Portrait of a cow - for Linda
Sep, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I drive a lot of gravel backroads in Iowa looking for photo ops. As I rounded a curve, a group of cattle was grazing quite close to the road, so I stopped to take the photo of this cow, who posed very nicely for me.Time
It's been a while since this was taken but I believe it was mid to late morning.Lighting
It was an overcast day, so basically the sun was a huge softlight that day. Great for some types of photography.Equipment
This photo was taken with my first camera, a Canon T3i with a 70-300mm lens, handheld.Inspiration
The previous year a friend of mine, Linda had attended the Iowa State Fair with my wife and I, just recently learning that I was an amateur photographer. After viewing some of my photos on exhibit at the state fair, while walking through the cattle barn, she turned to me and said "Okay, I want you to take a photo of a cow that I can hang on my wall." I agreed, but told her it might take a while. After taking photos of cows for nearly a year, and finding that cattle are just not very photogenic, I was beginning to think I might not be able to accomplish that task, when I finally found this cow. After printing it at 16X20 and presenting it to her, she actually cried with joy. I was so proud that I had been able to make her so happy.Editing
Actually, this cow was a mess. Covered in flies and her mouth had bits of grass all around it. I removed all of that, I called it a cow makeover. I then added a vignette to focus the attention on her face.In my camera bag
I now carry a Canon 80D, 24-105mm L lens, which is my go to lens, but I also have a Canon 100mm 2.8 macro, a tamron 150-600mm G2 lens, a Canon 50mm 1.8, and a Sigma 10-20mm wide angle. I also always have my tripod handy.Feedback
Keep looking until you find the right shot, then be sure to look around you because quite often when focused on one thing you may be missing an even better shot behind you.
