Today was the first day of Base Camp South Dakota. It was an excellent day. Dad, myself and the three participants are out in Custer State Park discovering the wonders of what makes this place so magnificent. This morning we were enjoying the delights of the Mountain Bluebirds on the fence posts that run along side the road. It’s mating time and the males are displaying for the females, how many of us have said those words. They proved to be a particular challenge for me, having to hand hold the 6oo out the vehicle window is not something im very good at, yet.
The morning winded down with the light getting to harsh for any good opportunities, which meant getting into the classroom for some learning. After a few hours in the classroom we went out looking for the Bighorn Sheep that inhabit these hills. We got so incredibly lucky and found a ram group of six rams! Now if you have been to my blog before then you know that i shoot a lot of sheep, it’s true i do enjoy photographing them, and I’m not alone in that feeling. Dad loves shooting them too, safe to say more so than myself. These bug guys were right next to the highway which poses two problems; one, the cars going by us with tripods and big lens out and two, people tend to stop. The group had to maneuver around the trees while staying off the road. not always easy but definitely worth it. This was one of my worst shots that i captured in those two hours.
After the amazing couple of hours with the sheep we wiggled down the road to the wildlife loop looking for critters in the dying sunlight. We found the usual pronghorn doing exactly what they do, grazing. The sun was getting low and this nice male tee’d up perfectly on the hillside for us to shoot. Along with him were six females grazing a little lower down but still in good range. The day ended perfectly with great shooting in the evening just like the morning, and this was day one! Stay tuned for more.
Images captures with D2Hs, 600f4, TC-14E, 70-300AF-S VR(Pronghorn) on Lexar UDMA Digital Film