Mountain Sheep (Banff, AB)

Back from my weekend trip to Banff, AB for the second year in a row, and I loved every minute of it. Okay well not 'every' minute. Of the two full days we were there, we spent them hiking, and in total, over 30km of hiking.

The second hike was to Aylmers Pass. 9km along side a beautiful lake with som elevation gain, but to reach the lookout, you had to continue another 2km with a 600m elevation gain.

Jon (future brother in-law) and also a newb to the forums, recently bought a 20D as well. For the trip I rented the 100-400L lens, along with my 17-55.

I was pretty upset as for the majority of the hike, as there was almost no wildlife. To go towards the summit, a large red sign indicates Grizzly Bear territory, and as much as I didn't want to run into one, seeing one from far away would of been worth while.

By the time I got to the lookout, and returned to the bottom, both toes had large blisters on them. My entire body was pretty sore. I stopped by the lake, and wrapped up both toes, for the 9km journey back to the car. All the time wishing I could see one eagle or anything for that matter.

Then close to the end, we come around a corner, and see a mountain sheep. 2 or 3 for that matter, and they are crossing our path. So we stop and let them continue up the hill. Thats when we notice that there isin't 2-3, but more like 10-15.

I ripped my camera/lens out of my pack, and start shooting. We were maybe 15-20' away. Jon pulled out the wide and also started shooting. Thats probably when I noticed that 2-3 of the sheep were keeping a hawk eye on us. The girls got worried, and left us, but Jon and I started to shoot. Thats also when I noticed a few babies in the group. 2-3 of the sheep kept a constant eye on us.

Something musta spooked them, and they did a mad rush for about 5-10 seconds, but stayed in the general area. It was pretty nuts. Rocks came flying down towards us, but we were okay. A few times however the guards inched towards us, and I kept my hand on my bear spray ready, but they engage.

I figured they would let us know if we were outstaying our welcome as we were in their territory, so about 10-15 mins later, I silently thanked them for letting us photograph them, then Jon and I silently moved on.

Well I figured this story was needed to add a little more story behind these shots. I haven't gone thru them all, but will slowly add as I edit them. Hopefully Jon will break his newbieness and post his first pics up here. I haven't seen his shots, but its gonna be interesting to see the wide shots.

Here's one of the guards who I could feel his eyes digging into me. I swear he was saying 'go on make my day, I'll knock your ass down the mountain and chew on that white lens of yours!'

Love that shot! Think you'll buy that lens in the future?

cosworth wrote in post #3289856
Love that shot! Think you'll buy that lens in the future?

Thanks! Seriously? For the used price of this lens, I could see it being in a bag sometime shortly. Thats if the boss will allow me that is 17-55, 70-200, and 100-400. Done.

Here's two of the guards watching me. I think I took this shot right when a mosquito was buzzing in my ear. I went to swat it away, and ended up knocking my sunglasses of my head, which fell on the rocks. Yeah, that sparked their attention. I seriously thought if I bent over to pick them up, i'd be feeling some horns on my ars, but I got lucky.

Those USM tricks are working. These are great. I get tired of tree sharks and birds. Composition on #2 is great. Timing too.

"You talkin' to me?"

Yes, your USM trick rocks the casbah!

"bend over, bend over for me!"

cosworth wrote in post #3289905
Timing too.

Need I say they were staring at us like this for the entire time we were shooting them. Talk about intimidation. Sure I'm taller, but they had the advtantage being higher than me with gravity on their side.

Okay here's one last one for the night, then its off to bed for some more recovery.

I caught this guy going for a back scratch. If you click on the image you'll see a larger version with more detail. What I didn't notice then, but noticed now, is you can actually see how much effort he is putting in. If you look to the left of his face (last two shots), you'll see the specs of bark that is flying off the tree.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.ditchmond.c​om/images/misc/mtsheep​3.jpg