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More Buffalo Tales


scott_fleming1

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It's some sort of sin I think to call them Buffalo these days but in

our hearts we all think of them as such. My benefactor (as regards

the N. American Bison I'm pointing cameras at these days) calls them

Tatanka. Indian word. Haven't asked him which tribe but I suspect

Sioux since Sitting Bull's real name was Tatanka Yotanka.

 

I've burned up 8 or 10 rolls on the beasts so far. 645 and 35mm.

My 'spotter' (the perfesser) is out of town and it's my job to dole

out their 'treats' each eve so I'm not taking any chances while

photographing. I'm just 'the straight up skinny one' (that's skinny

by THEIR standard) who emptys bags now and they take me for granted.

My concern is to get out of the way fast enough to not get stommped

or umphed out of the way. It's already come to my having to talk

tough and point fingers to keep them back. It works ... for a

couple secs.

 

I'll get to the photography part .... real soon.

 

Soon's I dole out the goodies I put my truck between me and them and

look for photo ops. Nobody bothers me and all go about their

business except for 'Ole Cow'. Ole Cow used to be the big cheese

other than the bull (Lucifer) but then he really just picks up the

rear and leaves the decisions to the wimen. But she is now number 2

cow as a younger bigger animal has supplanted her just this year.

This has left Ole Cow with a burr under her tail.

 

I've gotta get a film scanner so I can show you these animals. Ole

Cow had an accident when she was a young cow ... actually a calf ...

and one of her horns turns down ... and one goes up naturally. She

is also bug eyed. It's hillarious sometimes. If you make a face at

her or take two steps in her direction her eyes jump out of their

sockets. I mean the white area increases like somebody dialed the

shutter from f8 to f1.8. Shortly afer her eyes bug her tail goes up

and then she either backs up or charges. Your pick. There is no way

to tell.

 

Well OC has decided to kill me. I'm sure of it. To her I am

obviously the most inferior creature outside of a couple of the

smaller calves ... but they are of her species and I am an alien.

She stalks me. She is first on the corn that we give them and but

for her love of the stuff she would get me when I first pour out the

fifty pound bag into the eight or ten piles that are customary. I

have to make sure just where she is while I pour out the alfalfa

cubes for the lesser animals who are not allowed corn by the higher

ups. Hopefully her desire to get me will not outweigh her

gluttony. As soon as the food is gone she's on my case. She also

desires to flabergast my photographic efforts.

 

I don't shoot them while they eat. Boring. When they are pretty

much finished they stand around or head for one of the ponds and I

get lots of opportunities. Most of the time I'm trying to get the

bull. He is just so impressive. I really want to 'capture' him.

Well guess who steps between me and him about 95% of the time? Good

guess. The ole bad attitude bovinea is either a camera hog or is

protecting the father of her children from my 'gun'. Or she just

wants to mess with me. Not sure.

 

But I get in my licks. I simply have to go after them with the LF

camera. Not for a while but I MUST do it. The Perfesser has told

me stories of seeing them in the winter mornings with frost on their

backs and their breath in the rising sun. Nice to have a goal.

Kinda helps keep the photo-juices percolating. (I hope I'm not

getting distracted from my landscape work.) I'm shopping for a

binocular viewer and calibrating my lenses so I can dial in the

focus without looking. If I can somehow manage to clean out most of

the junk from the back of my truck I'll just shoot from there. They

don't mind the vehicle. In fact they stick much closer when I use it

instead of getting on the ground.

 

They have many interesting behavious that I would like to get on

film. Lots of interaction. One could almost make a career out of

this.

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Great stuff Scott. I'm old school too; always calling them buffalo. Truly one of the most impressive creatures on the planet. I like the perfesser's idea. Wait until cold weather sits in then get out there on crisp morning. Its a truly wonderful site; the frost on the thick manes, huge clouds of frosty breath--now ya got me dyin' to see it once more.
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Funny story. I'd be interested in updates.

 

I think you should get a crown Graphic or Busch Pressman and practice and then do the buffalo. After all that is what these cameras were made to do. The sports finder would be best. I'm old enough to say that I used Graphics hand held for my first several years in the business. Actually nobody used them on a tripod. It will not be long before you are comfortable with a Graphic. They are just as fast as a medium format SLR. A Graphmatic holder would speed up the shooting and the sports finder would allow you keep an eye out for OC while composing.

 

I'm looking forward to the next installment of this story.

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Hello Scott,

 

Should you not know, the mating time for the buffalo is the Running Season. (July � just around the corner) Legend has it that any warrior foolish enough to hunt the Holy Man�s creature during this time runs a grave risk. Should the buffalo take him at this time, the Great Spirit will condemn his spirit to roam with the buffalo herd for the rest of entirety.

 

I trust that you carrying an abundance of film with you should you be taken. <grin>

 

Kind Regards,

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Scott,

 

I agree with Wayne. I recommended a press camera on your last posting, but will go as far as to say it's the only safe way to do this work after hearing about Old Cow. Using the sports finder on a press camera allows you to keep both eyes open and moving at all times. That's why they're called sports finders. You could watch the guy trying to steal home while photographing the right fielder trying to catch that game deciding ball. If you were good you got both shots. There is no better way to keep tabs on what's happening around you than with a press camera. One with a calibrated range finder will guarantee your shots are tack sharp with a fast lens.

 

I'm sure if you asked you would find someone on the forum with one for a reasonable price, that's calibrated and in good working order. If you use one once in this type of photography you'll be hooked. Remember, no tripod, no ground glass. Just you, the herd, the light and the film. The camera melts away.

 

Please be careful. I don't want your next posting to be in the Darwin Awards. ... Man with big old camera and large black cloth in the middle of a buffalo heard .... bends over .... covers head and camera with cloth ..... umph Hmmm

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