Home On The Range

This was one funny moment. Let me ‘splain myself…

The hubs and I took an afternoon to go out shooting. We decided to trek up into Sierraville and Sattley, two small towns in the Sierra Nevada mountains near where we live. I love that whole area; with its big, epic valleys and sweeping views. It’s mostly cattle and working ranch country… and I love photographing the old barns out there.

As we rolled down the road to a site we wanted to photograph, this long herd of cattle strolled along the fence lining the road. They were lovely ladies, one and all… and marched along with great purpose, single file. Clearly, they were on a mission… and it needed to be photographed! So, we drove a little ahead of them, pulled over and grabbed our cameras and long lenses.

But they had only one thing in mind… and that was to git wherever they were gittin’! Still… I wanted some face time with the girls. So I started singing the first “movie moment” song that popped into my head: “Home on the Range”. Yes, I sang to a herd of cows. But hey, look what it did!

I’ve always noticed that a little loving crooning goes a loooooong way with the animal kingdom. I used to sing to my own horses… a couple of the ones I trained for clients even liked it when I danced a little. I always giggle at the look on their faces when they first hear and grok it… it’s alot like what you see in this photo. A combination of confusion, astonishment, questioning and sheer disbelief. hahahaha! I can almost always count on at least one photo-worthy moment when I break out into song.
NOTE: usually the lower, more Sinatra-esque approach works best.

Right after this… their eyes bugged out even more and they bolted – running like hell to wherever they were going.

They didn’t even bother to leave anything in the tip jar! hahaha.