Serenity

When I printed this shot from the Limavady Agricultural Show back in July I was disappointed to see the girl in the foreground has her eyes closed.  But it kind of grew on me - she looks very calm in the midst of all the chaos.  Perhaps she is channelling her serenity through her sheep.

Regular readers will of course recognise the Valais Blacknose variety of sheep
FP4+, on Foma 313 paper

Boys and their sheep

Still at the Show, albeit it the Limavady Agricultural Show this time:

Brothers, possibly
'Blad, 60mm; FP4+ on Foma 313

I had high hopes for this shot as the boys were very happy for me to point the camera in their direction.  I like their stance, very grounded and with a tight hold on the sheep.  Clearly they knew that at any moment the sheep are likely to make a run for it.

It was only when I printed it I saw it - the black line running up from bottom of the print.  What the heck?  I checked the negative and yup, it was there too.  And on the shot I took of them moments before they posed for me, but not on any others.  I'm guessing it's the shadow of a post or pole of some sort.  What a shame, as otherwise this shot could have been a contender for the wall.

Jesus Saves (Ford)

In and around The Liberties farming and church go hand-in-hand.  It's a traditional way of life, I guess, where the community is close-knit and friends & neighbours can be relied upon to help each other out.  This stand caught my eye in the Ballymoney Show and I reckoned it warranted wasting a frame on:

It took a couple of attempts to get this half-decent,
with a fair bit of burning in of the balloon at the front.

The old Ford tractor with the double wheels was done up a treat and I guess it was a good hook to convince passers-by to stop a while. It worked for me!

Getting ready for the showing

Our local agricultural shows are just that - places to show your livestock, equipment, or produce.  It's a huge day out for the farming community and they take it very seriously.  I saw cows getting blow-dried and back combed and sheep getting their faces whitened with talc, or blackened with something else.  Hooves were being scrubbed.  Sometimes sheep were manhandled into a holding contraption which kept them still long enough to be brushed and cleaned.  They did complain about it - loudly.  But I think sheep complain about a lot of things, from what I could see.  They just want to be out eating grass, I guess - it's not their idea of fun being carted to an unfamiliar place and have strangers poke, prod and take photographs of you without so much as being asked. 

Hasselblad/60mm; FP4+ on Foma 313 paper

If your only experience of sheep is seeing them as fluffy cute wee things which run around a field then it's a shock to see how difficult it is to work with them.  For their size, they are incredibly strong animals and they take a lot of encouragement to do anything - a firm grasp of the horns (for those that have them) is required, or a tight grip around their neck.  Of course often they wriggle free and make a bolt for freedom in which case everyone and anyone around lends a hand to get them under control again.  Working with livestock ain't for the faint hearted, that's for sure.  I had to be careful picking my way through the pens and watching out for - well, everything.  

Big sheep, small boy

After a far too long hiatus I finally got back in the darkroom this morning and made a start printing some of the shots taken over the summer.  This one was from the Event of the Year in The Liberties (in my opinion) - the Ballymoney Agricultural Show:

FP4+, via the 'Blad, 60mm CB lens; Foma 313 paper.

This was one of those unscripted moments.  I'd asked the adults if I could take some shots and they indicated that would be fine.  As I walked between the pens this young boy reached up to pat his sheep.  Now the educated among you will of course recognise a Valais Blacknose sheep when you see one, but let me tell you, these things are big.  She towered over the boy! - especially hoicked up on the fence like that. I had to wing the shot, which isn't easy with the Hasselblad. I knew I didn't have long so I trusted the old "f/8 and be there".  The look on the boy’s face says it all.  I asked if it was his sheep and he was very proud to answer 'Yes'.  To be honest, this moment made my day - it's what these local shows are all about: family and livestock.  With luck you come home tired, with muck on your boots and a couple of exposed films. I love it. 

 

Still here

I'm still here, but unable to get printing at the minute, so it's one from the Archives:

Lith print, detail from a house in Bergamo, Italy

Life's busy for San Miguel right now.  Daughter is finally moving into her new pad in Liverpool, as she embarks on the latest stage of her education - a three year doctoral programme in Psychology and Neuroscience. She's collecting certificates at a fearsome rate; determined to out-do her old man, she is - and good for her.  

So the car has been serviced and we are in the process of loading it up with an absolute ton of 'stuff' she wants taken over.  It'll be great to have her settled for the next few years, although her new place is unfurnished, which is good and bad.  Good as she can finally escape the 'student hovel' type of place she's had to endure for the last couple of years in Oxford and Newcastle.  Bad as there is expense involved.  Parental expense. Sure it's only money, I tell myself, and I really don't need any more cameras.  

Stars&Stripes

They like their flags in the historic centre of Geneva, Illinois:

Paper Windmillls (well, probably plastic windmills)
FP4+ on Foma 313 paper

I've a ton of films sitting waiting to be developed from our days out when The Brother was here - but we're all still a tad fatigued, from the visit as well as the virus, so for now they sit in the darkroom, making me feel guilty every time I pass them.  Some day soon, I tell them.