Sheep etc.

[Ed Sutton]

Another mostly wasted journey today. The plan was to go and get a photograph or two of a house with Lonk connections. Knowlmere Manor, built in 1805 for Jonathan Peel, barrister and breeder of prize winning Lonks, including the famous-in-his-day 'Mountain King'! I set out in glorious sunshine. As is always my luck that gradually disappeared the closer I got to my goal... I thought it would be too much to expect Lonks roaming about in front of the house, and I was right.

Boring picture of house in flat light.



More interesting picture of house with sheep in foreground in flat light.



Sheep on bridge hoping I was the bearer of food.



Brave Masham hoping the same.



I might have another try sometime as it's not too long or strenuous a walk.

 

[Boots]

Love the sheep on the bridge - "You shall not pass!"

 

[Ed Sutton]

Love the sheep on the bridge - "You shall not pass!"

Those words were in my head too!

 

[Ed Sutton]

The weather forecast was for rain and sleet at Skipton today, but when I got out of bed (45 miles to the west...) there was lovely sunrise ad it was dry. It was still dry, if cold, when I got to 'sheep town' but it didn't last and after three hours I'd had enough of the rain, as had most of the people selling, buying, or just looking at sheep dogs! I was also as bedraggled as these Herdwicks!



I had intended getting some photos of one of the Lonk people selling a dog, but he was on near the end of the sale and it was only half way through when I called it quits. Oh well.





I was trying to get a 'portrait' of this dog but all it wanted was a fuss!



I have no idea why one highlight in this shot blew out. Hence the conversion to black and white...



It's hard to tell from this photo, but at least one person was sheltering from the rain in their pickup while watching the livestream of the dogs on the field on their phone. Maybe I should have made the phone the focal point rather than the number tags?



Technically I got a bit baffled today. I was trying to practice photographing dogs in action, but everything looked out of focus on the camera's screen. So I gave up. On the PC, however, the ones that weren't wildly OOF look sharp enough given the high ISOs. They were certainly in focus. A pity, as I was hoping a lot of rubbish shots might have convinced me to sell the long zoom as I'm trying to get back to shorter focal lengths to force me to get in closer - and drop the sheep dog trials from my itinerary!

With that in mind I used just my neglected 50mm for a lot of the time I was there and it worked out OK. In fact all the above photos, which I selected without knowing which lens I used, were taken with the 50mm. My experiment with shooting it wide open lasted about four frames. It's not a look I like and I'm baffled why people do it when there is enough light to stop down to f4 or smaller.

 

[Boots]

That's a nice set!

All good, but especially the Herdwicks - are they just bred to look gorgeous? The antidote to Texels.

Funny about the focus, but I had a similar day when everything seemed to be OOF on the small screen - I put it down to my wonky eyesight and water on my glasses, but who knows.

The one you converted to B&W is good, but that guy in the shiny jacket is a real challenge, not surprised you got blown highlights. If you shoot in RAW, you might be able to recover it. If you shoot in JPEG... perhaps think again about RAW?

I would expect that a shorter lens would work better on a day like this. Less rain between you and the subject. Personally I like a shallow DoF shot for the right subject, so have a few fast primes. Horses for course... or sheep I suppose.

 

[Ed Sutton]

That's a nice set!

All good, but especially the Herdwicks - are they just bred to look gorgeous? The antidote to Texels.

Thanks. Funny how a trying day that you think has been a waste of time actually produces some nice shots when you review them.

Herdwicks are too cute for their own good! They've even become a brand - https://www.herdy.co.uk/

Funny about the focus, but I had a similar day when everything seemed to be OOF on the small screen - I put it down to my wonky eyesight and water on my glasses, but who knows.

The screen thing was before it started raining and it got covered in rain and smears from wiping the rain off. I'm thinking it was just a result of the high ISO when zoomed in on a small screen.

The one you converted to B&W is good, but that guy in the shiny jacket is a real challenge, not surprised you got blown highlights. If you shoot in RAW, you might be able to recover it. If you shoot in JPEG... perhaps think again about RAW?

I do shoot raw, and it was the highlights on the central character's face that are blown. Not the kind of picture you can try again with though.

I would expect that a shorter lens would work better on a day like this.

Depends if you want to show the raindrops falling, perhaps?

Less rain between you and the subject. Personally I like a shallow DoF shot for the right subject, so have a few fast primes. Horses for course... or sheep I suppose.

I think my downer on shallow depth of field might come from struggling to get ANY depth of field in low light when I was using film in the 1970s and '80s. I shot wide open because I had to, not because I wanted to!

 

[Ed Sutton]

So much for leaving sheep dog trials alone! Another dry start to the day saw me heading north. On arrival I found one of my camera's viewfinder was misted up. No problem, give it a wipe. Still misted up. The damp was inside the viewfinder. I must have got complacent about using my cameras in the rain and yesterday must have been a drop too far for this one.

Undeterred I carried on with the other body and stuck with the long zoom for most of the time I was there, trying to improve on my action shots. Most of them were in focus. So that was a plus.







It started to rain a bit and I went for a wander. Not dog related, this one might come in handy for my Lonk project as the wool is that of Lonks. There are a few times when I wiull fall for the lure of shallow DoF...



I sometimes feel that black and white conversions are a bit like cheating as it's too easy to add 'drama' to a picture that lacks any in its original state.



Sometimes, simple is best though.



I was chatting with one of the dog people and he was saying how I must have lots of photos of the trials by now and that I should do something with them. I suggested a book and he reckoned it would be a good idea. Covering the six years I've got photos for, which have been taken with no plan or end use in mind, would make it difficult to organise. maybe more a magazine style would work better than the A5 booklets I've done of my Lonk photos? I'll ask a few more dog people at tomorrow's Pennine Championship (that I wasn't going to bother going to).

Back home and after an hour or so the viewfinder had returned to normal clarity. Fingers crossed that's the way it stays. I'll be taking more care in future!

 

[ancient_mariner]

I do like both the mono shot and the crook - definitely up my street.

 

[Ed Sutton]

I do like both the mono shot and the crook - definitely up my street.

Thanks Toni.

 

[Boots]

Glad the long lens action shots are working out.

Really like the B&W shot, the wool on the wire and the crook shots.

 

[Gav.]

Nice work, Dave, I do like the working dog images.
Sheep in the lane and on the bridge are nice.
Mono sheep image really stands out

 

[Ed Sutton]

Nice work, Dave, I do like the working dog images.
Sheep in the lane and on the bridge are nice.
Mono sheep image really stands out

Thanks Gav.

 

[Ed Sutton]

A long day at the Pennine Interclub Championship today. For a change there was sunshine at times! I'll edit my haul down properly tomorrow, but initial impression is that the more photos I bring home the lower the hit rate is...

Anyway, the 'right' team won. Holme took an early lead and by the final round it was unasilable. They also had the individual winner. Two had left early so aren't in the photo.



I always look for 'dogs on quads' pictures.



I don't know if I should be more pushy when I want to get a shot. Or perhaps I should be more 'pushy' when others push in?



Maybe more tomorrow. As always, thanks for looking.

 

[Ed Sutton]

A very random mixture from yesterday. I could add some more but I've a pretty dismal collection to choose from!

 

[Ed Sutton]

Why I'll never make a landscape p[photographer part 963...

I'm sure the forecast was for sun until late afternoon. I set off on another trip to get a shot of Knowlemere manor having found an easier route to walk, and knowing the view I was aiming for. Should be an easy task.

First problem is that I'm easily sidetracked! There were sheep on the road. Including some Lonks. I forgot all about my plan and pulled over.



If this had been August with the heather in bloom, and not in the shade... It's kinda OK as it is.



Eventually I arrived at the parking spot in bright sunshine. The view down the valley looked great. With half a mile left to walk the sun was fading. I looked behind me to see not a lot. The distance was shrouded in low cloud/mist/rain. It was coming my way. Sure enough the sun had gone by the time I got to 'the spot'.

The same but different. At least the sky isn't blown.



I hung around for a while but the gloom was getting closer and I'd left my waterproofs in the car. I set off on the return journey and a few spots of drizzle fell. When I reached the final stile the bloody sun was out again and some moody light to be seen whence I came...

It's a good job I'm more interested in recording things than making pretty pictures!

 

[Ed Sutton]

My 'big sheep book' project is progressing slowly. The research and writing of the main essay is like working on a dissertation! I've already written 4,000 words of the initial draft that make some kind of sense and it's nowhere near done. In my idle hours I keep trying to get the book layout and design sorted in order that when I have most of the material it'll slot easily into place. I'm making some progress in that direction. Most of the pictures in the essay section are place holders at the moment. I'm drawing up a shot list for it as I go along. If the rain would go away I'd get out and shoot a few of them.

Not very exciting design work I know, but the main body of the book will be photographs laid out something like the first four pages below. The text sections will look like the the last four. Until I change my mind...

It's A4 landscape format, by the way.

 

[Ed Sutton]

Yet another reason I dislike landscape photography. When the sun does shine it's always behind whatever I want to photograph!

This morning's jaunt, which at least I timed right to miss the rain that fell on my way home, was to try to get some pictures of an interesting bit of moorland landscape - potentially for the book project. An old drove road that winds its way through the relics of lime burning 'hushings'.

The drove road with a couple of Lonks and the outskirts of Burnley and the edge of Pendle Hill in the distance..



In days gone by there were reservoirs in the clough which held water to be released to wash the soil and suchlike from the limestone, cleaning it for burning in kilns. One of the many examples of the moors being used industrially. There are remains of coal and lead mines in the region too. Like many of the moorland tops today there is now a wind farm nearby. My dream shot would be the strange landscape of the lime working spoil heaps with Lonks grazing and wind turbines in the distance. I almost got it. If only the blasted sun had either been less bright or I'd got there a little earlier! I guess this is just a problem of going somewhere for the first time and not knowing what the topography will be like.



There are information boards.



Walking back up the old track there was a lame Lonk that, like the others I saw, wasn't as skittish as they usually are. Maybe they're used to walkers and horse riders. She gave me the chance to try for another picture I have on the shot list in my head. A portrait of a Lonk with a stone wall as the background. It's OK but I'll have to set one up I think.



This is just a generic grazing Lonks picture. But in sunshine for a change.



I tried to get a bit arty. Stone wall with sheep netting, and a blurred sheep. Not sure about this one.



I've saved more pictures from the morning but all pretty dull, although they might be useful at some point. The forecast looks like it's back to gloom and rain again...

 

[Ed Sutton]

The sun is shining again today but I'm stuck here waiting for a new freezer to arrive. So I plotted all the show and sales I've photographed Lonks at last year on Google maps. I should stick to photographing potatoes and leeks which are found much closer to home!


Still playing around with the design of the mythical book. Learning how to use the software as you go is trying. What always surprises me is how much 'better' photos look when put into a layout. This almost looks professional.

 

[Ed Sutton]

I hate sheep!

I have a picture in mind that requires a sheep to stand in a specific place. In front of a ruined farmhouse on a moor, with a town or village in the background. I had one in my sights. It was grazing away heading in the right direction. I was keeping my distance so as not to spook it. The light wasn't great but I could see sunshine approaching. Another few seconds...



..and for no apparent reason as the light hit the spot the bloody sheep set off down the hill.



There's another ruin up the slope, but far more collapsed and not very distinct. The sheep wasn't a great example of a Lonk either - more like a Scottish Blackface. It did pose nicely.



I had to shoot this one vertically to frame out the Whitefaced Woodland sheep around the LOnk.



Oh well. This wool-on-wire pic is half decent. Printed small.



And this might prove useful at some point.

 

[superpippo]

All looking a bit different in the sunshine.
The book looks to be coming along. I like the layout and agtree the photos often look better in a layout setting.

 

[Ed Sutton]

All looking a bit different in the sunshine.
The book looks to be coming along. I like the layout and agtree the photos often look better in a layout setting.

Thanks. Sunshine does make a difference! I don't want everything to be sunny though, as the tops can be bleak at the best of times!

The book layout is pretty much settled, and the writing is getting easier. I got a short dummy printed to see what the fonts and typeface sizes worked best, and what some of the pictures would look like. That's helped. The research and writing is coming along nicely now I'm in the swing of it and have the format for the book pretty much settled. It's getting the photos that's the struggle! Although now I have a better idea of what I want pictures of and what sorts of pictures.

It's interesting and fun though.

 

[Ed Sutton]

It's funny how things pan out sometimes. I'd drawn up a list of places to go today to get landscape pictures for the book. But when I got up I couldn't be bothered, they weren't very interesting ideas I had and landscapes bore me rigid, so I did some work instead. Work was done by eleven. I was twiddling my thumbs and looking forward to an afternoon of mindless interweb surfing. I needed a loaf. Inspired by sunshine and the need for bread I put the cameras in the care and set off. It was a nice day for a run out if nothing else! The landscapery was a waste of time. I then found some Lonks I hadn't photographed before (might have a pic or two from that half hour). Moved on and failed to get some more landscapery-with-Lonks. Couldn't think of anywhere else to look, and as it was half three by then decided to go home, taking the route past Steve's Lonks. I parked up but there was nothing about. I walked down to the sheep handling pens and as I got there a pickup with a trailer full of Lonks pulled up. Steve and his son were moving sheep to sort last year's lambs from pregnant ewes, put them through the footbath and take the ewes to the lambing sheds!

It was seven o'clock by the time I got back in my car, having photographed Lonks being sorted and having their feet treated, walked up the lane and into the yard, then having a tour of the lambing sheds where the Lleyn flock were in the middle of lambing. It was pretty dark by then so ultra high ISOs for the lamb pics. Just a few for now, as I got trigger happy and have loads to sort through!

Fresh out of the wrapper!





A glance in the triplet pen and there were six newborn lambs on the ground. This is Steve sorting the chaos out.



This family all belong together.



More #lambspam tomorrow!

 

[Gav.]

#lambspam

Book is looking good, nothing like learning on the job with the software is there

 

[superpippo]

Nice timing

 

[Ed Sutton]

Book is looking good, nothing like learning on the job with the software is there

Thanks. It's a steep curve, learning on the job!

Nice timing

I guess even I get lucky now and then. Also got an invite back for when the Lonks start popping lambs out.

 

[Ed Sutton]

A quick B+W conversion. To hide the noise!

 

[Ed Sutton]

The day started with some scenic Lonks at Slaidburn. I liked the shape of this tree. A more intersting, or empty, sky might have improved it. But knowing sheep they'd have buggered off by the time the sky was perfect!



This one was particularly curious.



This one was chillin'.



Not a bad part of the world.

 

[Ed Sutton]

I could almost make a picture story of the Lonks being moved, sorted, footbathed, walked and penned for lambing. Usually when I go out without a real plan I take a standard and a telephoto zoom. There was a reason I swapped out the long lens for my ultrawide. Not that I can remember what it was. When it came to photographing the Lonks, and then the Lleyns in the lambing sheds the wider lens came in useful as space was tight. I really don't like going wider than 28mm, but where the option of moving back a step or two doesn't exist it has to be done. These are six of them.

Chris backs the trailer in while his dad, Steve, keeps the sheep in the stone-walled pen.



The sheep are counted off the trailer.



The footbath is prepared.



About ten years ago the EA condemned the old dipping trough as it was half a meter too close to a watercourse. It's now filled in. The turreted 'hut' by the gate used to contain a boiler where the special greasy winter dip was heated as recently as the 1970s. I say recently as an old fart myself!



The black and white in colour.



Finally they're penned up. Imagine trying to take a shot like that without flash in the film days. Ten to seven on a late March evening, in a shed lit by a couple of lights: ƒ/3.5, 1/160, ISO
25,600. It's witchcraft!

 

[Ed Sutton]

Then it was round the other sheds to check on the Lleyns. Steve says that 60% of the lambs arrive between 4am and 10am. He'd been away from the sheds for about three hours and there were plenty of new arrivals.

They all get their navels sprayed with iodine to prevent infection finding its way in.



The lambs are taken to the mothering up pens.



The ewe will follow her lambs. I guess this was 'the blue hour'! Not the best shot, and a vertical crop from a horizontal, but the best I managed. The lights in the building make it what it is. I should level it up...



They're kept in small pens for bonding, then moved to larger group pens before going out to the field.



Checking triplets are OK before penning up.



It's strange. I've watched lots of lambing videos on Youtube so had a fair idea of what takes place. Seeing it all happening in real life, but not on one of the lambing attractions some diversifying farms run, made me realise that it really does happen like this and that shepherds have been doing all this in pretty much the same way for centuries.

 

[Ed Sutton]

This last (I promise!) one was a pig to get. I underexposed massively for the sheep in order to keep the sky and sunburst. A little too much I think. Again, I know I couldn't have got anywhere close on slide film.

I did take more with different exposures but none of them worked as well as pictures - the sheep weren't as well positioned for one thing. So it is what it is. Annoyingly when processing I tried Lightroom's new noise reduction, which did remove the noise and improve the detail really well, but turned all the dark tones in the lower part of the picture green. There is probably a way I could have got rid of it but my limited knowledge and patience saw me give up. I'll stick with noisy...

 

[Ed Sutton]

Given the promise of sunshine ALL DAY, I took a chance on an early start to have one last crack at a shot of Knowlmere Manor. I think I got something. Why I've put this effort into getting one picture that will probably be printed about a quarter of the size as it displays here is one of life's imponderables!

One of these two will do. Probably the second one.





There would have been sheep in the foreground if the Pied Piper farmer on a quad bike with a sack of feed hadn't lured them away.



I actually had a shot list for today, and a route to take. Stop number two didn't produce anything worthwhile and wasn't a high priority. Stop number three was to be a quick snap of a distant sheepfold. Another small pic for the book. I had sussed on Google maps that one was visible from the road. The view from the road was OK, but if I just climbed over a dilapidated fence...

I'd fall over into a bog. A bit of struggling and the view was better with a longer lens. I took wide and tight shots. That way I have more choice for the layout when the time comes.



The OS map shows a footpath runs across the river, and it looked like it might give me good views of this and another sheepfold. Stop four. Sure there's a dotted line on the map, but not a sign of a path anywhere. I thought I was either going to get stuck in a bog or break an ankle on the tussocks. Eventually I found a sheep trod which lead to a quad bike track. Neither were exactly easy going but I got views of both folds. I could have done with a slightly wider lens for the more distant one but I wasn't going back to the car for one. In fact I'm never going back. Ever! I'm beginning to see a drone in my future.

Fold number one. I was hoping to get more elevation.



The one seen previously from the road. I think they have both been restored by United Utilities in the not too distant past. Given their location by the infant River Hodder I'm surmising that they were used when washing sheep. It's interesting that they are quite close together.



I did see plenty of sheep on my travels, lots of lambs in the fields now, but I'm getting choosy about which sheep I photograph.

This part of the project has got me thinking about Fay Godwin's photos. Not in style, but purpose. It seems to me that her pictures are often seen out of the context in which they were taken. A lot of the landscapes were for guide books, to serve as illustrations really. Yet the best of them have taken on lives of their own as 'art'. I'm not putting my pictures in that category, but it does reinforce my belief that good photos can have multiple uses and just because they are taken for 'mundane' reasons doesn't mean they can't be more than that. That's why I get annoyed by people who seem to look down on documentary and other 'practical' photography.

Oh well. I've got that off my chest! Thanks for looking and, as always, comments welcome.

EDIT TO ADD: I've consulted my book on Bowland sheep washes and the folds are washfolds. Their closeness is explained by them belonging to different farms. They were restored before 2007.

 

[Ed Sutton]

Bank Holiday sheep dog trial. It's madness. The runs started at 8.30, yet some had arrived two hours earlier, and two had travelled up yesterday afternoon from London and Dover. I thought I was mad!

Same old same old I'm afraid. I think I only go to the trials now to keep my photography 'muscles' working. The only bonus in the gloom being that most of the penning shots I took required little or no cropping.





One of the better penning shots I've managed as it pretty much 'says it all'.



Getting a 'says it all' shot of splitting a single is hard.



All the way from London and his dog didn't even reach the sheep.



Another long distance visitor.



Another week until the Lonks start lambing.

 

[Ruthie5611]

 

[Ruthie5611]

 

[Ruthie5611]

 

[Ed Sutton]

Another short session looking for pictures I have in mind for the book. I'd seen this flock a while back and in passing at 50mph I thought they might be Lonks. Alas, they were not. But it's a fun snap.



One picture I am trying to get to use with overlaid text for the back cover is of a stone wall with wire and a distant townscape. Mill chimneys would be perfect, but there are few of them left thanks to Fred Dibnah! I had an idea where I might get one. This one is getting there.



Something like next one this might find its way in. They are Lonks. Honest!



Not sure this one will, but I like it. It could go in with a caption relating to the moorland herbage.



These, alas, are Gritstones. They had me fooled from afar.

 

[Ed Sutton]

I put a shout-out on FB for Lonk lambs to snap the other day and got an invitation to see a young couple's starter flock which has lambs on the ground and a few more on the way. They're hoping to grow their flock in the coming years, and to get to a few more shows this coming summer. They've certainly bought in from some good breeders.

I felt a bit under pressure as I didn't want to keep them hanging around watching me too long on a Sunday. But I got a couple of half decent pics.



You can't really go wrong with lambs! Aren't those budding horns cute?



Of course sheep always move the split second you have them perfectly framed.



You can get lucky.



The ewes are very protective, butting others that get too close to their lambs - and giving me hard stares!



The ones still to lamb are kept inside with plenty of hay.

 

[Ed Sutton]

I only went out to fill the car with juice for tomorrow, but I took a camera and just happened to drive past some sheep.

Sheep which started taking their lambs away as soon as I went through the gate.



I walked down the side of the bank in the hope that the sheep might not be so flighty and I could get 'sheep level' pics more easily, but they weren't having it and kept to the other side.





I was surprised to see a buzzard and a crow take off from the top of the bank. When I got closer to where they'd been I found out why they were there. They'd been scavenging a dead lamb. Not much of it left so hard to suggest a cause of death given a lack of external signs. That's lambing time though. Even though it's been a bit warmer and drier they are susceptible to many ailments..

Spoiler: Graphic content warning

Not sure where to go tomorrow. Might make an early start. probably won't though!

 

[Ed Sutton]

It's getting worrying. I woke up having dreamed I'd swapped my car for a pickup and got myself a collie. Then I spent five hours photographing lambs. As soon as I got home I caught up on the sheep channels I follow on Youtube.

Some Lonk lamb cuteness for starters. More pics when I've sifted through far too much dross...







Tomorrow? Maybe more lambs....

 

[Ed Sutton]

I hadn't intended processing much tonight but i got carried away. I've got a couple of shots I'm pretty happy with but I was struck once more by how rubbish I am. I see pictures unfolding and mess something up. Usually exposure, focus or framing. Exposure has always been my biggest failing. That's why I started developing and printing my own black and whites - to compensate for my inability to master the art of exposure. Modern sensors are my salvation!

Sometimes I think I might be better off focussing manually. This sequence of a ewe being milked so her premature lamb which hasn't learned to suckle yet could be 'tubed' is a case in point.

I was trying to get the udder being milked and the lamb in the same shot in a satisfying composition. Not a bad start, but there must be a better picture to be had..



Loved this one as I made the click. But nothing's in focus. Maybe the tip of the lamb's ear.



The teat and jug are sharp but the lamb's moved.



This'll have to do. It's saving grace is that it shows the colour of the colostrum.



A tube is passed into the lamb's stomach, and the colostrum syringed in.