On Top
Photographer: Ray Hennessy
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I've spent quite a bit of time in desert habitats the past few years. Mostly in the winter so I can enjoy warm weather in the van during that time of year. In that time however I haven't had a chance to photograph Desert Bighorn Sheep. I finally got the chance to spend some time with them during a recent week long visit to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. What a stunning and perfect place to get my first sighting of these beautiful animals. As always with any sheep or goats it's mind-blowing to watch them walk and run around the cliffs they live on. This photo was taken towards the end of the trip and required some sketchy rock scrambling and climbing on my part to get to this vantage point. I knew there was a small group of sheep hanging out on top of the rocks across this canyon. My original plan was to climb up the rocks the sheep were on but I couldn't find a safe way. So instead I went up to this spot and waited. Thankfully after only a few minutes this young ram came around the corner and looked right at me. I started taking some photos and thought to myself, "if he would go right to the top what an amazing shot it would be." He must have read my mind because in a few moments he walked exactly where I wanted him to go! It was maybe 30 minutes before sunset, the sky was dramatic, the sun was lighting up some additional red rocks in the background and I had already figured out this composition at 43mm so it was a simple thing to capture once it all lined up.
1/2000 • f/5 • ISO 400 • Nikon Z6iii • 43mm • Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4-8
