In 2024, statistics showed there were 23.6 million sheep in New Zealand - about 4.5 sheep per person. That sounds like a lot, but the ratio of sheep to humans hadn’t dropped below 5:1 since records first started being kept in the 1850s.

This sheep wandered around a hillside, looking up as if it wanted to climb it. I liked the composition with the angled hillside and the mountain in the background. This is in the Dart River Valley (Te Awa Whakatipu). Scenes from Lord of the Rings in Isengard and Lothlórien were filmed in this region.

Sony A7RIVA, Sony 100-400 f3.5-5.6 @ 345mm, f/10, 1/400s.