April 19, 2008 – Cows have become one of my photographic sub-specialties, along with farmscapes, raindrops, moss, pansies and animal portraits. Cows are curious and generally friendly. They associate people with food, and are not so-bright that they can quickly tell the difference between a farmer and a stranger with a camera. Usually you have about five seconds between the time they start checking me out and the time they return to food or their other basic activity – contemplating the world.
  They are by far the most mediative creatures I know, and they generally live in mud, wet and manure, and have short lives that end badly. They are the most content of the animals I know, the most placid, yet they do form powerful attachments to one another, and, sometimes, to people who are gentle with them. I always use the same lens when shooting a cow in a field – the 16-35 mm because it is fast, easy with most available light, and sharp.
  I get set, adjust the settings and yell “yo” to the cows, who look at me for about five seconds, and then ignore me. Sometimes they will come over to check me out. But they are always upon this hill near my farm, and I can usually get a shot of them up on the hill with the light behind me and on them. I love their spare and unchanging lives and patterns, and I love the way they always, always, check me out.