Training the Sheepdog!

It was cold and sunless first thing and these ladies are dressed for the March chill as they charioteer around the tracks of the New Forest.

It did seem odd though - normally, a young bounding sheepdog would NOT be encouraged to stalk, track and run alongside a moving horse and trap. 

Firstly I heard them, then they came round the corner - I had the lens on a monopod and was soon tracking them. Because of the low light, the lens (and me!) tracking them by autofocus proved too hit and miss. 

The dog bounced from one side to the other - and then they stopped! Were they celebrities who hated being stalked by long lensed snappers? 

I stopped shooting but they both still seemed to be looking at the dog and not at me, so I carried on. Being static, I was then much more easily to get a sharp shot. 

They then passed me, far too close for the telephoto lens to get them in the frame and they didn't utter a glance, let alone a comment or look of dissent. 

It all seemed a little surreal and I knew immediately that I wanted it to be my Blip. My choice of long lens and aperture isolates them nicely from the background, helped by cropping to a square, adding vignetting to the corners and because it was a cold morning, some post warm up filtration. 

A nice walk but defo the highlight was the passing of this tiny horse and trap, with excitable sheepdog and eccentric (I do so hope that they're colourful characters!) drivers.