A Precious Brown Swiss :: Vermont Cattle Photographer

Although I couldn’t get her to fetch or sit pretty, Fitzs Tangelo Precious 2E EX92 EX94 MS, or Precious for short, did offer some striking poses to show off her superior bone structure, dairyness, and mammary system. A veteran of the show ring, Precious was most recently awarded the 2010 Reserve Grand Champion at the Vermont State Brown Swiss Title Show.

I’ve been involved with the dairy industry for around 8 years, starting in college when I switched my animal science concentration from pre-vet to dairy management. I pretty much knew from the start that I didn’t want to be a vet, but I didn’t know what else I could do with animals that would need a college degree. So, after spending a semester in northern NY for an advanced dairy management program, traveling to California to visit dairies, competing in Pennsylvania, getting an inside look at how agricultural lending works in NYC, and working as a milk tester, I decided to become a photographer. Makes sense, right?

Anyway, photographing companion animals is mostly about capturing expression. Photographing livestock requires the same split second timing, but you are trying to make the animal look their very best. They need to be supermodels. Photographing two cows at the Fitzgerald Farm in Colchester, where I’d tested milk for several years, was the first time that I’ve taken on this task. I’d studied up on cattle judging and looked at hundreds of images before going to the shoot, but there is still a lot to be said for experience. To be honest, I’m only showing Precious here as I could not do as good of a job with Kanta. I absolutely loved the challenge, which forced me to think about every tiny detail all at once.

Want to know a few little tricks that were used that gorgeous day in June? First, to get a show cow, who has seen and done it all, to prick her ears and look slightly interested you have to blow a giant raspberry at her. A lot. Jumping up and down like the ground is on fire helps a little, too. The lighting in these images is mostly natural, although a small pop of flash fired through a large umbrella pointed towards the udder provided some fill. Precious is a milk cow and her udder is one of her best features, so I needed to highlight it appropriately. The only Photoshop trick I used was to remove the trailing lead rope attached to her halter. No matter how tempting it is to absolutely perfect Precious, I won’t alter her beyond what I can do with light and composition.

Here are a few numbers that will be impressive, regardless of your prior dairy knowledge. At the time she was photographed Precious’ lifetime production weighed in at 77,549 pounds of milk, 3,422 pounds of butterfat, and 2,663 pounds of protein. That’s over 9,017 gallons of milk in the four years that she’s been milking! Brown Swiss are regarded highly for their rich milk and hers has almost certainly been turned into some great ice cream, cheese, and butter. Another reason that she is highly prized in her herd is the fact that she produces very clean milk. She has had a relatively low incidence of infection in her udder, which helps maintain milk quality and her physical appearance.

I am still actively building my livestock portfolio. If you have show or breeding animals that you’d like me to photograph, please contact me! I am unaware of anyone else in Vermont who does this kind of work and I’d like to be able to serve this market with the highest level of imagery. As with all of my work, satisfaction is guaranteed.

Peace and Ruminations,

~Kelly