I’ve scheduled a few posts to be made while I’m off the grid on another photo venture until the first part of September. For those not familiar with the seasonal calendar of Alaska, late August and early September comprise the time frame in which the autumn colors flourish in the alpine tundra highlands. The boreal forest, a little lower in elevation, peaks a little bit later depending on the northern latitude. This means, besides the fact the snow is coming soon, that it a very colorful, picturesque and busy time of year for photography. I’ll have some autumn photos to share later on.
Dall sheep ram on a rock outcrop that overlooks the Polychrome mountains of the Alaska range in Denali National Park, interior, Alaska. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f/4L IS w/1.4x (700mm), 1/160 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 100, taken with a tripod in live view mode to lock up mirror.
The sheep photo here must rank up there with the least amount of physical exertion I’ve ever spent to acquire a nice shot of one of these mountain dwellers. They are creatures of the highlands where they find protection from predators. While this location is high, about 4000 feet, it is also along the Denali park road in Polychrome Pass, a place that sheep are commonly observed. Some wolves had chased them to this rocky ridge which is situated just 30 feet from the road. The background, distant mountains are especially well suited to a picture that shows their habitat. It was a pleasant change from the normal hike of multiple thousands of vertical feet to find these animals, although I can claim no credit for the work other than being in the right place at the right time! Which sometimes, is a lot of what nature photography is about.
I committed myself to a position in which the light was perpendicular to the subject, which had it’s pros and cons, mainly because of background variation. I usually prefer some sort of side lighting, and these worked out o.k. But, I believe that the desire to be in multiple locations when the light splashes is a common dilemma for photographers.
