Curious Cows

[ScoutR]

I'm not sure what breed these guys are but for cows (steers actually) they were very curious and friendly. When they saw me they all came over to the fence making it very difficult to get the pastoral shot that I wanted, so I took some close ups instead.
All taken with Nikon D3000 & 18-200mm lens

#1 I've been spotted: 1/2000s: f5.6: ISO 800: 135mm


#2 The Staredown: 1/1000s: f5.6: ISO 800: 200mm


#3 Angled Portrait: 1/400s: f4: ISO 400: 31mm:


#4 #234 Close Up: 1/250s: f5.6: ISO 400: 200mm


#5 1/500s: f5.6: ISO 400: 200mm


C&C welcome as always
Wendy

[David]

Hi Wendy - I suppose there is some subtle reason that has passed me by as to why the last image appears upside down?

Otherwise, you've done a good job of making these beasties interesting. #3 is a cracker.

Cheers

David

[Radu Dinu Cordeanu]

Hi,
I like the third, but below You see the first

Radu Dinu

[Pete W]

Hi Wendy,

3 and 4 are great, particularly 4...those ID tags are a pain, tend to draw the eye...can you photoshop them out? Beyond me at the moment.
My friend "charms" cows by playing harmonica (he's very good)...they seem drawn to the music, he lives in Ireland, anything is possible in that lovely country..

Pete

[ScoutR]

Hi,
I like the third, but below You see the first
Radu Dinu

Agree, and I think I can do it. Thanks Radu

Wendy

[ScoutR]

Hi Wendy,

3 and 4 are great, particularly 4...those ID tags are a pain, tend to draw the eye...can you photoshop them out? Beyond me at the moment.
My friend "charms" cows by playing harmonica (he's very good)...they seem drawn to the music, he lives in Ireland, anything is possible in that lovely country..

Pete

Thanks Peter, I know what you mean about the ID tags, but actually I'm a bit warped and I want them to draw the eye. I don't think the animal appreciates them either.

Your friend could have a good future ahead of him. I just saw a news item that said studies have shown that cows listening to music produce more milk. I'm sure live music would be much prefered by the cows.

Wendy

[ScoutR]

Hi Wendy - I suppose there is some subtle reason that has passed me by as to why the last image appears upside down?

Otherwise, you've done a good job of making these beasties interesting. #3 is a cracker.

Cheers

David

Thank you David: I will have to give Colin credit for #3. I learned this technique in the Portrait Tutorials. Thank you Colin. It works with animals too.

Wendy

[carregwen]

These are a couple of bovine beauties! Good composition. I think #4 has some merit too.

[carregwen]

Wendy

I think #5 looks good in BW. It also needs sharpening quite a bit. Did you sharpen it?

[ScoutR]

Wendy

I think #5 looks good in BW. It also needs sharpening quite a bit. Did you sharpen it?

I think you are right, it does look good in B&W. You have a good eye, I purposely wanted a soft look for this one and reduced Clarity in LR. (you know how vain these animals are, they don't want every little detail showing.) I did try to bring out the eyes a bit in Elements though.

I like your version too, but it's starting to look a little crispy on my screen, their hair is not that coarse and wiry, but it is a different effect.

Wendy

[carregwen]

I like your version too, but it's starting to look a little crispy on my screen, their hair is not that coarse and wiry, but it is a different effect.

Wendy

I probably sharpened it too much as I was working on a low-res copy. Worth working on, I think, if you have the RAW.

[ScoutR]

Here is my attempt. Except for the muzzle (DOF issue), how does this look?
Do you have a tint on yours?



Or this


I think I like the second one better - darker and a warming tint applied

Wendy

[Wirefox]

Wendy

2 and 3 are really nice compositions. I like the toning in No 4 but I am not sure about the flipping.

Here is my attempt. Except for the muzzle (DOF issue), how does this look?

Spot on Wendy. I like this first one better than Rob's version. The fur is a better texture.

Good work

Steve

[ScoutR]

Thanks Steve & Welcome back ( You were gone for a bit weren't you?) It helps to have the RAW file to work on.

Now, regarding #5, If anyone was going to get this I figured it would be you, but you don't get it either so it's obviously just me and I will have to explain.

As I was editing this one and playing around with colour and saturation, I ended up with this reddish colour, and started thinking, blood - slaughterhouse....but it still just looked like a reddish brown cow with it's tongue hanging out, so I tried flipping it and was thinking maybe slaughterhouse floor ( sorry, I know it's macabre) and that's what the shot was supposed to symbolize. Guess it didn't work except in my mind.

Here is the original closer to the natural colours and right side up and cloned out the tongue.


Wendy