We stayed in Dingle peninsula which is a small piece of land in the far south-west of the country. It really is very beautiful and I would recommend anybody to go visit. We went in the shoulder of the tourist season so were lucky to not have to deal with as many tourists. But, the downside is that the weather is a little unpredictable which is definitely was for the week we were there. We stayed in a house by the sea which had farm land and many sheep all around it. What does this mean? Border collies of course. We saw many of them plying their trade and going about their business looking after sheep and cows. We met a farmer on the road a couple of times who had 4 of them and on one occasion I was able to get a couple of shots off.
This first one is of the two dogs in the back of the truck. I was aiming for an almost environmental portrait style where the items in the back of the truck played as much a part of the shot as the animals themselves. They had just finished working for the day and were hanging out.
One of the border collies was quite shy and insisted on lying underneath the truck. It's eyes were white as it stared at us wondering what we were doing chatting with the farmer. I had to get down and crawl a bit (which everybody, including the farmer, thought was quite amusing) but I think it came out pretty well.
One of the reasons I love these shots is because the dogs are not combed well or taken care of particularly. They are working dogs. They live out in the garden come rain or shine. They are feed and watered well but other than that they are considered a worker just like the rest of the men on the farm. I think this shows a bit in the color and texture of the fur.
