Cows Comin' Home

I just wanted a photo; why did they all cozy up to me?

I have been watching the cows in the field across South Prairie Creek. They have been grazing close to the road, so I figured I could get a nice photo, maybe. I set up my tripod—and the cows kept their distance (about what you see in the background above).

I took a few shots. The cows were pretty small in the shots (see background above). So I thought about putting the camera and tripod back in the car.

Maybe it was my aftershave; maybe it was my personal charisma, but all of a sudden, the cows came a runnin’. Like this:

I have no idea what started the slow-motion ‘stampede’. But they came right up to the fence, and stared at me like I was their salvation or something. After a minute (as I am furiously trying to get the Phase One and 47mm lens focused), they all put their heads down and start munching on the grass at my feet.

I shouted, and they all looked up, and thank goodness I had managed to focus.

Shot with 47mm Schneider Super-Angulon XL, a classic large format lens that I first used for 4x5 film shots a few years ago, and have adapted to the Phase One IQ4 digital back setup. I can’t believe I managed to get it focused in time…twice. I used to do press-style film photography, where you have no choice but to guess at focus, and I guess it helped in this situation.

You, like me before I did large-format film photography, probably have never thought about what the job was like for those guys holding up their big press cameras; you see them in old movies. Those camera are heavy, they often had nothing like a viewfinder or a focus aid (although some had a few tricks that at least helped). It was a real skill to be able to use one of those in a fast-moving situation.