I’m learning how to photograph Red, I think. It takes a bit of thought. First, I send him “away” to the sheep, when they are eating. This means he will swing around counter-clockwise – the sheep are behind me – and come up straight towards then, his outrun. Then I will lie down on the ground. I know Red will not move if the sheep are there, and I know where his eyes will be – on them. I have acclimated Red to the camera many times in many ways, it is always around, he sees it as a part of me. I used to put it down by his food bowl so he would associate it with me and with good things.

When he gets close, I put him in a “lie-down” and he drops to the ground. His ears are always down, his head lowered, his eyes wide. The sun is behind me, so that his eyes will catch the light and reflect it. I need a big lens for this, either a 70-200 or a 300 mm and I can set it on manual focus, because I know he will not move. I have some time before the sheep move or Red will. If the light is right and I am lying in the right position and the focus is set, then I can get a shot of his eyes and head. In animal photography, it is always the eyes that matter and that means it is the lens and shutter speed that matter. This shot was taken with a 7-200 mm f/3.5 1/250 ISO 100.  With Red, I like to capture two things – his connection with people, his great focus, shown in his eyes. I am still learning.