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Practice makes better

Posted on December 15, 2022December 15, 2022 by kritterspaw

People have often asked me, ‘how do you get so close to the animals?’, or ‘where do you find them?’. It’s not rocket science. The short answer is, I go out A LOT. It’s not like the occasional trip I get lucky on. It’s a whole bunch of trips… and every once in awhile I get lucky.

Luck definitely plays a part. But the more I find myself in a situation, the more I can use my gear, the more I can practice. All these things allow me to be better prepared when an opportunity presents itself.

I do find that the storms bring out the animals, and add more interest to the photographs. So we go out after most storms, whether it’s rain, sleet or snow (kinda like the postman). Where I find certain animals, I tend to go back, hoping I’ll get lucky again.

Having warm gloves that aren’t too bulky helps, making sure I can still operate my camera. When I encountered this herd of big horn sheep after a recent snowfall, it was 19F. I could barely feel my fingers, let along depress the camera release… and that was with good gloves and hand warmers. Being prepared allowed me to stay the course and get some nice shots.

Being able to take action photos, hand held, was a matter of having had proper settings, fast enough shutter, and panning the scene and composing the photo on the fly.

I know I need more practice to continue to improve my craft and to pay attention to what I do wrong, so that I can get better. It’s always a challenge, and I welcome the opportunities that may come my way so that I can.

You can see more of these big horn sheep photos here. https://kritterspaw.com/2022/12/15/like-a-little-kid/

Snow Shelter

Posted on March 12, 2022March 12, 2022 by kritterspaw

Animals shelter when the temperature drops and the snow flys. They hunker down and protect themselves from the elements and predators seeking food sources.

So when the storm is over, we go out searching for critters coming out of hiding to gather food.

I always laugh as we bundle up to be the first ones out in the fresh fallen snow looking for animals. It seems like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but we are more lucky than not, and often find a number of wildlife, and even manage to get their picture (though not always).

… and luck is the apropos sentiment, as we leave our home and debate, ‘which direction should we go today’?

I admit to being very fortunate when we go out, but we also go out a lot, are prepared for what we might encounter, and tenacious enough to keep trying even if we aren’t successful the first time. They say, fortune favors the bold, in our case it favors the tenacious photographer.

First Snow

Posted on January 1, 2022January 2, 2022 by kritterspaw

We got our first snow of the new year… woohoo. We were happy to get about 6″ overnight.

So we went out looking for animals, hoping to get some snow animal pix… and we weren’t disappointed.

We encountered a large herd of elk lounging around the falling snow.

We also saw a buck foraging in the snow.

… and were thrilled to find some big horn sheep.

I guess what they say is true, you have to seek to find. I’m so glad we ventured out and found animals enjoying the new snow.

See more animal / snow pix here… https://kritterspaw.com/2022/01/02/weather-promises/

Big Horn Lounging

Posted on July 30, 2021 by kritterspaw

I do enjoy it when we see animals. We encountered these big horn sheep enjoying a grass field lying in the shade and munching away.

It was almost as if they were talking to one another, laughing and telling stories, while others just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon.

Most of the ones in this herd were males, or rams, with only a few female ewes. The boys demonstrated their dominance by locking horns, but seemed more affectionate than fierce.

While I tried to keep my distance, they didn’t seem to mind that I was there and got closer to me than even I was comfortable. I took every advantage of their presence.

Little Horn Sheep

Posted on February 18, 2021February 18, 2021 by kritterspaw

It’s not very often we see big horn sheep. But this past week we went out to take pix of the snow and ran into a herd of big horn sheep, including 7 babies. Woohoo!

I can probably count how many times I have seen big horn sheep on 1 hand. They are one of the less common big animal encounters. We were lucky enough to not only see big horn sheep, but babies… and in snow on top of that. It was like a 3-fer.

It made my day, if not my year! I was very happy to have a positive jolt of goodness in what has been a difficult time for us personally. You take joy where you can get it.

I guess we need to get out more!

Alstrom Point

Posted on December 12, 2020December 12, 2020 by kritterspaw

We have had more trips cancelled this year than we have gone on. Such is the year 2020.

We had put off our trip to Alstrom Point, overlooking Lake Powell, due to weather. Not bad weather, but too much blue sky! With little rain or clouds on the horizon, a beautiful typical AZ blue sky can be less than photogenic.

So when forecasts for clouds came out, we packed up and headed out. Unfortunately, there were none. While we were there, the weather forecast called for clouds the next day (when previously it had called for Clear and Sunny). So we stayed another day. All we got was more blue sky. So we headed for home.

On the way home though, we were gifted with a great little surprise: big horn sheep.

I anticipated where they were headed and stalked into them. Fantastic.

By the time we got home, we were greeted with 2″ of snow. Go figure! (Check out snow pix here … https://kritterspaw.com/2020/12/12/blizzard/)

Sometimes magic happens when you least expect it. Stay the course. Stay positive, and keep on doing what you enjoy.

Big Horn Herd

Posted on December 22, 2019December 25, 2019 by kritterspaw

A funny thing happened to us on the way home from Vegas… we ran into a herd of big horn sheep!

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There must have been 2 – 3 dozen of them, walking down from the hills to graze in the grass.

They were beautiful to watch as they grazed and played.

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I spent hours trying to catch their activities. They didn’t seem to mind that I was there, and posed for me… though it was hard to get their attention, as they were keen on the lush grass they came for.

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A ewe after my own heart – it’s all about the food! :)

Check out more pix from our trip here… https://kritterspaw.com/2019/12/22/sea-critters/

Photography Genre

Posted on December 22, 2019December 22, 2019 by kritterspaw

When I started getting serious about photography I kept reading that one should pick a ‘genre’. I was like, ‘what the heck is that’? Why can’t I take any kind of photo I want?

As I read more and photographed more, it made sense. A wedding photographer needs certain skills and tools to take beautiful wedding portraits, just as a sport photographer, and they are each different.

So, I thought – I want to be a landscape photographer.

So, I was surprised when the first photograph I got published was wildlife.

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I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. We just got back from a trip to the beach from AZ, and these are the pix I brought back – all wildlife.

Do what you’re good at… and what you enjoy, and you’ll be good at it.

Big Horn Sheep Release

Posted on November 13, 2018 by kritterspaw

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Every once in a while you get the opportunity to be a part of something truly special. That’s how we felt this week when we got the chance to witness (and photograph) the release of 30 Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep into their historic habitat along Leonard Canyon.

An amazing helicopter pilot with one eye on the sky, hands on his controls, and one eye on his precious cargo, lifted crates of bighorn sheep that had been collected from another habitat in Morenci.

By moving this selected grouping of rams, ewes, and lambs, the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep can become diverse across Arizona assuring their continued growth and health.

Not only is Leonard Canyon / East Clear Creek a historic habitat for the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, but ironically, our recent Tinder Fire makes for ideal conditions.

In the aftermath of our Tinder Fire, vegetation continues to grow back, which is full of nutrients for the wildlife that will return to our area for the new growth.

Hopefully these bighorn sheep will make Leonard Canyon and the surrounding area their new home, and thrive and flourish in their new environment.

I was delighted and honored to be part of such a tremendous and joyous event, where many hard working, caring people worked hard to bring these bighorn sheep back ‘home’. It was a beautiful thing to witness the many professionals who brought this all together through their hard work, dedication, and expertise. My sincerest thanks go out to AZGFD for allowing us to be part of this special treat.

You can read AZGFD’s news release here …. https://www.azgfd.com/bighorn-sheep-restored-to-historic-habitat-near-tucson-payson/

The Ram Have it

Posted on June 26, 2018June 26, 2018 by kritterspaw

It’s not very often we see ram (otherwise known as mountain sheep). I think the last time we saw them was on Canyon Lake in Mesa. We have never seen them in Northern AZ. There was a time ww saw some in Utah, in Zion National Park….

But during our trip through Greer / Hannigan’s Meadow area… an area between 8500 – 9000 feet in elevation, we saw a whole herd (of 4).

I was ready at the camera to get some shots. They didn’t pay much attention to me when I told them they should go into the light, as they gravitated to the shade (who can blame them?), or look toward me… say cheese, er, grass?