Dinner time was calling these sheep, all only a few weeks old, to come with their mothers to dinner on a Virginia farm. The sheep were pretty well mannered about everything....although some did find a way to get more than others!

After dinner my children held several of the lambs, helped get their water ready and did a few other tasks for their aunt and uncle who raise them. When we were done, the babies were left in the heated barn to protect them from a strong cold front that hit that night. The little lambs needed the extra protection, just because we don't want to lose any of them! Just minutes after we left I missed an opportunity I'd wanted to capture for years on the farm, the birth of a lamb. The last pregnant mother gave birth to two more lambs.

I have to say that is one of the hardest sets of challenges facing photographers wanting to capture a realtime photojournalism story: We have to be there, the conditions need to be "right" and we have to be prepared for those two conditions to collide before us. This gets even harder if you want to make that moment art.

I think that is why, even though I love all types of photography, trying to capture the beauty of life in its own moment is my favorite type of photography bar none. I love the challenge and the reward that comes from these adventures, and I say quite a few prayers of thanks when I see the moment captured in my frame.

-ehw