Having spent last night until about 1am photographing the stars we were due for some extra sleep. Don’t get me wrong we woke up to the alarm at 7am, but we re-woke up around 8:30am haha. Not enough energy to get up and face the cold. Once up however we first headed for the National Elk Refuge. A practice that will pay off with a little patience. By The time we got there it was about 9:30am and the big horn sheep were just starting to make their way down the butte. With the way the sun rises it took another 45min to get the refuge fully lit. Miller Butte is one of the featured locations within the refuge. It’s a single, unpaved, one way road covered in snow and ice. That adds to it all though!
You want to talk about graceful? These big horn sheep make it down some spectacular cliffs against gravity; which waits for no one. This guy here was just in a fantastic location. The situation provided the perfect isolation for a slightly blurred background and only the subject matter in focus. He rose up to greet the sun. Something I can imagine must have felt like an eternity.
If a big horn sheep were to strike a pose I think this would be it. A handful of males made it half way down at just the right level to get them full in the viewfinder. The light kept us there for hours just photographing away.
Say it with me now, “Awwwww.” Hehe, these little guys were the most adventurous of the bunch. The herd spread as far as the road we were standing on until the top of the butte. Just walking by the car and down the trail. Something I have never seen or experienced. I guess they are getting slightly accustomed to people. I’d hate for the young males to think my rental was a competing young buck though, haha.
Big males have been wandering around the park, but never getting off their butts to say hello. This gorgeous creature finally decided to greet us after 45min or so of waiting. Believe it or not there were atleast 11 of them within binocular distance. Normally these are very solitary animals so to find such an abundance was just a real thrill.
Chasing the sun (we seem to be doing that a lot lately) to get some subjects in the last golden hours of the day we rushed hustled flew drove promptly to Gros Ventre to see what was hanging out. As soon as we made the turn the same herd of pronghorn were back where we first found them. This image pretty sums up how they felt about us. Not too patient or cooperative.
As the sun left so did they. Driving up to see if I could get another chance with them I soon gave up. Unfortunately some people didn’t. I knew the light was gone, but people and their pop-up flashes thought they had the physics defying key to get the shot… Either way I threw on my 50mm f/1.8 (yep a 100$ lens) and took this shot. The Teton range was fading in color and if you look carefully (sry I can’t make it bigger for the net) part of the herd is working their way towards them. A fantastic way to sum up the day. Here’s hoping there is room for more to come!
P.s. if anyone has used the Sigma 50-500mm lens before can someone explain to me how a lens will focus out at 500mm, but not when it is zoomed in and pointed at infinity? It seems to have magically developed a massive front focus issue where it can’t find infinity… Yet all my close-ups are tack sharp. It’s a frustrating issue to say the least. If you have any ideas drop me a line. If your like me then fighting with your equipment will make you want to see how well it can fly if you catch my drift 
(hold “Ctrl” and tap (dash)”-” to make the panorama fit. Also if you have a scroll wheel on your mouse hold “ctrl” and roll the wheel for size. Sorry for the scaling, will have to work it out later; sleep time 
