click photo to enlargeI'd like to have marked this, the 500th PhotoReflect post, with a stunning image of an interesting subject portrayed in high-impact colour, with an innovative composition - a shot that makes people go, "Wow!" But I've run out of those, so here's a photograph of some cows instead!
I've always felt that if cows liked music then Friesians would be into strong commercial pop - Blondie, the Petshop Boys and the like; that Jerseys and Guernseys would prefer ballads by Shirley Bassey or Dean Martin; and Highland cattle (like those in today's offering) would be fans of early heavy metal. I can just picture the shaggy beasts, heads down, locks swaying, a trance-like look in their fringe-covered eyes, as they get into the groove of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" or Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love".
Is it coincidence that cattle bred in the Highlands and Islands of western Scotland should have handle-bar horns, long ginger hair and prefer the thundering drums and wailing guitars of rock to the fiddles and accordions of Scottish folk music? Probably not. It's said that dogs and their masters grow to look alike, so why shouldn't a land settled by the Vikings and with more than a hint of ginger in the hair of its population produce red-headed cattle with big horns? It seems perfectly natural to me! What isn't so natural, however, is that I should find these cattle that were bred for the rugged land and cold, wet climate of Scotland on the flat Lincolnshire Fens. But there they were, late in the afternoon, by the River Welland near Surfleet Seas End, and very willing to strike a pose for me. Perhaps beneath my photographer persona they detected a kindred spirit with a partiality for loud electric music!
photograph & text (c) T. Boughen
Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 128mm (256mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/320
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
