Sheep

[Greg Beetham]

I've been learning a bit about sheep, apparently there is a blue faced sheep, a slight misnomer, as it's almost white faced in reality, and there is the black faced variety, a hardy mountain type that can prosper where normal sheep fear too tread.
I actually like the version without the fence, but I still like the version WITH the sky, although the no sky one isn't too bad, you can have a look at the no fence with sky version by scrolling the browser page down until the fence is gone.
Greg

[aster]

Hello,

Since there’s a ‘please’ involved in the request I wished to oblige.

But, first of all, it’s important that everyone differ in their opinion of what they are viewing and how they corrolate the elements of the art being performed.
Simply put, Paul’s original photos with surrounding foreground and background elements are what make the photos authentic. Here’s how it goes:
The first sheep photo comprises only one sheep. It’s more of a portrait of a particular sheep type but any stranger looking at this portrait will only see what the sheep looks like and has no way of guessing where the sheep originates from or pertains to. To the stranger with no knowledge of the species, this sheep could be from any land which has a potential of receiving snow; Austria; Germany; Scotland; Canada; North America; Tibet; Turkey; Peru...and many more lands with high and cold lands.

Therefore, this photo of the solo sheep is not authentic but a good portrait photo instead.

The photo where the sheep are standing as a herd amongst the infinitely vast snow-covered land of hills is authentic for bearing the elements of the land they pertain to. We see a weak fence in the foreground and farm houses in the distant background and the shape of the hills, the material of the fence, the shape of the farm houses/complexes and its architecture give us clues that we’re somewhere in Europe. Though we’re not given a specific location with a name, the photo has the power of introducing us to the location where this type of sheep like to live or survive.

Authenticity is all about surroundings of the actual main subject, be it an old man, a sheep, a child, a young man or a woman...

Let’s look at it this way and select David Kilpatrick as our subject. David has a nice portrait of himself as his forum avatar but that portrait has no additional elements around him to make this an authentic photo. If David has a sort of hat that he wears around his town which the members of his society corrolate only with David Kilpatrick and we see a photo of him wearing that hat, then the photo has more authenticity than his avatar portrait.

If we see a photo of David wearing his hat, playing one of his most-beloved string instruments, a pint of beer on the table next to him, his friends hanging around him and singing with beer mugs in their hands, in a typical Scottish pub surrounded with furniture made in that town, then this photo is the most authentic of David’s photos and this context can be expanded further. In other words, the more elements that either belong to David or that David belongs to are involved the more authentic the photo will become. Family, friends, pets, his pub, his home and everything in the inside or outside, musical instruments, cameras, lenses with David as the main subject will make it more authentic and not just one portrait.

I hope this fulfills the inquiry addressed...

Yildiz

[bossel]

All these sheap arguments - sigh

[paulmurphy]

Once again thanks to all for the comments, nice to see some discussion on composition.

Here's a follow up to the sheep pics, I went back and re-worked the group on the hill and I must admit I like this crop better, also converted it to mono as the background was so washed out to start with, not sure which I like best.





Best wishes

Murph

[Birma]

Hi Paul - great thread - very interesting discussion as you say, and great sheep!

I prefer the colour version of your last post as it makes the sheep stand out more against the almost monotone background. In the B&W version the sheep become a bit "lost" for me; not contrasty enough.

In both pictures I do like the way the back ground fades in sections caused by the folds in the land, although the sky is a bit blotchy at the back?

(I like the sheep portrait version by Sonalta with no blue in it - could be the cover of Sheep Weekly, if such a publication exists .)

[bossel]

I also prefer the coloured version, without the fence.

And I found what makes this picture so attracting: The pattern of the sheep crowded together on a little hill repeats itself in the backround. We see groups of trees, crowded together like the sheep, repeating the main motive. Also, having three different stages (the sheep, the trees behind and the far horizon) makes your eye wandering around the picture (now I start sounding like Michael Freeman, whose great book I just finished )

edit: maybe it might be worth a try to keep the sheep in colour and desaturate what's behind