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!

Fun in the sun

 The calves felt great after our blizzard. These are just a few of the photos I got of them fighting, playing, running and jumping.

Let's play.

 Then there was this guy...

 So happy and excited!

 

 

 All together now.

 Bored.

 Yippee!

 Why are you no fun?

Irresponsible kids! I am not with them.

I'm linking this post up with The View From Right Here's Weekly Top Shot linky party. Check her and all the participants out!

Calves and Snow

 As we wrap up National Ag Week, here is a sampling of the photos I took last week at my fiancee's, where it snowed without any wind! Be prepared for lots of cute calf pictures  : )

It takes a great man to extend chore time by almost double because I was constantly asking him to stop, back up, let me out, hold on before tagging that calf, wait a minute, etc... and be okay with it.  I've got a good one!

I'm also linking this post up with The View From Right Here's Rurality Blog Hop!

I still take pictures!

 I know the photo posts have been far and few between lately. Here's an update on what I've been snapping pictures of the last several weeks.

Emmie Lou and Miss Weenie are always available to help feed, sit on my camera bag, roll in dead things, and have their photo taken.

It has snowed a couple times. Here are our yearling heifers and coming three's heading in to feed one morning.

 

 

And, here is my sister's heifer on the same day after I fed her.

 I've done some cattle photography work for other people (yay!) including taking pictures of these heifers for a sale.

 My fiancee's marker cow.

 Feeding cows, SD style.

 Lots of wildlife out and about on this mild winter.