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VALAIS BLACKNOSE SHEEP

THE FURKA PASS, SWITZERLAND

IMAGE NUMBER 1081

The Valais Blacknose sheep is reared for both meat and wool. The wool is coarse and the annual yield is about 4 kg per head. The breed originates in the mountains of the canton of Valais in Switzerland – from which its name derives – and of the Bernese Oberland. It is documented as far back as the fifteenth century, but the present German name was not used before 1884; the breed standard dates from 1962. In the past there was some cross-breeding with imported sheep, in the nineteenth century of Bergamasca and Cotswold stock, and in the twentieth century of the Southdown breed. Valais Blacknose sheep have become a trophy sheep for photographers.

TECHNICAL NOTES

The image was taken with a hand-held Phase One 645XF Camera at ISO 200. Exposure of 1/1250th of a second and an aperture of F5.6. Schneider Kreuznach 45mm lens with leaf shutter. The image was captured on a Phase One IQ3 100 megapixel digital back.