Behind the Bull Scenes…
We are getting into the swing of bull sale season here at the moment. As we have a Brangus stud, we usually prepare a few select bulls to take to a breed sale in Rockhampton each year.
One of my major tasks (besides all the stud and measures paperwork) is to take photos of the bulls.
Now you might think ‘Oh, that should be EASY for her. After all, she takes photos ALL the time, and she is around cattle so much. Easy, peasy!’
Yeah. No.
Bull sale photos are VERY particular. Feet in certain positions. Head in certain position. Probably boring to the average Joe (or Joanne) but vital for us beef-breedin’ types.
And bulls (especially when they are not led and ‘positionable’) tend to be ornary creatures. I suspect it’s all that testosterone. (Girls, tried getting the blokes in your life to pose lately? I rest my case.)
Let me show you a few variations on ‘I don’t feel like standing JUST SO today’…
First of all, the hunger and a photobombing horse get in on the act…
They seem loathe to leave their tucker… even when Cal POLITELY points out the general direction we need them to stand…
Mr Incredible even ‘walked that way’ to give them the idea…
They finally follow the hints, but walking and STOPPING in the right spot are two different things!
Nice one. Shame about the ear covering the eye and the photobombing ute in the background (can’t blame anyone but me there.)
This guy is quite sure this is his best angle. I got to see quite a bit of it (you think he’d wipe before a photoshoot, wouldn’t you?)
And this guy?
He’s got a very cute profile and he knows it. If he had opposable thumbs and a smartphone, he’d be using this as his ‘selfie’ for sure!
Bulls, like young humans of the same relative developmental age, have quite short attention spans.
Pose… then…
FIGHT!! Even the waving stick and the purposeful boots in the background didn’t convince them to let up straight away…
Eyeballing each other UP CLOSE.
Which is fun for blogging pics, but not really what I needed for SERIOUS bull photos.
I did manage to get a couple of usable shots from the afternoon… I wore out the patience of one husband and one jackaroo in the meantime though!
Here is how it was SUPPOSED to look:
Our Hamburg(lar). FINALLY posing up a storm. (It lasted about 3 seconds, I reckon).
So there you go. Behind the scenes at a Big Bull Photo Shoot. Don’t say I don’t bring you variety here!
🙂
Vale Lacey
14 Comments
Thea
Ha! I feel your pain!! I am in my second year as one of the two parents taking photos of our school cattle…. And they are tame with haters and lead ropes!! It is an art… Maybe that should be my new business line…. Cattle photographer!! Lol.
sarah
Loved it. Thank you for sharing . Shiny good looking bulls . All the best for the sale.
Alice Greenup
Loved that. Rick is taking shots tomorrow with Kent, depending on the temperament and ability to stand still Kent names some of the bull rather creatively.
Jayne
Beautiful boys!
Jayne´s last blog post ..August 16 All over Aussie History
debby
Interesting post. Who knew that you didn’t just walk out, snap a picture and put it in the brochures. As soon as you said that they needed to stand in a specific pose, I could picture in my head how it had to be. I never made the connection that all those pictures are the same. And yes. It would be very hard to make a great big bull stand ‘just so’. PS: the picture of Cal made me laugh!
debby´s last blog post ..School days.
KAddy
Fine looking creatures – nice n tight in all the right places 😉
Kelly
Very interesting!! While the day might have seemed a waste for your true purposes, it sure provided great blogging fodder. 🙂 Wonderful running commentary.
Kelly´s last blog post ..Nancy
Bill
Sometimes the young guys gotta strut a little. They are sure that it makes them look cool.
Nancy in Iowa
They are gorgeous beasts! I’ve learned a lot from your blog – you have completely disabused me of my image of the big, scary bull. I probably got that idea from animated cartoons and my one experience (as a stupid college kid) venturing into a field for a picnic and being rousted by a Brahma bull and his “ladies”.
Anne
Soo hard, if only they would listen and stand where and how they were told. I know sometimes I was able to fluke shots like that of cattle but actually needing them makes it a whole different story. Good luck with that.
Anne´s last blog post ..How To Park Your Ship
Trudy
One things for sure the light was with you, I love how the sun is picking up their features. Black cattle are hard to photograph I think you’ve done a great job!
Colin Huggins
Well “boys will be boys” and they sure are a handsome lot of bovines. Hopefully besides displaying their strengths and physical attitudes, they will bring in plenty of loot. Modesty seems immaterial to the bovine males, thankfully up in your neck of the woods you are not required to put nappies on the young studs! With the Brisbane City Council now going “stark raving mad”, you would be possibly fined – indecent exposure. Wait until you get my “toaster” report as sent in an e-mail today! I am still in a state of shock and bewilderment. Bureaucracy gone mad. I am sure you have a
“toaster” – what would we do without our toast in the mornings?
Margie from New York
This is probably a dumb question. Do these bulls have horns or does Mr. Incredible dehorn them?
BB of Oz
Not at all Margie – great question!! These bulls are all what is known as ‘polled’ animals – they are bred to NOT have horns. The majority of our herd is polled and we are aiming to have 100% polled.
🙂