Steve Trims Show Sheep

Steve Trims Show Sheep..yeah try saying it after a couple of glasses of Scrumpy!

Liz Steve Rowe’s wife messaged me to see if Steve’s slightly unusual passion might be of interest to my Life In A Somerset Landscape Project and of course I was intrigued to find out more and we agreed to arrange something.

I had to wait a few weeks before a date could be arranged for the shoot due to my and Steves Calendars not aligning too well but it was worth the wait.

Steve and Liz own a smallholding in a village not too far from me called Stembridge here in Somerset.
The location was lovely and after introductions a brief tour and a chat I decided to set up at the entrance to their small barn.
Lighting was ideal with some diffused sunlight backlighting the scene which is my favorite albeit sometimes tricky light to work in.
After a few test shots, I formulated a plan to create the image I wanted and we brought in the first of two sheep that were to model.
I always want my cake and eat it and after spotting the slightly used tractor in the field behind I politely asked Steve if we could move everything a couple of inches to adjust my composition.

 

Steve has been shearing show sheep for 10 years and the awards adorning the barn is a testament to his success.
He explained to me that shearing was used years ago to sculpt the sheep’s wool and to make them look more muscular at the market and help get farmers the best prices.
These days of course it is a dying art.
The sheep themselves were also in threat of being lost to history as not so long ago were a rare breed.
Steve has bred the Coloured Ryeland for several years now and thankfully stocks are now once again healthy.

Once again I was blessed with meeting some lovely people in a great location and came away very thankful for their time.