Patriarch in the Making

Hi all! We finally had a break in the heat and with temperatures headed close to freezing tomorrow night, it got me in the mood to work through some of my early-spring bighorn pics.

I'm still holding out on you before I introduce you to my two biggest rams from 2014, but this guy was easily one of my favourites. Josiah and I ran into him on a narrow trail as we worked along a cliff face. In fact, he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and peered through some spruce trees at us from about 10ft away! Once he decided we weren't a threat, he went back to his group and led them from one browsing area to another until they topped out on a bench midway up the mountain. Eventually he went out onto a ledge to survey the valley far below and kept watch while his herd foraged behind him.

While Josiah climbed over a rocky ledge to my left for a better angle, the ram gave him a quick glance as he moved and I took advantage of the over-the-shoulder pose. The background is a little busier than I had hoped but this was the only angle that allowed me to get his full body in the frame. I'm sure Josiah will post one or two of his favourites in the coming weeks, which have a bit cleaner background.

I love how big-bodied this guy is, and if he's got the genetics I think he does, in a couple more years his horns should be pretty phenomenal.

I hope you enjoy...larger version is definitely better on this one IMO.

Thanks for your time and any comments, critiques and suggestions you may have.

Field Notes:
Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4 IF-ED
ISO 3200
1/250sec @ f/7.1
-0.7EV
Tripod mounted

Processing Notes:
Converted from RAW using Phase One Capture One Pro 7 with minor adjustments to colour balance and levels
Tweaked tones and contrast in Nik Color Efex Pro 4 and Viveza 2 with additional selective curves and sharpening in PS5
Noise reduction using Nik Dfine 2.0
Cropped to app. 90% of original file