DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP
Our party of four had just hiked to the top of one of the canyon heads in Colorado National Monument (23,000 acres, 93 sq. km.) when we encountered this magnifi...
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Our party of four had just hiked to the top of one of the canyon heads in Colorado National Monument (23,000 acres, 93 sq. km.) when we encountered this magnificent ram standing on a rock beside the trail. After five or ten minutes of posing while we clicked away he moved to another rock that was almost as close and posed for us again.
Thought to have once numbered in the millions, desert bighorn sheep were nearly wiped out largely through overhunting and other human activity. Currently there are an estimated 8,500 to 9000 remaining in the southwestern deserts of the US.
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Thought to have once numbered in the millions, desert bighorn sheep were nearly wiped out largely through overhunting and other human activity. Currently there are an estimated 8,500 to 9000 remaining in the southwestern deserts of the US.
Read less
Oct, 2019Views
580
Likes
Awards
Winner in Big Horn Sheep Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Magnificent Capture
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Genius
Superior Skill
Virtuoso
Emotions
Impressed
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texaaronpueschel
January 07, 2020
The wonderful depth of fields bring out the subject. It was also a good choice to use vertical composition.
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Behind The Lens
Location
The desert bighorn was photographed in the Colorado National MonumentTime
It was mid afternoon.Lighting
The natural lighting conditions were ideal. The sun was on a high angle and backlit almost the entire body of the bighorn ram as it stood majestically against the darkened cliff face in the background that was already caught in shadow by the mid afternoon sun.Equipment
I used a Nikon D500 coupled with a Nikkor 18 to 300 mm lens which on the DX formatted processor which this Nikon uses converts the image into the equivalent of using a 24 to 450 mm lens.Inspiration
Finding a desert bighorn standing on a rock high up in the mountains was reason enough to have me jumping at the chance to photograph him. He posed long enough for me to take several photos ranging from headshots to wide angle. I chose this photo to enter in the challenge because there were so many conditions displayed that just happened to be ideal. I've already discussed the lighting conditions that served to make him stand out against a darkened background. There also were two natural lines in the background (the edge of the vertical cliff and the angular shadow) that by moving myself to the right viewing position had them come together just above the ram's shoulder, enhancing the position of the subject. As luck would have it the vertical line just happened to correspond with the vertical line of the ram's head while the angular line matched the angle of his back.Editing
While I generally do a lot of post processing in this case other than a tad of cropping and a bit of sharpening around the head I did very little.In my camera bag
My photography is mostly of wildlife in the field. My camera bag is a sling bag which means I can at a moments notice swing it from my back to my chest to give quick access to the camera. In addition to the Nikon D500 and the 18 to 300 mm Nikkor lens there are spare batteries, extra SD cards and lens cleaner. While I used to carry a tripod and an external flash I find myself using them so rarely that I often leave them behind to cut down on the bulk and weight. I have replaced the bag's protective inner lining with a gardener's mat which serves both as camera protection between shoots and something to sit or kneel on as needed occasionally when taking pictures. I also carry a light rainproof windbreaker in one of the bag's pocket.Feedback
On sunny days I often prefer to photograph subjects when the light source is in front of me at an angle as in this case, rather than having the sun shine over my back. Not only is frontal side lighting great for producing highlights on subjects like bighorn most other furry critters, and making people's hair glow, its also great for making the relief in mountains really stand out.
