On the Move

I was at the state fair last fall when a friend came up behind me and squeezed my backpack.

"OK," she said. "I was just wondering if you really carry your camera all the time."

Yes, I have my camera most of the time. It's the reason I had to pay a "fine" at a PEO meeting in which the member with the heaviest purse forked over money by the pound to the treasury.

Portability and convenience are why I don't use a fancy camera. I want one that I can stuff into a pocket or where I can hang a small camera bag around my neck to keep it protected while I'm on the 4-wheeler.

But let's get real:  The faithful few who read my blog or see my photos on Facebook are getting the highlights. I usually don't share the outtakes ... like these that accidentally got clicked as we've moved cattle a few times this fall and winter.

This is straight out of the camera. I didn't turn it for illustration purposes.

You'd have thought I would have learned my lesson about trying to take photos on the 4-wheeler while moving cattle. I had to replace a camera last March when it bounced out of my hand during a cattle drive. (Evidently, I'm a slow learner.)

I am ambidextrous. I write left-handed, though my penmanship is better than most with my right hand (as long as I go fairly slowly). I eat right-handed. I shoot or throw a ball left-handed. I prefer using right-handed scissors. I am fortunate because I can use both hands fairly interchangeably. But let's face it: The world is designed for right-handed people. 

Most days, I don't even think about the fact that a camera is designed for right-handed use. But when you want to use your right hand to click a camera at the same time you're using the throttle on a 4-wheeler, it just doesn't work.

You try holding a camera (or your camera phone) and taking a photo with your left hand by clicking the button on the right-hand side of the camera. Go ahead: I'll wait. ... Not so easy, right?

Then think about doing it while trying to get cattle to move the direction you want, whipping the 4-wheeler around to chase those that don't want to cooperate.

That's why I got a few lovely photos like this:

 Hey! At least you can see the cattle in the very corner of this one.

With as dry as it's been, the action shots are a bit clouded by dust anyway.

But mission accomplished: One set of cows is at Peace Creek ready for calving.

And, last week, we did one of our final moves in preparation for calving, which starts for the heifers at the end of this month. I took a photo before we started moving the cows off stalks and into the calving pasture south of our house.

 

But I didn't get a single in-the-heat-of-the-moment shot. I had to snap one while waiting for the guys to lower the electric fence instead.

 

We moved these cows to a different section of stalks earlier this month:

But it will take another move to get them nearer to the barn and corrals before calving begins.

Will the camera stay in my pocket? Probably not.