Livestock photography

[gizmom]

Whatever they charge it isn't enough!



I couldn't get her standing not looking at me to save my life.

Gizmom

 

[jscunn]

The other problem you have right there is the sun is in the wrong place.. (no shadows) it is alot harder than people think, especially in a big pen.. patience, she is pretty darn good, you may have to take a couple... of dozen pics..

 

[wbvs58]

And sometimes you think you have nailed it but when you upload it you get very disappointed.

Ken

 

[JMJ Farms]

Looks better than the ones I take!

 

[Bright Raven]

Young calves are tough. This is a September Broadway heifer. If you tie them up to stay in one place, they tense up. I took several pictures and never got one that does her justice:

 

[sstterry]

Young calves are tough.

You are supposed to wash them first Ron! :lol:

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Angles and opportunity.

 

[NEFarmwife]

I am heading to a marketing summit the first part of April. One of the segments is livestock photography. It may be the most important information I bring back from it.

I find it entertaining that my peers and clients consider me a professional photographer and I can't take a good pic of a cow. You look at her and you think "You are the PURDIESSSSTT girl I've ever seen, stand pretty!" and you take the pic and realize she has 5 chins.

 

[Bright Raven]

Young calves are tough.

You are supposed to wash them first Ron! :lol:

Well you obviously are not looking too close. That last calf is not the Broadway heifer. That was suppose to be 4 pictures of the same calf showing how tense she was. However, the October Cowboy Cut at the bottom is tense too. And in live viewing she is better that than picture.

 

[gizmom]

She looks good Ron but at least I rinsed mine off lol. It takes some one with a ton of patience and the gift for getting really great livestock photos. I don't have either, and the boss hates any part of it so I think the cattle feel the stress and frustration, I know I do.

Gizmom

 

[Redgully]

Does anyone find taking a photo opens your eyes to what the animal really looks like similar to what NEFarmwife stated. We are so used to judging cattle by photography for semen and embryos. All said and done 2d just isn't the same as 3d.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I am set up to take pictures Wednesday. No - they are NOT washed. Ain't happening. HATE this job. Cattle are going in a sale in May. Snow still on the ground. errrrrrrrr

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

NE - PLEASE give us any tips you find out

 

[NEFarmwife]

NE - PLEASE give us any tips you find out

I sure will! This is going to be a really great learning experience and I'm dragging my husband along because I felt that we both could learn a lot from it. Takes a team!

 

[JMJ Farms]

Here's a tip. "WE" tend to like to use our cellphones bc of convenience. Not good enough unless you get lucky. My sister, who's not a professional photographer but is dang good, takes a lot of pictures. Uses a pretty good digital camera but nothing fancy. She is always "snap,snap,snapping" or either using what ever you call the rapid fire thingamujig. She will take 1000+ photos and only be happy with a dozen or so. I try to take 4 or 5 and get by. But that usually don't work.

 

[holm25]

She's sharp. And to answer a question I saw on Facebook I think that if she were bred right she could make some nice clubs calves. I think she'd click with Gold Standard. Worth taking a look at

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

BTW - yes the cow is AWESOME!!

 

[CattleMan1920]

You all need to get yourself a DJI Osmo Pocket.

It has a gimbal for stabilization

You can shoot in 4K at 60 FPS, then either have the video or isolate the perfect shot.

Stop trying to "snap" that perfect shot, Film the video then go back and snip the shot you want.

Look at my latest SAV President post. That's how I got that pose from him, not by waiting for him to do it. I shot 7 minutes of video to get that, then edited it down.

The two best pieces of camera equipment in my opinion are the DJI Osmo pocket and the GoPro Hero 7 black. You can be a pro if you learn both well. I'm a newbie with them, but practice a lot.

 

[Nesikep]

The other problem you have right there is the sun is in the wrong place.. (no shadows) it is alot harder than people think, especially in a big pen.. patience, she is pretty darn good, you may have to take a couple... of dozen pics..

couple dozen? you're a lot better than I am in that case!

I find some animals just pose well naturally, Others just never do.. My current bull, I've got lots of good pics of him.. my last one.. nope, not a chance except for when he was really young I fluked one

 

[CattleMan1920]

The other problem you have right there is the sun is in the wrong place.. (no shadows) it is alot harder than people think, especially in a big pen.. patience, she is pretty darn good, you may have to take a couple... of dozen pics..

couple dozen? you're a lot better than I am in that case!

I find some animals just pose well naturally, Others just never do.. My current bull, I've got lots of good pics of him.. my last one.. nope, not a chance except for when he was really young I fluked one

Lens filters will fix all the shadows, you can actually shoot on cloudy days and not have any issues with filters