Honorable Mention / 2024 / Nature / Domestic Animals

• Photographer
  Steve Smith, United States
• Studio
  Steve Smith Photography Inc.

The Highland is a hardy breed of cattle originating in Scotland. Far from their origin, the shaggy bovines in these images are part of a “fold” foraging in the high desert of the Wood River Valley in central Idaho.

After spending many hours photographing these hairy beasts (“Heilan Coos” in Scotland), I became captivated by their docile nature and gentle curiosity. To my continued amazement, not one objected to a two-footed stranger with peculiar camera appendages mingling among them.

“Fuzzy Cows” to many, they reminded me of little woolly mammoths. I felt honored to be in their presence.