"Nothing Lower Than A Sheepman" Photo

Photographer’s Note

Alexis Smith was shocked when she learned her love-interest, Errol Flynn raised sheep for a living in the 1950 movie "Montana."

Montana
He's a lowly sheep herder. She's a cattle baroness. It all comes down to equal rights for livestock in this 1950 Technicolor Western.

Flynn as Morgan Lane (an Australian for a change) goes undercover as the partner of a wandering peddler (S. Z. Sakall) to avenge the death of a shepherd and outsmart the cattlefolk by securing land for his herd of sheep. He woos the most persuasive prospect, cattle heiress Maria Singleton (Alexis Smith), serenading her in the guise of a guitar lesson.

Of course she is less than pleased when she finds out the actual use Lane plans to apply the land she turned over to him. Another war threatens to erupt in the area over the cattle vs sheep issue, and before long Lane finds himself staring down the barrel of Miss Singleton's rifle as he defiantly leads his wooly possessions through the center of town.

This movie's not too spectacular - I won't kid you. The characters appear to lack any real dimension. But it's not dull. There are amusing bits, like S. Z.'s usual Sakalisms and the duet "Reckon I'm in Love" sung by Flynn and Smith.

parbo, skippy007, Dyerco, trekks, vmf-214, Gerrit, gracious, snunney, brano14, macondo, Kielia, ChrisJ, BlueRaven, Longroute, saylan-cb, fulvio52, Bluejeans, Royaldevon, jaywalker, emilbo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

npecanhuk (16416) 2009-02-09 18:19

Hello Tom!
A very nice picture!
Soft light (although the sun was probably strong) and colors! Adequate and excellent sharpness and exposure! Well chosen pov and perfect composition! The sheep, the wooden constructions, the snow and the bare trees were all placed so nicely together in order to compose this lovely photograph! I really like it!
TFS - Congratulations!
Warmest regards,
Neyvan

parbo (11080) 2009-02-09 18:32

Hello Tom,

Wonderful shot and great note to accompany the image. When it merged with your amazing photos it comes more delicious as shown here. Your capture is amazing under powerful light that shows all details in perfect clarity and sharpness. Your sign of red barn, naked trees are creates a beautiful wintry scene. Congratulations. Have a nice new week.

Are you still interesting diary business there? Hope you have good and enough cheese receipts. As you know most expensive cheeses are made by from pure sheep or goat milks.

Friendly Regards,

Ertugrul

skippy007 (7863) 2009-02-09 20:40

Hello Tom, I do recall the film, it looks as though the sheep won their battle to stay. Nice winter scene, lovely warm colours, sunshine & those sheep turning their heads to look at the camera, smile say cheese, he hehe.
Regards
Santo

trekks (14340) 2009-02-09 20:50

hi Tom

You always know how to create color constrast into a white winter scenery of snow by adding the red barn, some trees and now the sheep. Even the old machine frame lying idle. I like the grove line of snow path leading to the sheep. Nice work.

tfs, bill

Dyerco (9640) 2009-02-09 20:57

Hey Tom
Too bad you didn't have a longer lens to catch the sheep all looking at you. Another nice sunny NY day.
Phil

bracasha75 (22983) 2009-02-09 21:42

Helo Tom
This sene is just like by me herein maigbourhood .Sheep are beautiful animalo and i like work with them even i havn,t keep never sheeps.
I have couple [ic. here with my naigbour and his herd of sheeps.
Thanks for sharing
Bratislav

shevchenko (10511) 2009-02-09 22:03

Hello Tom,
Good capture to these sheeps ans humourous to show them all line up in a row and looking back, this scene still look like past age where have no modern items appear within this pov, thanks for sharing a beautiful view from countryside.
Ally

vmf-214 (1624) 2009-02-10 0:09

Hi Tom,

Excellent contrast in this shot, I like how sheep looking at you like what's going on. Nice white snow with the red building and lovely February blue sky makes every thing stand out great. Great job Tom.

Warm regards
Jason.

rodgerg (27003) 2009-02-10 0:30

Hello Tom,

An another excellent winter's view. Very orginal with the alignment of sheeps in the FG. An image rich in details well collected too, the various colousr arise very well in the white of the snow. Good work!
Best regards,
Roger

Gerrit (36967) 2009-02-10 0:56

HI Tom,
a very good composition in beautiful light and colors.
Very funny how those sheep are turning their headfs towards you.
Regards, Gerrit

pauloog (7630) 2009-02-10 1:30

Hello Tom,
A lovely farm view with the undeniable Western look of the red barn. Very beautiful colours in this low sunlight.
Regards,
Paul

gracious (20017) 2009-02-10 2:15

Hello Tom,
Beautiful wintery scenery with those beautiful lights comes upon the whole place!
I loved the sheeps in a single line and some of them turned back to look at you for the shot!
many thanks for the sharing and I loved this one!
say hello for me to Gunner and buddy!
cheers
Tony

snunney (37033) 2009-02-10 2:20

Hello Tom,
A lovely capture of these charming and inquisitive animals. Their tracks make a good lead-line towards them from which the eye drifts quite naturally to the lovely backdrop. Very good light and colours and fine clarity.

ktanska (17083) 2009-02-10 3:05

Hi Tom,
Cool farm view. Whole scene is full of details of country life. Curious looks of sheep are so nice. Excellent light.
Kari

carper (67302) 2009-02-10 3:26

very nice one Tom,
good winter shot,
fine atmosphere. nice details, good photo job here.
have a nice day.
regard jaap

brano14 (2113) 2009-02-10 3:32

Hello Tom,
Good story with this nice winter scene.Good colors and sharpness and your little models: "Are you done, we need to go inside, it is too cold".
Thanks!
Brano

anesugur (17303) 2009-02-10 3:44

Hello Tom,
Very beautiful winter scenery.
The colors and sharpness arre very good.
Have a nice day. Uğur

macondo (13519) 2009-02-10 3:50

Hi Tom.
Another fine shot in the snow, with a red structure to create a nice colour combination with the white and the blue sky. I like the little track the sheep are using. Your exposure is terrific. I also enjoyed reading the note about that slightly nefarious sounding Australian sheep herder.
Regards,
Andrew

Greg1949 (8641) 2009-02-10 4:14

Tom, this is a really interesting one, the sheep made it work well when they looked back at you. Great capture.

Greg

jplebrun (17945) 2009-02-10 5:01

Hi Tom
WOW de toute beauté de voir ces moutons qui regardent le photographe qui immortalise une très belle scène de la vie rurale à White Creek, très beau cliché, bravo.
Amitiés
Jean-Pierre

dta (7857) 2009-02-10 5:53

Hello Tom ,
I like a lot this rural winter scenery . An excellent composition with many interesting elements : the red hut , and lovely sheep , of course .
Regards
Denis

Kielia (9015) 2009-02-10 10:55

Hi Tom,
really a beautiful impression of the farm under the snow with wonderful bright colors and a very soft light. I like how the sheep are looking into your camera. But most of all I like your amusing note and the wonderful title! Great capture!
Warm regards
Harriet

ChrisJ (71614) 2009-02-10 20:23

Hi Tom

I like the backward glance of the sheep in this superb winter scene. Good colour, sharpness & contrast. The red barn has a great colour contrast, against the blue sky. Tfs!

aadilj (17950) 2009-02-10 21:41

Hi Tom, you continue to capture the winter magic of this lovely place on earth. i love the way you have compsoed and nuanced this superb shot, tis hues and textures

BlueRaven (35) 2009-02-11 2:16

Hi Tom,

Funny that you mention this movie - I've had a crush on Errol Flynn ever since I was 11 years old, and although I've grown up since, I still love his movies. ;o)
Great shot, wonderful light and a perfect composition. In spite of all the snow, it doesn't have a "cold" mood, quite the opposite.

Thanks for sharing, best wishes
Claudia

Longroute (10919) 2009-02-11 3:04

Hello Tom,

I didn't think you had sheeps over there! (:-
The farm and trees to the left, a nice vision of the background hill at the right, and the curious sheeps at the centre! Really a well arranged composition. The usual cristal clear sharpness and bright light make the whole picture a pleasure to see.
Best greetings,
Donato

saylan-cb (12726) 2009-02-11 3:24

Hi Tom,
Very nice winter shot and good notes with great captura and the colours,the light are perfect.
Excellent work!
Have a nice day,
TFS/Regards

fulvio52 (8314) 2009-02-11 8:45

Hi, Tom.
Great framing to a lovely composition. Fine colors and lots of natural harmony in this one, all the ingredients fit perfectly well together and those sheep looking at you provide a funny, joyful touch to the view. TFS! Hugs to them critters of yours, y'all have a good day. See ya later,
Fulvio.

Bluejeans (34486) 2009-02-11 10:04

Hello my friend ,
Bonita foto rural , com estas ovelhas em linha no primeiro plano ficaram magnificas a olhar para ti , muito bela a paisagem de fundo , bom contraste de cores, parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

mesutilgim (38604) 2009-02-11 11:52

Hi Tom,
Wonderfull wintery scene, very well captured.
Good pov and perfect layout. Nice light and amazing colors.
Good and usefull notes.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

Royaldevon (6168) 2009-02-13 3:01

Hello Tom,

This shot really raised a smile on my lips!
Wonderful! Just look at those sheep appealingly entreating us to follow them, down the line. What a unique lead in!
Charming rural details, beautifull composed and with the barn supplying the colour boost.
I like how the light not only gives the strong shadows to the sheep but also texturises the snow.

Kind regards,
Bev :-)

jaywalker (12853) 2009-02-14 11:35

Hi Tom, A very nice photo with the sheep offering a lovely addition to the shot, the light is very good & there are some great cast shadows, the beautiful clear blue sky & the snow on the ground are both gorgeous, this is a really wonderful picture, kind regards Wilson.

emilbo (10162) 2009-03-04 17:06

Salut Tom!
Magnifique paysage d'hiver, on dirait que tout était bien placé pour le photographe. Les moutons est-ce que tu leur as demandé de faire un beau sourire ou de dire "cheese" avant de prendre la photo pour qu'ils se tournent la tête vers toi. Excellente composition et superbes couleurs sans oublier la note qui est intéressante.
Tous mes compliments pour cette belle photo,
Amicalement,
Emilius