Horse ploughing

A return to some cracking weather today and i made the most of it! My uncle was competing in a ploughing competition at St Marks and I needed to head up that way the next time the sun came out anyway to take a photograph for a website, so killed two birds with one stone. There was good light for photos and some great subjects. Most the competitors are aged farmers ploughing both traditional and manx style using tractors. But there was also a few horse drawn ploughs. They were all so fixated on the task in hand that it was easy to get some nice natural unposed portraits, and with nice scenery and interesting machinery too. I had lots to choose from, and will put some more on the flickr in due course.

The best moment was when i saw a young woman driving one the tractors; ususual I thought; will make a different picture; then I noticed she was texting on her phone; even better i thought; so i got a good position and waited for the right moment. I got the photo I wanted, and the added bonus was that whilst she mostly had her back to me, her face was reflected in the rear view mirror. Only problem, the focus wasn't good enough! A near miss. I used manual focus for all the photos after that.

Then I drove out to Eary Cushlin again for a run. Ran down through a plantation and onto a little stony beach with a waterfall, then back up and along the coastal path (the west coast of the isle of man is my favourite place, and this particular bit of it is the most desolate and remote and it's just wonderful. I did actually see a few people today, whereas often you see nobody.

Uncle thinks he might have won the competition - will find out tonight.