Sunday 2 September 2018

Undercover sheep

The Bentham Show is a bit different to most agricultural shows in that apart from the vintage tractor and vehicles and some trade stands most of it is held inside the auction mart.The downside from a photographic viewpoint is that means the light levels are lowish. The upside is that harsh lighting isn't much of a problem. In fact it can make for for visually appealing pictures when the sunlight streams through the slatted walls of the mart or through the skylights.

As has become my habit I arrived in good time to see the sheep being unloaded. Unfortunately there wasn't much opportunity to get any decent photos. So I wandered around the mart itself before it got busy. This allowed me to take some pictures which make a nice comparison to the more modern marts I've already photographed. Also a bit different to how it would look on market day.



With the sheep judging taking place in the aisles between the mart pens it was even more difficult to get an angle on proceedings than at an outdoor show. However, the Rough Fell sheep were being judged on the outside edge of the pens, so I spent some time there taking the same sort of pictures I've made elsewhere. Except of Rough Fell sheep!



Although I shy away from taking random shots of the onlookers at these shows sometimes I relent when their expression seems to say something about what's going on.


In the spirit of relieving the repetition I try odd compositions. Which I'm not sure always come off.


Then there are attempts at catching small incidents. Which also usually fail.


One intention I'd had for the day was to take more close ups of sheep's eyes. The light levels and the shyness of the sheep pretty much put paid to that. I was hoping to get side on shots to maintain a visual continuity, but the only one which I liked was a frontal view of a Teeswater.


When the sun shone on a pen of Blue Faced Leicesters I spent some time trying to get a shot of them making shapes which pleased my eye. One frame almost got there before the sheep got fed up of looking at me. It was a tricky scene to photograph, but thanks to the wonders of technology the camera exposed well, and the slightly overexposed highlights were easy to recover on the computer. Older digital tech and film (at least in my technically inept hands) would have struggled with such a contrasty scene.


With the judging over I was able to get closer to some sheep to try for a portrait or two. This moody looking Lonk for instance.


Much as I enjoy attending shows and watching photographing the goings on I'm thinking that I need to get some plan behind what I'm doing. Or maybe start something new. I'll have a rethink when show season is over. The inevitable gallery can be seen here.


No comments: