I couldn’t resist these Highland cattle how cute are these! I just had to photograph them.
White Highland cattle calf
Well I guess this should be categorised as yet another bike ride picture….but you are bored of them by now right? I was out riding my bike and I saw these amazing Highland cows on a farm. I knew that I had to go back and photograph them
TECHNIQUE
Highland Cow
I went back the following day, shooting through an electric fence with low angle view with some fill-in flash. I held the camera really low down, shooting with a Nikkor 16-35 set between 16mm and 24mm. I found out that 16mm was a bit too wide. I couldn’t actually see through the viewfinder when I took them. I placed the camera down on the grass and used my experience or luck to try and visualise what the camera was seeing. Of course I checked them on the rear screen, digital is so good like that.
Two varieties of Highland cattle one red the other white
I set the Nikon AF to AF 51 on AF-C mode, this ensure that the camera will focus on the first thing it sees in the viewfinder…whether that is a cow or a blade of grass hopefully it would be the cow’s nose…It worked fantastically well. On some it focussed on a blade of grass in the foreground and they were quickly deleted but overall it worked brilliantly.
I also used some fill-inflash again a really simple set up just stick it on the camera set to TTL and turn the power down to minus 2 stops. This just fills in the shadows and helps to balance the foreground and background. It’s a technique I have come back to many time since but I still love these
Highland cow with her cute calf
I could have stayed all day and just photographed these proud highland cattle and their beautiful calves.
