
In order to get that magic moment, there is a lot of waiting, watching and behind the scenes (on the Kubota) work. I get out my DSLR camera with a telephoto lens so that I can capture from a distance if necessary. Elgin watches the cattle move about and creates a natural space for them to move into. He makes some attention grabbing noises and I watch for the cow, heifer, calf or bull to show themselves off with "just that look".
Sometimes we get lucky and nail the shot right off. Sometimes we step away and realize it's just not going to work that day. We've learned that stepping away is okay. There'll be another chance. Taking pasture photos requires a lot of patience & persistence but in the end it gives photos that highlight the animal as well as the environment they are used to being in. We might look through 30 photos after a couple of hours of taking pictures to find the one that accurately captures the animal looking it's best. We post natural photos but we don't post "bad" photos. It might take extra time to get a "good" photo but it's definitely worth it. A picture is worth a thousand words so they might as well be positive words!
We find that our cattle become more predictable and the process becomes enjoyable.
And the photos are more likely to be memorable.
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