Highlands in the Lowlands- Royal Highland Show

A couple of weeks ago- my friend Daz and I trundled off to the Royal Highland Show at Ingleston, the largest agricultural show in the country, a four day festival of all things farmy. We were indeed 'Dazzled' by just how much there is to see, and by the end of the day I was sorely wishing I had bought a two day ticket. Next year I shall do precisely this, and spend one day shooting and one day socialising! I did not have anywhere near enough time to begin to cover all the animals and stalls on offer. Still, we tried our best to explore the rows and rows of animals, eating our way round the show. There were literally THOUSANDS of animals there, and lots of different events throughout the day. 

I simply love Clydesdale horses, their sheer strength and size is not something you would associate with one of the most gentle of horse breeds. When I was younger there was a visiting centre in Fife called Cambo, with a cafe and playbarn. My mother also ran the tourist centre there for a while.  There were rabbits, pigs, goats, geese and of course, Clydesdales, and the children were encouraged to get up close to the animals to experience the country.

I took this image in colour, but I think that black and white betters the emotional charge of the shot.

I have been chatting to a friend of mine who is a photographer across the pond, and she is looking to maybe do some equestrian shoots- I spent a lot of the day milling around the horsey section of the show and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am in the process of organising a shoot at a prize stable yard very soon, so we may end up doing the same thing a thousand miles from each other! There are horses in just about every second field near my new cottage, so I'll be able to get plenty of practice in this week.

I thought this a sweet image of mother and daughter competitors. It's not that clear as I was very far away, but this type of documentary image is the type I enjoy best.

This little piggy definitely went to market.....

 There was quite simply, a wonderful selection of eggs and birds on show... I saw the largest and smallest chickens I had ever seen in my life. One was nearly as big as a swan, and one was like a hedgehog! Take a look at the chicken on the bottom left of this picture- one of the larger chickens that could probably see off a turkey.

Daz's mum loves to knit, and she is very good at it too. She made us some tremendous flourescent ski hats for our last trip to France, out of wool with reflectors in it so we glowed in the dark! We found the most delightful stall selling alpaca wool as soft as silk- and met the lovely proprietor Sue. Daz picked out a couple of yarns and a pattern for his lovely Mum- you can too! Highly recommended. http://www.alpacaloft.co.uk/
 

 little owls

 Well, I suppose that's enough 'yarning' on from me for now. TTFN