If I was an Austrian cow I think I would go a little bit crazy. Sure, you have a nice view and a bit of grass – life is pretty good. However, you also have to wear a bell around your neck and these things are pretty loud and annoying when you are stood right next to them, let alone when you need to carry them 24-7.
Walk a bit – ring ding ding.
Chew a bit of grass – ring ding ding.
Turn my head – ring ding ding.
Sit perfectly still – is that silence? Nope, there’s the ring ding ding of Magdalena’s bell – forgot I was in a herd.
A herd of such cows in one particular field looked a little docile, so I got as close as I could to them and let natural curiosity take over. The cows came closer and closer to me, so in the end I was laying on the floor trying to get a decent angle while one cow sniffed at my lens and licked my boots.
A second cow attempted to sneak up on me. Everytime I looked away from it the large bovine would take a few steps towards me, and then comically stop every time I looked back at it. Here’s a clue Florian – you can’t sneak up on a dude when you’re wearing a bell!
Also not sure why I’m giving names to them.
This image was tonemapped from one exposure due to the fact cows like to mooove move a lot and the other brackets would never have lined up with this one. Personally I really like the drop of saliva you can see, just about ready to drop over my lens and boots.
ETA
Here are a few images take by John while I was grabbing this shot.
Here’s me taking the above shot:
Here’s the one cow licking my boots, and the other (Florian) attempting to sneak up on me.
Finally, here is the cow getting curious about the camera.
- Aperture: ƒ/6.3
- Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
- Focal length: 32mm
- ISO: 1600
- Shutter speed: 1/13s
Outstanding in your field, Murph.
Snigger.
Oh yes, very good.
This is great! Love the first image and agree that the saliva adds a really nice touch to already cool image! The behind the scenes images are really cool, too, confirming your interactions with the curious animals! Great post!
Thanks Jim…I’ve enjoyed getting a little closer to animals during my Austria and Iceland trips; it’s great to shoot a new and moving subject π
now that’s in your face, cow-wise! π Great shot that immediately brought a smile to our faces!
Thanks very much, I was giggling away while taking the shot, especially when the cows came in for a real close look.