Last April, I took a photograph.

It was one of about 20, but I knew back then it was special. I hadn’t realised how special it would be.
I saved that photo for the Rural Life category of the British Life Photographer of the Year. It won, I won, and I am overjoyed by the response.

Now this wasn’t a normal photo for me.

I don’t tend to set images up, Unless doing commercial photography. I don’t have the patience for wildlife photography and three small girls prevent me from doing sunrises and sunsets, but this time it was different.

So, back to last April.
It was lambing time and one of my jobs is to hand rear any lambs that don’t have a mother for whatever reason. In my stable I have a heat lamp, behind a wooden hurdle lie vulnerable lambs that need that extra heat, to survive, to have a chance, to replace their mums heat. This lamp casts a beautiful soft glow over my small stable and its occupants when the sun has left the sky.

The straw bedding rustles gently as the small feet totter around on it. The milk replacement fluid pervades your nostrils as the lambs hungrily accept their feed. I wanted to capture the calmness along with gravity of the task in the image.

So I got my tripod, my remote shutter and composed the image that won. The same image was played out night after night that season, just without the shutter firing in the corner.
Things have changed this year, we have a milk machine so I shall be tending to my ‘Intensive Care lambs’ in one of our barns, it certainly won’t be so photogenic so I’m glad I captured the image when I did, a moment in time.

I also manage to squeeze four other commended images into the exhibition. Seeing my images gracing the walls of the gallery is very humbling, yet thrilling that my views on Rural life are of such interest to others.

The British Life Photographer of the Year exhibition runs at the Mall Galleries in London until 23rd February. Then it tours the rest of the country on these dates