Dall Sheep

Gallery: WildlifePosted September 23, 2011214 views12 comments

A pic from a fun encounter with a herd of Dall sheep rams in Denali. Unfortunately the only one interested in posing was this youngster. The impressive rams kept foraging heads down with only their butts showing. It was a brief encounter, and in most pics there was at least one, like this guy on the right, ruining the frame

Tiny crop from the left (to crop out a poking horn) and top. How i wish i had zoomed out a little more to make room on the right

Nikon D5000, 70-300 VR @ 135mm, f9, 1/200, iso 400,-1/3 ev

Anand

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on September 23, 2011 at 11:49 PM

I like the image of the Dall sheep in the environment. I do wish the mountian tops were more visible, but you got to work with what you get! Thanks for posting.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on September 23, 2011 at 11:50 PM

Nice comp on this animalscape Anand. I like the winding river, mountain range and the fall colors in front. I do wish the light was a bit better in the FG though and the colors do look a tiny bit flat to me.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on September 24, 2011 at 9:42 AM

I love the depth in this one Anand! The colour tones are also very pleasing...overall nicely done...

The pose of the sheep is nice, if anything not having the rump of the one on the RHS included would have simplified the overall composition and improved the image IMHO.

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on September 25, 2011 at 8:55 AM

I really like the comp of this image. We were in Denali and never got anywhere near this close to Dall Sheep.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Walters on September 25, 2011 at 12:13 PM

Like the warm color of the plants and the nice mountains in the background. Maybe just a little brighter.

Registered on October 30, 2005, 405 Posts, 3693 Comments

Comment posted by Oscar Dewhurst on September 25, 2011 at 5:12 PM

I think this is a really nice environmental image - the composition is great, and the colours are super. I just wish that the other one has waited until you had taken this shot before running into it!!

But it is still a fantastic image

Oscar

Registered on August 6, 2009, 85 Posts, 502 Comments

Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on September 25, 2011 at 9:25 PM

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I see that the opinion is split regarding the colours/brightness in the foreground. I had to underexpose the foreground a tiny bit, so that the peaks weren't overexposed. When i saw the result on the LCD, it looked fairly faithful to the scene and i decided not to brighten it up in processing. To be honest the light just wasnt there to set the foreground ablaze. Another excuse to go back to alaska

Glad we all agree that the other sheep does not belong in the frame.

Registered on October 25, 2009, 110 Posts, 835 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on September 26, 2011 at 12:13 AM

Hi Anand,

Well, I think the overall this is a great scene and I quite like the lighting as presented. Yes, I do agree that the white sheep butt on the right side detracts and that the frame would be better without it, but still a pretty expansive and amazing scene...

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on September 26, 2011 at 7:41 AM

I think you've done an excellent work Anand, the technical side look great to me.
And as you say, it faithfully represents what you saw. I don't see that the other ram is a real problem, it's what it is..
Anyway, if you had not mentioned the other ram laying down on the right, I might've thought it a rock

Well done!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on September 26, 2011 at 8:12 AM

Wonderful setting Anand and you got a nice pose from the primary sheep. Agree that it would be an even stronger image without the second animal.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on September 27, 2011 at 7:13 AM

Wonderful image, Anand! Agree about the second ram spoiling what would have been an outstanding image. Maybe you could have cloned it out. Have you tried adding the Graduated Filter in ACR to bring out some details in the distant mountains?

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on September 28, 2011 at 2:32 AM

Really like your choice of DOF as well as for the composition, you've created a wonderful animal-scape picture!

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments