Bighorn Sheep
Bighorn Sheep abound in the Wind River Canyon, yet are elusive and difficult to find when you really want to show someone these magnificent animals. Bighorn Sheep are large, strong mountain climbers that can run up a sheer cliff where I can't follow, even if I wanted too, which makes them difficult to photograph. They were released into the Wind River Canyon in 1995 with the cooperation of more people and agencies than could possibly be named in my blog, and now run free again in the Canyon.
The weather was beautiful last Sunday, the twenty-second of September; I was working in the yard all morning trying to get caught up before the first snowstorm of the season came in with a bang. Just after half a chicken sandwich there they were, a group of yearling Bighorn Sheep with their mother's in charge. It was a large group of Bighorn moving south right across the Wind River from our cabin. The young Bighorn would be about six months old by now, and this was an excellent opportunity to add something really cute to my blog. And as I've said it before, "Have your camera always ready to shoot." I grabbed the heavy Canon 7D and ran out the front door trying to make sure of the ISO on the now mostly cloudy afternoon.
Down the hill and across the road I limped, my knees trying to tell me to slow down a bit, but I never have been able to take orders. I thought about the tripod on the way out, decided not to take it and wished I had slung aluminum beast over my shoulder anyway. This now means I had to shoot the five pound monster Canon freehand, at shutter speeds that was going to make this frenetic shoot challenging, and I love the adrenaline rush of this kind of a photographic safari in Wyoming.
The shutter speed turned out to be 1/500th of a second at f/8 with an ISO of 500; at approximately thirteen working power it's hard labor just holding the 300mm Canon f/4 and Canon 1.4 extender steady: This turns out to be 670mm for those that are interested in the math. I shot a total of 50 frames as I tried to keep up with the herd. Along the way I met a fella that had the new Canon 200-400mm zoom lens with the same camera I use; it cost him one hundred dollars a day just to rent the white monster lens! I tried to encourage this couple to build a website for their work, let's hope they do.
The Bighorn Sheep baby photos turned out cuter than cute, here's our favorite, right here from the Wind River Canyon. Next week I will have something in my blog that I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd get to photograph in the Canyon. So, until next week, keep your camera ready!
