Perspective on Snowy Backcountry Ridge (Rare Halfie
The “thin layer” of Yellow Alpenglow colors the floating ice above the rising horizon covering the sun. This sets the stage across the middle of this “halfie”. I maybe take 10 ‘halfies” where the horizon is 1/2 way up the frame a YEAR. This capture won over my better instincts as it has such a big perspective. Leading lines are incoming in all directions. I think all the good things compositionally in this image over come the general rule against “halfies”.
“There seems to be no doubt that the vast quality of mutton can be grown here, pound for pound, as cheap as beef; and, if so, then sheep-raising must be profitable if cattle-raising is.”
Silas Reed, surveyor general of the Wyoming Territory, from his report for 1871.
It took a while for the notion of raising sheep to catch on out on the frontier. Eastern states and Ohio raised most of America’s sheep early on in the migration west. . Small numbers of sheep arrived in Wyoming as early as 1847 according to Levi Edgar Young’s The Founding of Utah, a Mormon pioneer company that left Omaha in July 1847 and arrived in Salt Lake City on September 19 included 358 sheep.
Back to the present. The stone Sheepherders Cairn just to the right of the sun has stood perhaps for 100 years acting as a marker or boundary point . Sometimes they were a place for a supply drop for the backcountry solitary herder hanging out with the sheep. The herder protected the sheep of course from coyotes/lions/other predators. They usually lived out of a covered wagon for months at a time literally alone with their flock.
This particular Black Cat Considering Halloween is a scary thing.
In Old Britian and Europe, a black cat walking across your path was considered good fortune. Always setting up arguments with the pagan past, churches thought the cats were associated with witches. This “familiarity with witches comes from Pre-Christian/Pagan Europe when witches weren’t looked down upon. . It was the church, who apparently thought the witches were contemptuously evil and changed their reputation through sermons to the populace.
Aloof to the fuss, black cats were still seen as good luck, until the witch hunts of the 16 and 1700’s in the US and Europe caused them to be affiliated with bad luck. It probably was not a good time to be a witch I’m thinking…. So starting in the Middle Ages because it was thought that a witch could transform herself into a black cat and back again at will which leads to why black cats are still associated with the harvest festival such as Halloween. In some places still today, black cats are considered good luck. Others…. not so much lolol🤣
Factoids: Black Cats almost all have golden eyes and they tend to be healthier than other color cats. Black fur has a survival benefit in camo and not being seen particularly on an inky night. Black cats are more difficult to “Re-home” according to rescue agencies which know such things. More black cats are male than female but the Black fur turns brown in the sun for extended periods so if you want your cat black, keep it out of the sun. 🤔
The end of October is a time here in the winter(ish) borderlands when the fur starts growing quickly into a thick blanket on the barn cats in order to accommodate the coming polar vortexes that sweep over our humble abode each winter. We have seen30 below for a week one year but 20 below every year is common. Keeping everybody fed everyday is the chore here…. Water also needs to keep running to stay open. No room for mistakes in winter here.
Before you notice he (neutered) isn’t wearing a tag, none of my “Barn Cats” wear collars as they 1: don’t leave the compound much as it is way too far to the nearest neighbor across wild country and another domestic cat encounter. 2: would instantly get caught in a fence, a hole or otherwise hang themselves on all the wire surrounding a remote Wyoming/Montana ranch. 3: we have all shots and tags current neutered cats. I’ve had the same 6 cats for 8 years roughly now. We’ve only lost one cat mysteriously in 20 years….. The BobCat’s don’t like our electric wire. 😲
Needless to say, these guys are bad a** tough fellows. They survive Wyoming winters outdoor unheated with access of course to a large barn (no wind inside). They have picked some warm places and sleep together a lot. Someone saw 4 of them in an automobile tire one day. Coiled up inside happy and warm… I wan’t there or I’d be posting that photo lolol…
I do feed them freely but their sole purpose here is to hunt mice which without them, would build up to plague populations with the grain that moves through here. Well fed cats mouse better than hungry cats interestingly enough. They are well acclimated to this environment and know where all the hiding places are. Each is friendly to a cat to humans vaccinated and vet checked…. My nephew who is living on ranch, is spoiling them badly as they show up to his porch now at a designated feeding time every day now lolol.
Happy Halloween. Share freely.
Location: At the ranch Homestead, Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.
Moon on the Rocks is a capture off the top of a local butte. Capturing the Moon and terrestrial objects in the same focal plain is a hobby of mine as I’ve said before. I only get roughly 2 days a month of this opportunity so 24 days a year at best. Usually the weather doestn’ cooperate and seldom is the seeing so good as to have the details sharp so low in the atmosphere. That old atmospheric lens distorts the details so readily, nights like this are a gift to me. No haze, no distortion and a rock outcrop far enough away AND at the right angle….Click !!!
Moon shot Photographic Musings: Taking an image like this is an exercise in getting distance and topography to line up for you. Distance from the hills is a big deal….. Your working your camera on Manual now right?? 🙏 Highest f-stop on the lens is your first setting. (your priority). High fstop gives you a Chance at focusing both the terrestrial Hill top AND the moon in the same image. Deep focus is the only way to do this.. Your other two settings ISO and shutter speed are easy since you set your shutter speed next to the maximum you can hold the camera steady at say 1/30th of a second for a rested camera and your holding the body or use a tripod (be quick cause the moon moves). Tripod moon shots can be a second long (unless your tracking) with the moon if you have a very high fstop and a low ISO (camera sensitivity). The ISO is the last thing you adjust to bring your image into view and ideally into perfection. Mirrorless cameras are easier than DSLR’s to figure this out with so if your just starting with cameras and your buying, buy a mirrorless. You get to see your settings work live real time before you click unlike a modern DSLR camera that you look at the image you just took AFTER the click. No direct light path to the eye as your looking at a video screen inside the camera. You now know all I know about this 🤔
I hope your Monday is going well. I’ve been on computer since 5AM😎…. Mixed Skies but sunrise looks to be a clear sky (boring) sunrise so I’ll stay in and do digital darkroom work (12 degrees outside).
I managed to get within 9 inches of this Robber Fly to get a Close up. They are a little flighty (as in they move if you do lol. He probably loved the BIG ONE EYED creature (my camera) that worked it’s way slowly inward over a few minutes… Takes a little patience and luck with these guys.
