In my day job I’ve talk about how some days being a leader means you have to be able to herd cats.  After my photography trip to Ohariu Farm I can see how I can use the herding sheep metaphor as a way to describe how leaders with the right support, tools and techniques can you can not just lead people in a direction but skillfully shift direction as conditions change.  Watching Greg running the ewes in the pens was fine leadership in action, ably assisted of course by his trusty sheep dog.

When I took the photographs in this blog I was feeling very much out of my depth.  My course companions were fully engaged snapping away whilst I was fiddling with settings on my camera and getting distracted watching Greg and his dog at work.  A little like Blue his second dog (whose name I can’t remember) was focused and skilled at his work. There was however something different about how he related to Greg – he was somehow more devoted.  After struggling to get any reasonable shots from outside the pens I jumped in and immediately the dog came up and made friends with me.  It was after I had made that connection with him I started to see his true personality coming through and wanted to bring that out in my photographs.

It was more of a challenge to make friends with the sheep but watching them run through the pens it was clear that they too had their own language and ways of moving as they were herded back and forth for the benefit of the photographers.  It was most definitely a learning curve to photograph fast moving animals and also look for some interesting portrait shots.  The big learning for me from this section of the workshop was how important it is to watch and observe rather than diving in and taking snaps that I have no connection with. Nevertheless it was an awesome experience to see all the moving parts captured.

Greg was most definitely a good sport on the day putting the ewes through their paces for our benefit.

There is no doubt though that sheep were starts of the show.

In fact I’d go as far and say they were complete show offs!

But I can’t help having a soft spot for Greg and his dog who are most definitely a team.