February 2024 Top 3 Picks
This month has been new camera month, blog about this to come shortly, but also I decision to pick the camera up again and start practicing my art and finding out where it goes. So as part of this I will be starting a monthly blog post where I shall share my top 3 photos from the month and the story behind each.
My new camera arrived in the middle of the month, and with the weather being incredibly wet I have not got out as much as I would have liked to play with my new toy. So all three photos this month come from the same walk in Bannau Breyheiniog, and all share the same subjects….sheep.
February Winner - The Flock
The Flock - Olympus E-M10 Mark II, Olympus M. 14-42mm, ƒ10, 1/250, ISO200
This photo was captured on a weekend walk with my wife in the Bannau Brycheiniog Mountains. As we walked up through a working farm, we came across this herd of sheep huddled in the corner of a field. As we approached, they stayed in they started to retreat along the fence line until they congregated around this single Hawthorne tree. I was already snapping at individual sheep, trying to get some nice portraits of a particularly handsome ram, see below, then looked up to see this congregation cautiously observing us from the vantage point.
What I like about this image is firstly the curious faces peering at me, trying to work out what we are doing, are we a threat? Secondly, I like that the Hawthorne tree adds an interesting subject not only in the midground but also in the middle of the image, giving a centre point to which, the sheep draw you too. In the same way, they were drawn there for safety. Finally, I chose to make this image black and white to emphasise the colour gradient from the dark mud in the foreground to the light sky in the background to create some depth.
February Runner Up - Monochrome Ram
Monochrome Ram - Olympus E-M10 Mark II, Olympus M. 14-42mm, ƒ5.6, 1/640, ISO200
As the sheep retreated towards the back fence this ram held his ground close to the gate. As he stood protecting his flock, he let me take some close-up portraits. Of those I took this is my favourite. Having him clearly in focus in the foreground and his flock out of focus in the midground you get a real sense of him protecting. The final layer in the background of the hillside reminds me that we are just visitors to his home. I chose black and white for this image to accentuate the black and white colour of the ram, also highlighting the texture of his wool.
February Third Place - Feeding Time
Monochrome Ram - Olympus E-M10 Mark II, Olympus M. 14-42mm, ƒ6, 1/400, ISO200
Further into the Valley we came across a second flock of sheep just as they were being brought off the hill for the daily feed. I just started snapping as we walked by, and this shot caught my eye in the edit. As I was shooting into the sun, I caught flare across the lens directly above the feeding sheep. This combined with the foreground being fully lit and the hillside in the background being in the shadow really highlights the sheep.