Composite bull taken in Coffs Harbour
This ‘composite’ bull was a challenge to photograph and also needed some anatomical ‘Photoshopping’ before his final appearance on the AVJ front cover.
My excuse for this photographic trip was a reproductive veterinarians’ workshop in Coffs Harbour in NSW. While the others were checking out the specs of the mobile frozen semen facilities and learning how to count bull sperm, I wandered around the property looking for animals to photograph.
The so-called composite bulls were of the Brangus breed, which is 3/8 Brahman and 5/8 Angus. This red or black breed was developed in the 1950s and 60s to keep the best of both breeds.
It’s always tricky getting decent photos of black animals because they often end up as silhouettes or featureless black blobs because of the high contrast between them and the background. I was single-mindedly watching their ponderous walk and concentrating on trying to produce a good photo in spite of the bright light. I tried to crouch down to make them look even more impressive.
Suddenly, in one of those “Oh shit” moments, I looked up and saw five bulls standing in a semi-circle peering down at me. It didn’t take me long to realise that I was lying on my back in the grass, hiding behind my camera – and the only thing between me and the (admittedly friendly-looking) bulls was a single-strand electric fence.
I remember taking a deep breath and thinking to myself, “Don’t change your physiology.” Which, looking back on it, would have been a particularly silly final sentence! And also, “Keep breathing, get up very slowly and back away!”
A young bull was very interested in what I was up to in his paddock
The bulls immediately lost interest, but even so, I decided I would go somewhere else for a stroll. I didn’t even take a photo from that angle before I scarpered!
The one I chose for the October 2007 cover did need some Photoshopping to brighten up his coat, but also to remove his red protruding penis! In spite of the fact that I found him at a repro conference, it was deemed by the non-veterinary members of the team to be not quite suitable for a front cover photograph!
Techo stuff: I took this with my Canon EOS 300D: 1/200 sec at f/5.0, ISO 100, EF 70-200 lens @ 200mm.
