DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP AND CRESCENT MOON

PAPAGO PARK, PHOENIX, ARIZONA

Nikon F4s, Nikkor 500mm Lens w/2x Teleconverter, Bogen Tripod, Kodak E100VS Film

I chose this photo to provide an example of what can be done with an image to elevate it from one that is nice to one that is exceptional, after the fact. We have all been in this boat: you get home with your processed slides, lay them out on the light table, see one that stands out, but something just isn't right.

"What's wrong here?" you ask yourself.

"The subject is sharp; the exposure is perfect; the light is beautiful." you tell yourself.

But something just isn't right…

"That's it! That's the problem! It's missing that key ingredient! A moon maybe? Or a sun? But that's it!" you exclaim.

That is exactly what happened to me recently. I had a batch of images that I had just shot in a small park near my home in Phoenix. Papago Park, as it is named, is situated directly beside the Phoenix Zoo, allowing for natural shots of the zoo's resident herd of desert bighorn sheep. This sub-species of the mountain bighorn sheep, found throughout the Rocky Mountain chain, is smaller in frame to suit its dry environment. Their herds are restricted to a small area of the southwest, making them much more difficult to locate and subsequently photograph. The park provides a nice alternative to easily capture the species on film.

This photo is a product of that shoot, but it was not originally as perfect as it appears. In reality the image is actually a slide sandwich. This simply means that two slides have been sandwiched, or placed, together - one on top of the other. Upon viewing my slides, I noticed this one of the bighorn standing atop the red butte. It was made just after sunset, rendering the animal in almost total silhouette. And though I liked the scene and the animal's stance against the sky, it just seemed to lack something.

On the same roll, I had taken a few photographs of the crescent moon as it began to rise. I do this sometimes for the specific reason of possibly using them in a sandwich with other images. As I viewed the two images beside one another, I knew that together they would be perfect. In my eyes this combination made a great shot!

Because these two shots were recorded on the same evening, an equivalent image could have been produced by means of a double exposure. Sometimes though, the thought does not occur until it is too late. This is why it's a good idea to take general moon, sun, and cloud shots for possible future sandwiches. When doing this always remember to bracket exposures so that once the two images are placed together they equal the correct exposure. Have fun, and enjoy creating your own perfect slide sandwiches!