I give up

It was a tough call where to go yesterday with two auctions and a sheepdog trial to consider. I plumped for the livestock auction of rare breeds - mostly sheep. This proved to be interesting from a seeing unusual breeds point of view, but depressing photographically. Maybe it was a lack of 'action', my mood, or possibly a realisation that there I can't find a way to photograph auctions which isn't the same as the way everyone else does it. Perhaps that's because I've seen too many pictures of auctions? Spending more time might lead me to seeing more unusual stuff. There's always something that catches my eye, even if it doesn't say 'auction'.

Closing in on details like lot number tags could be the way forward. That brings technical challenges of selecting the right lens to use in the inevitably gloomy light.

Close ups of 'characters' is a trope of this sort of event. I try to include them as elements of a bigger scene. My ideal is people and animals in the same frame doing interesting stuff, or making interesting shapes, which add up to a picture which works. Mostly I either fail or mess up.

Every now and then I get an idea with some promise. And as usual fail to make it work.

Because I couldn't get in the groove I left early and took a circuitous route home. Along the way I spotted a roadside hogg hole to add to the slowly growing collection.

I stopped at a couple of places for a wander and found something interesting at one of my stop-off points. The pictures didn't work out any better than those I took of sheep on the hills. After taking a hasty right turn on seeing a Welcome to Yorkshire sign ahead I found myself passing the very sight I thought had died out. Moles strung out on barbed wire. A few not so good shots had to be made.

So that was it. Back home to delete most of the photos I'd taken as the end to a rather dispiriting day following an evening of enthusiasm planning the auction mart project.

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