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Wayne's World Archive
Jan 2004 |
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| near
Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria |
Well, what a month. I think this month, although only
a short one, provided us with as many extremes of weather
as possible! The month started off wet. Where I live,
we had 4 inches of rain inside the first 48hours of
the month, which seemed bad. Then to cap it all, we
had what must have been the wettest day since Noah
(well, ok, perhaps not, but you get the general picture)
Luckily bad weather makes for good photo opportunities,
so the family had a day out with me, chasing floods,
and boy was there some! I got 5 different photographs
in 4 different magazines, so it ended up being not
to bad a day really!
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| Borderway Auction Mart |
The following day involved an early start, all the way up to bonny Perth in Scotland,
where I was taking photographs for the Limousin
Cattle Society, at the spring
Bull sales up there. It is always a good sale, with a good atmosphere, especially
in the pressroom, where we are plied with food and drink….ahhhh, what a
hard life. It was only a short stay, as I had to be back home that night, but
a round trip of nearly 500 miles is a bit much really!
Sales seem to have been quite a feature of the month, as the new sale season
kicks in. Highlight of the sales had to be a dispersal sale held at Annan, Scotland,
where a dairy cow, with an exceptional pedigree sold for 40,000gns. It was that
cold on that day though, I think people were bidding just to keep warm. And it
snowed too. The Limousin
bull sale at Carlisle provided a focal point or two
as well. At the show the night before the sale, some one had organised a Kissogram
for her husband, who was 40. Luckily he was no older, and had no heart problems,
as the kissogram girl, (well, more like mature lady), cheered on by hordes of
lusty farmers, on their first trip out after winter, changed into a stripogram.
Mmmmmm. Different sort of entertainment. The sale the following day also proved
to be a cracker, with one bull making 31,000gns. (A Guinea is the equivalent
to £1.05p; the Auction Company keeps the 5p for selling the animal.)
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| River Eamont near
Ullswater |
Another day saw me take a trip over to Alnwick, on the Northumberland coast,
to take some photos for a company. It was a really gorgeous spring day, and there
were even some brave, or foolhardy, depends on how you look at it, midges flying
around. The following day I had to travel the opposite direction up to Castle
Douglas, in Dumfriesshire for a 2-day sale of Galloway and Luing cattle. These
sale days are a real experience, well worth a visit. The community spirit of
the farming community really is something to behold. As is the drinking capacity
of some Scottish agricultural journalists.
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| Beltex ewe and lamb |
After bemoaning the fact, in last month's newsletter, that cold weather doesn’t
last, we, up in the frozen northern wastelands, finished the month in sub-zero
conditions. We had 5-6 inches of snow, and it stayed for a week or so, allowing
me to go out and take nice snowy pictures, including one or two for next years
Christmas cards. Mind you it wasn’t so good for everyone, as a gritter
on one of the local roads only managed to get half way up a very steep, long,
hill, and slid all the way back down, then came off the road. Everyone was OK,
but the gritter was a real mess.
Taking photos in snow can be a pain, as it fools the camera's metering. You may
have even seen what it does….that nice snowy scene never seems to come
out
on film?….look a bit duller than you remember? Yup, same here. That’s
where some technical help helps. I always add +3 or +7 exposure on a bright scene.
If you know which buttons they are on your camera, have a fiddle…, till
next month….
Wayne Hutchinson - www.farm-images.co.uk
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