Shepard's Delight (1 Viewer)

[Craig Rogers]

Well here it is as mentioned in the "Birdies" post.

2 days of planning, making sure the sun would be in the right place at the right time, just had to hope that a sheep would be in the right place and that the sun would give us a red sky.

It all paid off, I might have another few tweaks, but this is the first draft. The reason for this photo is I'm off to an Andy Rouse seminar in a few weeks and have the opportunity to submit a photo to critique and possible competition. The theme of the entry is "Red" and it's up to the photographer to determine what this means. As the seminar is all about lighting for Wildlife, the first thing that came to mind is this shot. Ok, a Sheep isn't strictly Wildlife, but I just couldn't get "Red Sky at Night, Shepard's Delight" saying out of my head, so planned to get this shot.

Luckily this little Lamb just wandered up and laydown against the fence. :thumb:

Would love to know what you think. I know that it's sort of Orange, but then most "Red" skies are.

Link Removed
Link Removed by Craig Rogers, on Flickr

 

[Linda and Steph]

It's great, I wish I'd taken it :thumb:

I'm now working out how to create the lamb as a shadow hand puppet

 

[chatter]

maybe you should think of submitting one or two in the countryfile comp for their calender its theme this year is a walk on the wild side

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[scousebird]

It's lovely. & yes I think you should submit to Countryfile too

 

[Craig Rogers]

Thanks both. I probably will submit some photos to the countryfile comp.

Only problem is, although I'm clearly not a professional (that would be nice), I do have a website that sells photos. Some Equestrian ones so I don't know how they would view that.

 

[scousebird]

You won't know till you try :thumb:

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[Gooney]

Thinking of (or through) my stomach Craig, this picture suggests to me 'Roast Lamb in a red hot oven' yummy yummy. Joking aside I think the current title alongside the composition of the photo is a sure fire winner.

 

[hilldweller]

Well here it is as mentioned in the "Birdies" post.
2 days of planning,

You know !

Nice try but failed.

Composition poor.
Shape of lambs head unattractive.
Background cluttered and messy.

But full marks for planning.

 

[Craig Rogers]

...and full marks for holding back on your honesty. :thumb:

Good job it's not up to you.

I did try asking the Lamb to move, but he wasn't a willing model to be honest and my sheep talk isn't too great. I did look around the field to find a sheep with a different shape head, but to be honest, they all had the same shape! Seriously thoughm if it wasn't elevated, it wouldn't of given the effect, so actually waited until it lifted before snapping

As for the background, I purposely included some "rough" out of focus to give it a little dof as the sky didn't have any clouds so it looked a bit flat. Set the aperture to make the fence in focus, but the second fence of barb and crop in the field to be out of focus to try and draw a bit of depth.

But hey, thanks for the honesty......

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[Gooney]

...and full marks for holding back on your honesty. :thumb:

Good job it's not up to you.

I did try asking the Lamb to move, but he wasn't a willing model to be honest and my sheep talk isn't too great. I did look around the field to find a sheep with a different shape head, but to be honest, they all had the same shape! Seriously thoughm if it wasn't elevated, it wouldn't of given the effect, so actually waited until it lifted before snapping

As for the background, I purposely included some "rough" out of focus to give it a little dof as the sky didn't have any clouds so it looked a bit flat. Set the aperture to make the fence in focus, but the second fence of barb and crop in the field to be out of focus to try and draw a bit of depth.

But hey, thanks for the honesty......

You give it a try Craig, he's good but he doesn't know everything

 

[hilldweller]

...and full marks for holding back on your honesty. :thumb:

That's about the highest compliment I can pay you.

If you just want your ego massaged find a forum without Hilldweller.

I think that the "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh" factor of a sheep is masked in silhouette. It's gone from "soft and cuddly" to "harsh". Actually we rode through the Chatsworth estate last nice, going "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh".

 

[Craig Rogers]

I don't have ego, that's certainly something I don't have.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your honesty! :thumb: It's why I posted it, not to try and get everyone to say brill, brill, brill!

Anyway, I wasn't trying to get "ahhhh", that's not the idea. It's not about the Sheep, it's about the Shepherd.....

You give it a try Craig, he's good but he doesn't know everything

I know, I've learnt that from other posts......

Actually we rode through the Chatsworth estate last nice, going "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh".

Ha ha, what was up, where the leathers chaffing?


No, in all honesty, I'm glad to have the feedback. Well accepted and thank you for it! If you can't take critism in a world of highly critical people, then it's easier to just hide and pretend you're on your own

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[pablomc]

I know nothing about the technicalities of photography, but this shot does not strike me as some of your others have, however as with most things of this nature, it is in the eye of the beholder.

I do like that fly though (on the fence top left). :wooo:

 

[movan]

Craig, Why do I only get a message up in different languages saying this image is not available, please? Joy

 

[hilldweller]

Craig, Why do I only get a message up in different languages saying this image is not available, please? Joy

Good question. It worked the other day, now it doesn't.

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[Craig Rogers]

Sorry Joy, that photo was the first edit and has not been replaced with a new one (in fact about 3 edits further). I forgot that the link on here would also break.

After getting some good constructive feedback from a few top photographers who liked both the idea and original outcome. This is the current version. Still undecided if this will be used as there are other ideas I've also got yet for a completly different themed "Red".

The only real difference is I decided to crop in tighter and vertical (didn't want to do this originally as I didn't want the Lamb to be the main focus point, but it does seem to work) and also it's not as "warm" as the original.

The only thing I now don't like with this crop is that the lower barb is now a little distracting where it wasn't before.

Link Removed
Link Removed by Craig Rogers, on Flickr

 

[hilldweller]

The only thing I now don't like with this crop is that the lower barb is now a little distracting where it wasn't before.

I'd crop just below the first wire above the head.

And title it Yoda.

 

[champers]

Having a second look I agree with Hilldweller about the shape of the Lambs head somehow the ears seem unnatural and an odd tilt, I would also crop as Craig suggested, I dont like the shaft of wheat/weed so tall it is distracting,but love the loose piece of wool blowing in the breeze perhaps ? .. these are IMHO, as mentioned loved this first glance, but having to scrutinize it is a diff matter :Blush:

Best of luck entering your photo and keep us informed how you get on :thumb::thumb:

Kath

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