Monday, August 24, 2009

Cows Don't Like their Picture Taken

Every evening – an hour or so before sunset – the cows come down the hill, drawn by some unseen force to eat grass that perhaps looks a little more delicious in the late afternoon hours.

“Ah! A great photo opportunity” I thought to myself.

I first took a picture from my upstairs window. I didn’t like the pole in it and the camera wasn’t sure how to take the screen into account when it was trying to focus. So I slipped on my shoes and headed out to get closer to the cows.

I first tried my zoom lens. With the sun getting lower in the sky the light wasn’t very good for a zoom. So back to the house I went and traded out the lens.

Now it was getting a little darker and with the shorter lens I had to get closer to the cows. They didn’t seem to mind and were probably wondering what I was doing. They watched as I got closer – curious as to why a stranger would find them interesting.

By now the sun was even lower so I hurried closer to get a couple of pictures. The cows tried to act uninterested, but when I got close they all had to look. Maybe they thought I would have a lump of sugar in my pocket. Oh wait. That’s horses. (This is all new stuff for a city boy.)

So I got all focused and ready to take the picture. Well… my camera decided it was dark and the flash popped up.

Click.
FLASH!
Mooooooo!

You can tell they are looking right at me with the flash in their eyes.

And off they ran. I don’t think cows like camera flashes. I thought I had started a stampede! Oh no! They’re going to crash through the fence and trample women and children and cause widespread ruin and destruction!

That’s what I feared anyway. Notice how far away they are in this picture taken just a few moments after the first picture.

For all of you who live in the country or who love the country I have a new watercolor ACEO you might be interested in. It is the standard 2.5” x 3.5” painted on 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper. It is mounted on a playing card to make it nice a sturdy. You can find it in my Etsy shop.

1 comment:

artbylmr said...

That is too funny! I grew up on a farm and once had an argument with my boss that insisted that cows can't jump. Wasn't aware they were so camera shy though!