The Background is the Stage

Bighorn sheep are one of my favorite critters to spend time with and photographing having spent decades with them. I know their world really well but most think of them as living in one place. High up on a cliff. And while that is where they feel safest, that’s not the only place they live. We found them last week on a knoll in Yellowstone amongst the bison and pronghorn. It was as far from a cliff as you can imagine. They weren’t up high but rather, out in the open on the flats. The photo below is how most saw (it was your basic Yellowstone car jam) them at that time and while there is nothing wrong with that click below, the stage wasn’t really set for this regal critter.

Above you can see the photo I desired and one I couldn’t get until the last moment. I saw the stage but had no star! The entire herd had moved through, none going up to the edge of the knoll where there was an opening in the pines with the distant mountains in view. I was hoping for an animal in that aperture to give a sense of space, height, wilderness. Finally, literally, the last ewe ventured to that spot I wanted for the star, it was the perfect stage. No, it doesn’t show it living on its vertical world but it does show them to be at the top of it. Being picky about the background can make an impact in your photograph. Because the background is the stage.