Hey--back with a bighorn (surprise, surprise)...but thought I'd throw a bit different one at you, even it was still taken with a 500mm! 
Josiah and had photographed this ram a few days prior to the day this picture was taken, and had spent considerable time looking for him again before spotting him late in the day already bedded high on the cliffs at the base of the Rockies here in SW Alberta. I desperately wanted a better angle (view) of him, particularly showing move of his side, but after much moving around, I decided this was about as good as it was going to get without breaking out ropes and climbing gear. 
This is full-frame top to bottm, but I kind of liked the feel of the extreme vertical crop, particularly the way it stair-stepped the snow patches up to the ram.
Thanks in advance for your comments and critiques...please view the larger version by clicking the image above for best tones and details.
Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4D IF-ED
ISO 1250
1/200sec @ f/6.3
-0.7 EV
Tripod mounted
Live View AF
Comments
6 commentsIt took me a while to find the bighorn, John. That's before I read rhe additional story. Looking at the larger image made me find him. I think it gives a good impression on how these animals live and the way they blend into the environment. Doing the crop only from the sides gives an even better impression on how high and how steep these cliffs are and makes you really wonder how they get up there. The texture in the rocks is great.
Like the cut, you've given this image, somewhat like chinese painting. It has some great textures.
I somehow feel that bighoen needs to be bigger in the frame, to improve the appeal.
Jagdeep Rajput
Hello John
Interesting view, with rock mountain! I too feel like (Wheres Waldo) a larger bighorn view would really Set off this!
Bill
Hey John,
Well...this one is certainly "outside the box", at least from a cropping perspective! On the positive side, it would need little more work to become a great bookmark (but I'm not sure going into bookmark production right now would be a well-timed move).
OK - kidding aside, the image does very successfully convey how vertical (and human "unfriendly") of an environment these beasts occupy. And, I personally like the very small size of the subject and wouldn't want it any larger in the frame. Other positives include the harmonious colour palette and the nice textures of the rocks on the cliff.
Now - the crop. I can't say I like it. For me (and this is purely personal opinion) it feels almost contrived - i.e., that it is an attempt to have the image stand out (rather than having it simply stand out). Another way of saying that may be that if feels a bit like a device? I don't think any of the positives of the image (other than the kinda flippant bookmark comment) I or others have pointed out are dependent upon the extreme crop (and the positives would still exist in a more standard "vertical pano" that conformed to a 1:2 aspect ratio). Just trying to be fully honest. And, I have to admit that if I ran into this shot (with the same crop) in a different media type (e.g., as a long, narrow print on a very narrow wall or beam) I might think it was a cool idea...
Hope this makes some sense...and I sure don't want to discourage you from thinking outside the box!
Cheers...
Brad
Thanks for your comments, Betty-Lou, Jagdeep, Bill and Brad! I really wondered about the size of the ram in this one myself, which was part of my rationale in the extreme crop (technically making the ram a larger percentage of the frame). I think I see your point as well, Brad. I had processed the image full-frame and just started wondering at the end whether it might be better, or at least more memorable, cropped like this. Thank you for the suggestions.
Very well done John, I think the crop works well in this case but it's very different than what we are used to seeing. A version with more room on the left and a little on the right would be worth experimenting with as well.