Rocky Mountain Bighorn in Rocks

[Steve Canuel]

Took one last trip to see the Bighorns for the season. The rut was pretty much over but I was still able to grab a few shots I liked. Dark, cold, and overcast with snow flurries on and off, the rams were still looking good. 7D, 500/4, f4, 1/320s, ISO 800, handheld from vehicle, very small crop from left and top.

[Rachel Hollander]

Steve - Nice pose and comp with good detail and sharpness. Well done.

TFS,
Rachel

[Harshad Barve]

Steve

Exquisite pose and image here , everything for SUPER-LIKE :cheers::cheers::cheers:
Definitely one of your best I have seen
TFS

[Gen Benjamin]

very nice, love the warm tone to the image and especially love the gaze in his eyes.
Gen

[Sid Garige]

Very nice image Steve. Great pose.

[Steve Kaluski]

A cracking image Steve. :cheers:

TFS
Steve

[Marc Mol]

Love the look of cockiness on this ram, well portrayed Steve.
TFS

[Ken Watkins]

Steve,

These are beauties in a strange way.
Great detail on the ram, but I do find the lighter rocks a bit of a nuisance.
Do they require a little toning down?

[DanWalters]

Great looking bighorn! Very sharp and I like the details in the horns. Was this near Georgetown?

[Todd Frost]

Great pose on the ram Steve. Exposure, color and sharpness spot on. I like the pov and the dof make him stand out nicely from the bg. Well done.
TFS
Todd

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Steve, you have absolutely nailed this. Great IQ, and I like the light and sharpness. I also like the angle here. You said you shot from a vehicle. If you got out ( if you were allowed to ) would the bighorn have bolted?
BTW, well captured.

[Danny J Brown]

Steve,

I agree with some of the others that this is one of your best yet of this species. His position in the rocks at the high angle with such clear eyes makes for a fantastic image. The light was extremely kind to you here, as well. Everything it tack sharp and it looks like you've used an extremely low ISO setting......for Steve Canuel, that is.:)

DB

[Steve Canuel]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Ken,
I did do some contrast reduction and selective lightening/darkening on shadows and bright spots to "smooth" the BG. I wish they blended better or were absent when captured but they were acceptable for me as posted. An issue of photographer's preference I suppose.

Dan,
Yes.

Stuart,
The herd in this area is pretty habituated to people. The canyons and cliffs that they live on drop straight down to a highway in some areas and I've seen them walking on the shoulder of the road with vehicles whizzing past at 65+ mph. As long as you're below them on the hills, they're pretty comfortable as long as you keep a respectable distance. I've been around other herds in much more remote areas that were pretty tolerant of my presence as well as long as I stayed downhill.

Danny,
800? Dang! I knew I forgot to change something! :p