Upstairs, downstairs

Is it a preference or an indication of social standing. It’s so hard to tell anything with sheep.

Grazing

The other day one of the photography blogs I follow, Less is More, put up a beautiful shot of some backlit people and cactus and the way the sun caught their silhouettes, it appeared they had halos. I loved the shot and was a wee bit envious, in the gentlest kind of way, where I tack a note in my brain reminding me to give that a go myself.

I am still going through my photos from my trip down to Wanaka at the end of May and came upon this idyllic, rather painterly shot of a couple of sheep grazing on a steep hill just in the early morning, backlit and all aglow! I would describe my joy as veritably frabjus! What pastoral bliss… And evocative of the early impressionists. Indeed, on another day I might have taken this into photoshop and added some brush strokes or other embellishments, but I don’t think this really needs it…

One sheep keeping watch

Sheep are just so… sheepish. You stop the car and they run for the hills – or at least to the other side of the paddock. They’re sheep. It’s what they do.

But you’ve got to admire that one sheep, that one that will stand its ground, with a bit of curiosity, with a bit of chutzpah. I like this sheep for its un-sheepish qualities.

Brave Sheep

Not sure when it happened, but I realise I have become quite a good animal photographer – strange because until the last 5-6 years years, I wasn’t much of an ‘animal person.’ But these days I can happily snap away, capturing the critters, letting them pull their little star turns for me.

I have to wonder – have sheep always been blowing reaspberries at me and I just didn’t notice? Or does this gal have a special message for me?