Swaledale Ewe

Hi Folks,
Thanks for all the votes and kind comments for 'Backlit Lamb', it did rather better than I expected.
I've decided to stay on the sheep theme for now. This ewe jumped into our fields off of the moor just before the snow came last November. She belongs to a farmer in Rosedale who knows we have her but hasn't been to collect her yet. Meanwhile, since arriving she has been tupped, had two excellent lambs and generally enjoyed herself. She has the classic Swaledale markings as well as the classic Swaledale stare.
My mother-in-law recently mentioned having seen the photography of Nick Brandt and I decided to try something similar using sheep instead of elephants and lions, etc. I waited until the wind was blowing the ewe's wool up, then used a fast shutter speed to get everything on the focal plane as sharp as possible. The image was converted to monochrome using Photoshop's infra red setting as a starting point, then several curves layers were added, then various parts were blurred and sharpened until I ended up with this. I really pleased with the result but I would love to know what others think.
If you don't know Nick Brandt's work, it's worth Googling, thanks for dropping by and have a great evening.
Dave

Brand:	Canon 7D
Lens:	Tamron Check out Totally Tamron!
Recording media:	RAW (digital)

Title:	Swaledale Ewe
Username:	DaveMead
Uploaded:	18 May 2011 - 7:47 PM
Tags:	Digitally manipulated, Farndale, Monochrome, North york moors, Pets / captive animals, Sheep
VS Mode Rating	101 (66.67% won) These stats show the percentage of wins and the rating score that your photo has achieved. You can go to the VS Mode by clicking on this icon. Signup to e2 Signup to e2 to see which photo this has won or lost against in the vs mode
Votes:	19