Late as always! I’ve actually been pretty absent from the blog and my Twitter account here of late to finish up a few assignments. I’ll have another Field Lighting, if not two, up this week to make up for last week.

In the meantime, I have uploaded the free March desktop calendar for your downloading pleasure. It’s that time of year again in Texas, when livestock, particularly cattle, begin to calve out. Growing up on a ranch, I never really noticed how interesting cattle look from straight on when bearing young. You just get the feeling like they’re ready to give birth by this time!

That’s right! As most of the nation noticed over the past month, the weather has been seemingly harder on many states, what with all the blizzards and such. Texas is no different, and this Winter is shaping up to be one for the books. I spent a few days on Meadows Ranch, my family’s ranch where I grew up, over the holiday season, and winter was in full force. A couple days after Christmas, it snowed all afternoon, and I found myself driving around the ranch photographing the cattle with the flakes afallin’. It was actually pretty nice to photograph the livestock in this situation, even if it meant sloshing around a little in the ice/mud.

You never know who may need these types of shots, and if anything, it gave me a chance to test out the new Canon 7D. I’ll try to have a working review up later on the camera, as well as the Elinchrom Ranger Quadras, my new favorite lighting rig.

In any case, Winter always offers some nice photographic opportunities, especially in telling large stories, where seasonal processes need to be documented in more detail (just like putting out hay for cattle and other livestock because of the lack of sustainable grass supply during the cold months). I say this as though I’m lecturing about common agricultural practices, but more and more I realize folks are interested in this type of information, especially if it seems foreign to them. I wouldn’t say I’m an agriculturalist by any means, but I did grow up in it, and I’m always happy to provide my two cents if it’s asked. Before thinking about college, I desperately wanted to be a veterinarian. I found a different calling, but I do have a cousin bound in that direction, so if you have any questions about treatment of your cattle or goats for any ailments, I’ll forward them on, ha!

More to come!