Looking at the big picture

I just sold a picture, of a cow, for more than I ever have sold a picture for before. For some reason, when I saw the price, contingent on how large the photo runs of course, what came to my mind first was my mom asking an 8-or-so-year-old me why I thought I needed to take so many pictures of cows. I had to chuckle at how life turns out.
She was likely looking through the latest order she had picked up from the local drug store, and was gazing upon four of those paper envelope's worth of pictures, 95 percent of them being of cows, all of which I had made sure to get duplicates of. We do all remember what ordering pictures was like in the 1990's, right?
Even back then I would almost always have my camera and extra roll of film on me, and would happily crawl up fences, lay in dusty corrals and get soaking wet while snapping away at cattle, other ranch animals and anything else I found interesting. The sheer volume of cow photos I turned out resulted in a lot of good natured teasing from my family, and the occasional exasperated question similar to the one above from my mom, usually when she got home from picking up photos.

I took them out of my joy for cattle, which hasn't lessoned over the years, and I needed duplicates because I might frame one, and need the second for my 4-H record book, or just to have.
As I grew up, this photographing of cows only intensified. I would proudly show off my latest angle, and be told it looked just like the last 10 I had also proudly showed. There is no tougher critic than a member of my family, which I'm grateful for because they made me strive to come up with something new, different, better.
Over time, the frequency with which I was told my latest image looked just like the last 10 diminished, and more of my photos were given the stamp of family approval. However even today, you can see boredom begin creeping in if I show more than three similar photos in a row.

I also learned with time that no two people look at picture the same way, and that within a single image you will find people who love it and people who dislike it.
After aging out of 4-H, I decided to try entering photos in the county and state fairs. They did surprisingly well. A friend who saw them recommended I apply for a job at the University of Wyoming as a freelance photographer. I did, they hired me, the next year I was the paper's photo editor, then a professor's daughter asked me to photograph her wedding.
I continued entering photos in fairs, and received a "Best of Show" award at the Wyoming State Fair my second year. As my mom congratulated me on the award, she noted how funny life is that I had worked within the 4-H program for 11 years, and never won such a big ribbon at the state fair.
Following college there was more freelance work for an increasing number of publications, both mainstream and agriculture based. Then, I was hired as the assistance editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup, which introduced me to editorial writing in addition to photography.

A year and a half later  I left the paper, returned to my family's ranch and began my freelance career in earnest, broadening the list of publication's I wrote and took pictures for, and basically working like a madwoman because I was living my dream. Tucked away in the far reaches of rural Wyoming, surrounded by cattle and enough Internet service to send out an article most days, I was thrilled.

Then I fell in love, got married and moved to western South Dakota this summer. While I planned to just continue on with business as usual for the first few months, God had other plans. In the midst of the craziness that has surrounded us since our July wedding, I have been blessed with increased and new business within both my writing and photography careers.
Then this morning I sold a picture for more than I ever have before. And all this hit me, and I had to call and tell my mom, who was beyond excited for me. I also had to remind her of all those years ago, when she asked me about taking so many cow pictures. She just chuckled and asked me if I wanted them all back.

In moments like this I'm very grateful that God works in mysterious ways, and for my parents. My mom and dad probably wondered why in the world their daughter had such an insatiable urge to both be in the cattle business and document every day of it with photographs, but they were supportive.
As a result, twenty years after she asked, I am finally able to give my mom an answer as to why I need so many cow pictures, and pay her back for all those rolls of film!

Week of Bloopers

 Has it been one of those weeks for anyone else? Case in point - an hour ago I went out to the garage to see if there was any cranberry juice to be found,  so that I could have a cranberry vodka because it's been one of those weeks. But, upon walking out the door I realized the burning pile of paper was getting away, and spent an hour shoveling dirt and monitoring the flames. Oh, I did eventually check for juice too, and my sister drank it all.
So, while waiting to see if I need to do any more fire monitoring prior to showering, and praying nothing else happens, I thought I would share some calf photography bloopers with you from the last week or so - they seem fitting this evening. I typically delete these as I find them, so I'll be short a couple examples, but have enough to hopefully give everyone a chuckle for the weekend!
Just as with any form of photography, not every shot is perfect. In fact, I typically average a handful of what I would consider usable photos from every batch I take.

There are the cases of closed eyes.

 and squinty eyes.

 Lots of tongues sticking out, particularly when it's breakfast time.

Focusing on the grass near the calf's butt instead of its face, and another tongue.

Really messing up the focus. This has happened a lot lately as I have been working on improving my usage of depth of field.

Very over exposed objects, especially baldy calves in the snow.

 The occasional nose/head/foot/tail getting chopped off

 The look of death when the subject doesn't want to pose anymore.

 

 

Followed by inappropriate behavior.
There are also lots of images catching someone going to the bathroom, with no consideration for the photo being taken. Infant photographers have nothing when it comes to the peeing thing compared to a pasture full of baby calves.
The other point I would like to make is that even after years of taking cattle pictures, there is still a learning curve, every day, and I do not always get the shot I want to turn out "right." Some days it seems like they all look beautiful, and other days I wonder what possessed me to even take a photo when I look at it on the computer. Then there is the time spent looking at other photographer's work,which sometimes makes me pat myself on the back, and sometimes makes me want to buy all their work, hang it on my wall, then throw my camera away.
One such break spent looking at another person's work a couple weeks ago is what made me realize that I could really improve how I approached a photo from a depth of field perspective. I have gotten into the habit of adjusting my f-stop to reach the right exposure, and that was resulting in some photos not looking the way I wanted them to.
So, I have been consciously working to adjust how I work things in manual mode to get photos the way I want them, without always adjusting the f-stop. This is really just the latest in what is a continual pursuit to improve at something I love to do. Below is one non-blooper photo where it all came together.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Winter in Wyoming

Here are some cattle pictures from the last few weeks, taken in Eastern Wyoming and the Bighorn Basin. Hope your week is going great!

Cattle & Snow

Hope everyone is ready to celebrate the birth of our Savior this weekend : )

Friday Photos

Today I checked the water for our yearling heifers and two-year old cows, who are wintering together. Here are a few photos from my "trip." It's about three miles to their water, and it takes over 30 minutes one way to drive the two-track, very rough road, if you can call it a road. In the winter, our primary responsibility is feeding and checking water for the livestock, and I enjoy the job a lot! Hope you have a great weekend.
Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't yet!

Beyond Excited

Do you ever have something fantastic happen, but it really doesn't sink in until you actually saw the final product?

I had one of those experiences, big time, today! My picture is on the December cover of BEEF Magazine, one of the best, most recognized livestock magazines in America. Uh yeah, I am doing backflips of joy...in my mind : )

* Ta Da *



Whoever it is over at BEEF that designs their covers always does an amazing job, and this month is no exception. The original looks like this, yes, but they cropped it different, pumped it up with some red, and well, made it look like it deserves to be on a magazine cover.
Now don't get me wrong, I was pretty stoked when they asked about the photo, after seeing it right here on the blog. I was also nervous. I sent off a small version, and later a larger image when they approved it. But, it was more like work then, just emailing pictures here and there.
However, when I saw it on my Facebook feed about an hour ago, it definitely sunk it!
I had the same experience when BEEF published the first article I wrote for them. I am so very blessed to have a job that makes me so happy, and excited, with each step forward.
If you don't know about BEEF, by gosh you should : )  Here is their website, and Facebook Page. They cover a huge number of topics relevant to beef production, and if you like cattle photos, they keep an online archive of past covers.

Pictures of Cattle

Here are some cattle photos from recent weeks for you to enjoy. They were taken on our place, and while helping Adam near Ten Sleep. Hope you had a great Wednesday!