Not many people can say their photograph of a bull is on display in a high end restaurant in China.
But, it's among the string of accolades that Allison McCabe has achieved since teaching herself to photograph her family's Charolais cattle.
"A highlight image was an Acacia Angus bull photo taken a couple of years ago found its way to China where he displayed it in a high end restaurant," Allison said.
The Toowoomba-based photographer landed her first Canon 1000D camera and twin lens kit whilst studying a diploma of agriculture at TAFE. With her winnings from a student of the year award she bought her first proper camera.
With a passion and love for the livestock industry, naturally Allison was attracted to photographing her family's sale bulls, incidentally leading to capturing show cattle and then other clients.
She is regularly commissioned to photograph sale offerings of Wattle Grove Speckle Park, Oberon, where may different methods are used to get ears forward, creating plenty of laughter.
Having someone to get ears forward are among the six top tips that Allison believes in. Practice is important so too is talking to the animal and having patience to take your time.
"Relax, if you are tense your animal will feel that energy and will not stand up," she said.
"Talk to your animal and walk your animal into its stance but slow down as their feet are getting into position."
Allison stands by the saying that a picture paints a thousand words and a true honest photo of livestock shouldn't need editing.
"If producers have good factual images of their livestock it has the potential to increase sales," she said.
"Not only do the cattle look good for the catalogue, but for online purposes as well for people who can not attend the sale. If their photos are not ideal it could influence people not to attend the sale or inquire.
"I really love working in this industry there really isn't anything more rewarding then getting that perfect shot and I hope to be apart of this industry for a long time."
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
