Sheep Portraits

The sheep bed down around the barn at night and this morning took their time about moving to the pasture.Sheep going to pastureHere are some sheep who posed for portraits (and, for those of you who care, some ancestry info).829 Moon 5-year old Moon (bide a wee Yuri x Hillside Luna's Harvest)Matrix x Jazz Yearling, Sophia  (Kenleigh's Matrix x Meridian Jazz)13068 Cascade Yearling, Cascade (Meridian Miller x Meridian Sierra)13077 Mae Yearling, Mae (Meridian Miller x Meridian Mary). She must have been looking in the mirror when she wrote the number on her tag?14027 5-month old BFL cross who I am keeping. No name yet. (Faulkner x Dazzle)Miller x Vicki 5-month old lamb who may stay here. (Meridian Miller x Meridian Vicki)Hendrix x Alison  5-month old lamb who I want to keep (Meridian Hendrix x Meridian Alison) JimmySomeone is hiding behind the dallisgrass.Jimmy (1)  It's the wether, Jimmy...who I may just rename to Jake, because I tend to call all wethers Jake.OnyxThis is two year old Onyx, a BFL cross. 14079 This is one of the newest members of the flock. (Meridian Miller x Meridian Donna.) Six lambs were born in July at the State Fair.14080 This is her brother.lilac ram This is a gorgeous lilac ram lamb (Meridian Alex x Meridian Phyllis), just what I've been waiting for....except those horns on his right are growing together and his horn set will be horribly asymmetrical. He won't be registrable.DSC_6609 Out to the pasture. "Mom!"DSC_6612"MOM !!!"DSC_6668  

Photographic Challenges

This is the year that I am determined to get those perfect jumping lamb photos. I have posted some others here and in other posts. I welcome any advice from you photographers out there. My lens info is at the end of this post. DSC_0082 Too darn many lambs in the way.DSC_0093The lambs are most active in the evening when there is lower light. I am shooting with a larger aperture and therefore more shallow depth of field. Notice the lamb in focus is not the one that is jumping. In addition, those black lambs are hard to photograph in detail. DSC_0092 More lambs in the way. DSC_0095Lambs in the way AND depth of field issues.DSC_0097 Same problems.DSC_0101 And more lambs in the way.DSC_0114 Focal length issues again.DSC_0115 Lambs facing the wrong way.DSC_0159 Focal length and shutter speed issues.DSC_0167 I think I got this one on depth of field. Too bad the lamb is facing the wrong way.DSC_0179 Sort of OK but needs a faster shutter speed to really get it. Also the black one lying down is distracting.DSC_0180 This photo probably has the fewest issues.DSC_0194The running lamb photos have similar challenges. These photos were all taken with my Nikon 40 mm f 2/8 lens to take advantage of the larger aperture but that gives me the more shallow depth of field. My other lens is the 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6. Any recommendations?

Fifty Lambs So Far

I talked to a friend of mine today and she asked what has happened since I wrote about Marilyn's fleece in the post about a week ago. Hmmm. I guess it's been about 40 more lambs here for a total of 50. I think there are about a dozen still to lamb. Here are some photos and you can go to YouTube for videos of lambing and lambs playing.14009 Meridian Loretta x Meridian Hendrix14013 Meridian Jane x Meridian Miller14014 Twin to the last one.DSC_9610Meridian Jazz with triplets sired by Meridian Miller.Mable with tiny lambI'm not sure what happened here. This is less than half a lamb at 3.8 pounds. This lamb was up and nursing when I found it and hasn't needed any help. It's the smallest lamb I've ever had here.DSC_9490DSC_9502DSC_9509 yearling ewes  These are 5 of the 6 yearlings that I kept from last year's lamb crop. They sure look different than a year ago.

Mary Had a Little Lamb…and then Another

I have been anxiously awaiting lambs. Athena started us off early by lambing last week, but there has been nothing since. Mary was calling for lambs all morning and she finally got her wish.DSC_8949 DSC_8951Others came to investigate.DSC_8950 DSC_8953 I moved Mary and her ewe lamb inside where she had her second lamb, a big ram. DSC_8957It will be a busy few weeks.