Evening Cow
The sunset cow; it’s sometimes hard to resist this shot. There are a few things I typically do not like in my images, and cows are among them. I like cows as critters, they’re a way of life where I’m from. But with so many around, it is often impossible to shoot the scenes I want unless I also want to portray livestock in a decent percentage of my photos. However, because of my recent ‘Evening Bull‘ post, I thought I should give the old fellow some company.
***UPDATE - I decided to apply the premise of “company” between the two cow images in a more literal fashion. I’m not a composite artist, though I appreciate them. For fun on this I decided to layer the two images from Evening Bull and Evening Cow and drop the top layer to 50% opacity. I did this not from an artistic approach, but from one of technical curiosity…and what I found was pretty neat. Below I’ve included a link to Evening Bull, as well as the composite (1000px). Notice how the two skylines compliment each other, framing the cow from the opposing image perfectly in both cases. Also, the skyline from one dips and dives repeatedly to meet the other on the left side of the image. It’s just amazing to me how the lines match up so well, especially with the framing of the cows. I’m not really sure what it means from a technical standpoint; I guess I’m just consistent with my cow-scapes…
This is one of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen. I love the sense of solitude that’s portrayed here. Absolutely amazing!
And I sent you a reply about the 360 panoramas, please let me know if you didn’t get it.
[...] recently produced a composite with this image and another similar photo and was rather surprised by what I found. I don’t usually do composite image work, but this one originated from the technical side and [...]
Thank you, Cambria. I enjoy the solitude of wandering around looking for that next shot as much as I do taking it. I received the info on the 360 bit also, thank you for the tip on that!
Thanks Cody for your comments. Yes, you’re exactly right about shooting ‘busy’ landscapes (orchard), it’s often difficult to compose the elements: stakes, patterns, gnarly branches. Just when you think you’ve found a composition, some wacky branch/post ends up in the middle of it all. I’ve tried to embrace some of its challenges.
There’s lots to explore at the this orchard, so when I get the chance to climb to a higher vantage point, I hope to capture more of the patterns the trees create in the distance (without obtrusive posts!)
Love the silhouette of the cow and the interesting way the scale of all the elements comes into play. I start to wonder, hmmm, I know those mountains are huge, but how big is that cow!
The tones of blue and gray really capture the feeling of that cold landscape. The other shot of the cow is equally interesting scale-wise. Thanks for showing your experiment, it’s something I’ve been thinking about trying myself. It’s amazing the things you learn about yourself in the process.
Hope all is going well with the transition to your new site. I look forward to visiting it.
Chester! That’s WAY up there, Diane. The highline is such a beautiful region, it’s another world from where I live. I’d like to get up there more, but it’s a 7-hour drive…I love how big this state is. I wish I knew more about your family’s homestead, it would be fun to post some pictures for you. I’m likely going to British Colombia at some point this summer so I’ll be headed through that neck of the woods. Now wouldn’t that just make this world a little smaller…
Thanks for your visit!
[...] across the scene, yet low enough to the horizon to warm things up a bit. Add this one to my cow-scapes…I might even have to create a new tag for as much. I only see 2, maybe 3 buildings in this [...]