VN #040: Bighorn Sheep in Farwell Canyon
Posted September 8, 2024
Bighorn Sheep in Farwell Canyon
Just east of Williams Lake, on the western edge of the Chilcotin Ark, resides one of two subspecies of bighorn sheep; California Bighorn Sheep.
Over the years, I have visited and photographed the Farwell Canyon area many times. On occasion, if I was lucky, I would see one or two, or even a herd of 15 or 20 bighorns, grazing the sage covered grasslands or climbing amidst the hoodoo cliffs which tower above the Chilcotin River.
Photographing a few sheep in the distance is one thing, capturing dramatic moments for my book, Spirit in the Grass, was a different thing all together. Composition, technique, local knowledge, and sometimes a bit of luck, were all a part of the equation.
Casting their shadows
Having brunch at great risk
The great traverse
Curiosity
Showing off my best side
Tranquility during a snow storm
In one sense I feel lucky to have captured these special moments, but in another sense, I feel I made them happen by doing what serious photographers do: being there, paying attention to my immediate surroundings, and constantly scanning, listening, hoping, imagining, and waiting.
For every ten or twenty sightings, there is one that makes a surprise appearance, and that moment is otherworldly.
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