Muskox and baby
A young muskox calf and adult on the turndra of Alaska’s arctic north slope. Canon 5D Mark III, 500mm f/4L IS w/1.4x (700mm), 1/200 sec @ f/11, ISO 400
Baby muskox rank up there with the cutest of all little creatures. There were four young ones in this herd of ancient and odd looking animals. Like many wild animals that I’ve spent time with, the younger the accompanying offspring, the more wary they behave – for obvious reasons when one considers the predators that are all too ready to strike. I spent the afternoon getting some exercise under the cloudless skies, waiting for the hot and harsh light to tame down a bit. Even by 9:30pm, the light is still pretty harsh in this setting, but better something than nothing. I ended up hiking across the tussocks and fording a chilly river to photograph these animals, but by they decided to eventually move on before the soft, late evening light fell.
I shot this scene at f/11 in order to get enough depth of field to have the muskox calf and the adult female in the focus. This is one of the rare instances when the animals looked at me. For most of the time they were feeding on the tundra, or napping, and not offering or expressing much interest in me.
