The Poser II

Gallery: WildlifePosted August 10, 201482 views5 comments

Hi again, all! This is another portrait of the bighorn I named "The Poser" when I posted a different image of this guy last month.

As I mentioned there, not only did he strike some dramatic poses, he did so in almost every lighting situation conceivable, from forelit to backlit to sidelit to standing in open shade! While this was quite dramatic in colour with just a hint of the greens and blues of the canyon wall behind him showing up in a VERY dark background, I just could not resist trying this in B&W and once I did, I couldn't go back.

I believe I shared elsewhere that this ram was extremely intent on the trees above and behind us, and we couldn't help but wonder if there was possibly a cougar or something up there, as he seemed awfully concerned about that area for the full 30-40mins we spent with him. This was taken during one of his quick checks up the canyon wall. When he struck this pose I simply did not have the time to relocate further back in order to fit his entire horn in on the left and and some additional neck area with the fixed 500mm...although I did shoot several minor variations, I preferred this original frame.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback on this one, but...

PLEASE VIEW THE LARGER IMAGE if you have time!

Field Notes:
Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S II 500mm f/4 IF-ED
ISO 400
1/1000sec @ f/7.1
-1.3EV
monopod

Processing Notes:
Converted from RAW using Phase One Capture One Pro 7
Minor adjustments to tone and contrast using Nik Color Efex Pro 4 and Viveza 2 with additional selective adjustments in PS5
Converted to B&W using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
Full Frame

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on August 10, 2014 at 8:07 PM

WOW! This is absolutely riveting. This is obviously a big, mature ram. Couple that with the pose and the sharpness of the image and you have a real winner her. The clipped horn doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I think it adds to the image.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on August 11, 2014 at 7:49 PM

John, the B/W is perfect! One would think the full horn spread in perfect detail would be necessary. Instead, you have used the horns as a framing element for the wonderfully expressive intensity and detail of the ram's face. Exquisite!

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Fricke on August 12, 2014 at 5:09 PM

Beautiful image John, I like the intimacy of the closeup and think that part of the horn being cut off adds to that. Nice work on the B&W conversion too.

Registered on January 19, 2007, 133 Posts, 1448 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on August 13, 2014 at 10:08 AM

Excellent choice to let the dramatic curl of the foreground horn fall out of the frame, directing our attention to the expression of the ram. Only tweak I can see would be for a little more depth of field for the far horn.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on August 13, 2014 at 9:31 PM

Something about the black and white treatment and processing emphasizes this ram's age, he seems to have a distinguished air to him - he seems very old to me in this shot. Excellent portrait John

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments