I have chosen this image, rather than one from the recent Coronation Weekend or of the bluebells that are out all over the Moor at this time during May, as I feel this image truly reflects everyday life in a rural community on Dartmoor without the soft-focus ‘chocolate box’ cliches that are so often seen in the media. The photograph was taken at Langstone, which is actually just within Manaton Parish, but as the cattle were being moved to a fresh pasture ‘just over the border’ within North Bovey Parish, and Tom Hunt whose cattle they were drinks in the Ring of Bells in North Bovey, as do I, it seems more appropriate to label the location as North Bovey.
It was a typical May day – sunny and warm, with lots of wispy white cloud. The hedgerows were bursting with wild flowers, and Tom with the help of his cattleman Paul was taking the cattle from Neadon Farm (just down the hill) up and around to fresh pasture down by the River Bovey below Luckdon Farm. I was standing at the T-junction (with my camera) to stop the cattle from heading in the wrong direction and off to Manaton.
I like this photo as it shows the hard work that is everyday life of farming in general, not just on Dartmoor. I also like the background – the simple thatched cottage fronting right onto the lane – not too ‘chocolate box’-like, the old-style cast iron fingerpost with directions to North Bovey, Moretonhampstead and Manaton, and the reality of the plastic recycling bins put out for collection, which puts the traditional and cliched rural view into a modern realist context. Moving cattle sounds simple enough, and it usually is, but it can easily go wrong if one of the group decides to go in a different direction, or an oncoming motorist is encountered in a narrow lane – especially if the motorist is not a local and is typically unable to reverse in a straight line! Cattle are not particularly respectful of car bodywork, especially in tight spaces.
Those viewers or readers who are photographers may be interested as to why I chose my camera settings – ISO-800 may seem a high speed for a sunny day in May, but there were several reasons for this. Firstly, in the narrow lanes there are often overhanging trees that on a bright day can create a lot of variable and high contrast light conditions, from very bright to dark shade. Secondly, I wanted a fast shutter speed – the subjects were moving (and not stopping to pose for the camera!), and I didn’t want blurred movement, but I did want a degree of white I call ‘soft shadow’ as I feel that it enhances the overall ambience of the image.
I could easily have taken this photo at a lower ISO with a slower shutter speed at a similar aperture, such as ISO-200 and 1/125s, but there would then have been a risk of movement blur with the cattle, and it would have been harder to get the ‘soft shadow’ effect – a plain bright exposure would have just been somewhat ‘flat’ and ordinary.
And there you have it – cattle like most animals do not stop to pose, one has to be able to grab an image with only a minimum of preparation and framing of composition, etc. Think ahead to capture the moment! I think the image worked, but I would also love to hear anyone else’s thoughts and opinions, good or bad – do please contact me with your thoughts and opinions, good or bad!