How now Highland Cow?
Part of our (seemingly yearly) visit to the highland cows on Curbar Edge in the peak district.
Curbar Edge in itself is a stunningly beautiful spot for landscape photography, but it's also home to a herd of Highland Cows, who can often be found rummaging through the heather, making for particularly striking images when the heather is flowering.
Didn't get as good photos as i'd have liked - we only had enough change on us for an hour in the nearest carpark (we'd headed over on a whim after a walk around mam-tor), and it took us 20 minutes to find the cows (it's a very big open space they're within, with wooded areas), and on top of that when we did find the cows the good light left until we were heading back to the car again!
On top of that, the cows weren't in a particularly photogenic mood - much more concerned with eating the grass, so them actually looking at me for a nice photo was few and far between (eg like this one from a couple of years ago).
I was a bit more cautious this year too - they're currently in calf - one of the more dangerous times to be around them, and last year there was a spate of injuries and deaths from cow attacks, particularly within the peak district (julie thought one was at this spot, but i haven't managed to find a news article about it yet, was apparently caused by someone not keeping their dog under control around the calves and the cow charged :-s)
When we first arrived, the cows were quite visibly nervous about us stopping to look at them, and a little more twitchy than on previous visits - calling to their calves and staring at us, hence we kept well back. After a while of loitering they became much more relaxed so i got a bit closer for a photo (to the point just before we left one of the mothers walked right past me leaving me between herself and her calf - normally a position you'd avoid at all costs (particularly when there's horns involved!), but suggested she was comfortable with us being there - if anything they'd got so relaxed about us being there they were completely ignoring us, which made photos like this one even harder!)
How now Highland Cow?
Part of our (seemingly yearly) visit to the highland cows on Curbar Edge in the peak district.
Curbar Edge in itself is a stunningly beautiful spot for landscape photography, but it's also home to a herd of Highland Cows, who can often be found rummaging through the heather, making for particularly striking images when the heather is flowering.
Didn't get as good photos as i'd have liked - we only had enough change on us for an hour in the nearest carpark (we'd headed over on a whim after a walk around mam-tor), and it took us 20 minutes to find the cows (it's a very big open space they're within, with wooded areas), and on top of that when we did find the cows the good light left until we were heading back to the car again!
On top of that, the cows weren't in a particularly photogenic mood - much more concerned with eating the grass, so them actually looking at me for a nice photo was few and far between (eg like this one from a couple of years ago).
I was a bit more cautious this year too - they're currently in calf - one of the more dangerous times to be around them, and last year there was a spate of injuries and deaths from cow attacks, particularly within the peak district (julie thought one was at this spot, but i haven't managed to find a news article about it yet, was apparently caused by someone not keeping their dog under control around the calves and the cow charged :-s)
When we first arrived, the cows were quite visibly nervous about us stopping to look at them, and a little more twitchy than on previous visits - calling to their calves and staring at us, hence we kept well back. After a while of loitering they became much more relaxed so i got a bit closer for a photo (to the point just before we left one of the mothers walked right past me leaving me between herself and her calf - normally a position you'd avoid at all costs (particularly when there's horns involved!), but suggested she was comfortable with us being there - if anything they'd got so relaxed about us being there they were completely ignoring us, which made photos like this one even harder!)