W-Unibrow Archives - Bliss Photographics

Posted on May 21, 2020May 21, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Parks Ranch Rain Shafts

The Rain Shafts over the Barn on the Historic Parks Ranch in Northern Campbell County is classic. I used a telephoto shot about a mile out for the perspective across 40 miles of landscape with a 20 miles wide river valley between ridges here. The ridge in the shadows is only about 3 miles out . Weather over the far ridge. The ridge in the pink light is 40 miles out.

This is about 4 miles from our ranch. That direction is the closest drive I have to make to get to an asphalt road. The next closest paved highway is about 12 miles from here. These guys are my closest neighbor at around 4 miles from my homestead.. It’s 70 miles to the closest traffic 3 way light from here. The trip to those hills in the distance would take you an hour. I’ve had meeting I’ve driven to Casper to many time. (4 hours or so drive). Distances are big out here to go anywhere but where you are lol.

The Historic Parks Ranch is now part of a larger cattle association. It is managed under the Trail Creek Grazing Association. Old original buildings out here. In this remote backcountry were certainly built out of locally milled wood. The rough milled wood from cut from the local old grown pines. The original of homestead there is HUGE and finished around 1920 I understand. The 1950’s marked the last updates to the main house. Still utilized for hunters with year round caretakers living on site. That barn is classic.

Location: A few miles from The Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Title: Parks Ranch Rain Shafts

Posted on March 19, 2020March 12, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Parks School House Site

This capture caught these two young bucks standing on an old country school site. Bucks still with antlers…. (taken in January).

This is section 36 on the map of the local township. Every township has 36 square miles and is mapped by square mile sections. Section 36 is the state owned and controlled School section. Basically the law gives 1/36th of all land to the state automatically. I digress.

The little brown box to the right center of the photo, is the old oil burning stove that used to sit on the Trail Creek/Parks School. Generations of local kids went to school with this view out the back. I’ve heard stories of walking to school from those kids. There are people alive that went to that school. It is physically located about 2 miles south from our homestead as the crow flies. The building that was removed has a few signs it was there.

Other evidence, : the latent archeologist in me…

The aforementioned stove itself is an interesting antique. I’ve worked it with cameras but never liked what I got. I’ll get back to it sometime with the right light… but there are concrete foundations from that old school building, not huge and they looked like they were hand poured. Someone with a small mixer and bags kind of foundations….say 1930’s….. Those concrete chunks were pushed over the lip of and into a nearby gully where they serve as a rock which are currently being slowly naturalized by the environment. Evidence of past lives and events that will mostly be lost to history but they leave clues. It would be interesting to work this site with a metal detector eh? …

Location: just south of the Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Title: Parks School House Site

Posted on February 28, 2020March 2, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Mule Deer Big Buck

Boy I don’t get a chance to “zoom into” a big fellow such as this very often. This is after rut so this guy survived the hunt this year. I call this a 4×5 but there are two brow tines you can’t see in this profile that you can sure hang a ring on. There are so many ways to “classify” how “good” a buck is based on his antlers. I tend to focus at the condition of the animal and this guy is one nice buck. I’m thinking it weights 275 pounds anyway.

Big Male Mule Deer go to 330 pounds and the females go to 200 pounds. The are actually indigenous to North America and are known by those distinctive “Mule” shaped ears. The hear extremely well with those big ears. I suspect they use their sense of smell way more though to detect danger. These guys are herbivores. They are survivors of what ever killed all the MegaFauna during the Pleistocene 11000 years ago.

Biologists say that a Bucks neck will swell up as showing the Mule Deer Buck Near Rut capture. They will swell up to 50 percent larger of a circumference adding more muscle mass. This is all related of course to the Rut which is the annual fight to breed. They live in a world of scents and hormones floating in the air from the does in the group.

Scientific data indicates that this growth is caused by a big surge in testosterone to the deer. That dose of steroids makes the neck muscles get big and also causes the deer to become more aggressive. I had a close encounter with a deer in my back yard a few Novembers ago.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Title: Mule Deer Big Buck

Posted on January 28, 2020January 21, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Big Horns Big Antlers

The Big Horn Mountain Chain is one of the largest ranges in Wyoming. Two peaks exceed 13,000 feet in elevation. The far ridge under the twilight sky is a ways out at 130 miles from camera.

Photographic Musings:

Nice buck… it was very low light. To freeze him in space and time, you need at least 1/200th second. It was very dark, you either give up Fstop (depth of focus) or ISO (camera sensitivity) I gave up f-stop and thusly the mountains in the distance are slightly out of focus. Getting a longer depth of focus is what Fstop does along with either letting in more light or taking it away with higher F-stop numbers.

Geologic Musings.

I live and work higher in elevation that most of the ground between here and there. Obviously that is line of sight. That ground in between is called the “Powder River Basin”. Coal from here generates 30 percent of the electricity we use in the country. Wyoming is a HUGE clean coal producing state.

The coal formed there because the WAVE that the mountains and the adjacent basin make. (The earths crust was crushed east/west to make a wave). Erosion wore the much bigger mountains down to where they are today, filling up that basin with alluvial fan carried sediments. Traveling all the way to the edge of my ranch, those alluvial fans covered/filled up that sedimentary basin (think bathtub at the base of the mountains). Lots of swampy conditions in the topographic low area/basin occurred back in the Paleogene to allow coal formation. All the surface geology between my ranch and the mountains is all about things washing off the Big Horn Mountains.

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands. (Wyotana)

Title: Big Horns Big Antlers

Posted on January 25, 2020January 18, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Just the Highlights Buck

I was able to maneuver around on this buck and get him in the “right position”. . The glare from the sun is very significant in this rarefied light environment. Most cameras would wash out everything. You have to love Sony Alphas… I was working the “Shadow line”. I find where the shadow of the hillside is and “go” there. Adjust for where the deer is and move backwards with the shadow as the sun sets. (the horizon is actually rising at sunset remember ).

Being able to maneuver around with the deer being unconcerned of course is the key to this. In this particular case, I was in a Jeep. I have several sessions similar to this where I was working a parallel ridge several hundred yards away. The deer will even tolerate me away from my vehicle as long as I dress the part and mostly hide my form. I generally am dressed in heavy camo of various kinds depending on the day and how wet it is. I always obscure my human form. I’m still noisy and smelly to them though. Basically I’ve achieved “just another grazer” status with this group. I left them, they didn’t run away from me. If fact I stopped and talked to another rancher down on the county road and pointed them out up on the hill. A rare encounter on a very backcountry road.

We don’t have drive by shootings but we do have a few drive by shoutings up here 😝

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands (Wyotana).

Title: Just the Highlights Buck

Posted on January 23, 2020January 17, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Watching over the Deer Herd

Watching over the Deer Herd (Natural Spirit in the Sky). This is NOT art and is Natural as I photographed it. It’s a total anthropomorphic illusion totally done by mother nature. Border Magic occurs..

I love it when an old man in the clouds is overlooking a herd of mule deer up here in the borderlands. Wouldn’t be the first time (chuckles) Spirits in the sky, particular when they are natural will ALWAYS get my attention. Click !. It lasted about a minute then morphed into something not so anthropomorphic lolol.

Heavily Veiled this sunrise was. I was a few hundred yards out. I’ve been able to drive in among this group but I was on another mission that morning. The Light was my target, not deer closeups in low light… The deer herd is one that frequents this hay field for the Alfalfa that grows there. Water is nearby/running. Isolated and peaceful up there. It’s a wonderful place. The trick is to get the local deer herd familiar with your presence. They don’t see a lot of cars/rigs there. So me driving up and moving VERY slowly across a field stop and go. Acting like I’m grazing, eventually wins them over. In 20 minutes I could have been inside the herd like I was just another cow on the prairie.

This was captured mid spring 2019 and I just found the image buried in an”Images to finish” folder. Sitting nested with 1000’s of untouched images that I pulled for eventual evaluation over the last year or so. Somehow this one got past me for 8 months before I re-discovered the capture a week ago. The main problem with having literally years of work already “in the can” is that sooner or later one has to finish those images lolol. I’m stoic about it. My OCD will get them all done over time. Problem is I keep going out and capturing more each day mostly lolol.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Watching over the Deer Herd

Posted on January 23, 2020January 17, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Double Mint Bucks

Double Your Pleasure, Double your Fun with Double Mint, Doublle Mint, Double Mint Bucks. (commercial Jingle rolls around in your head lol)

I caught these two brothers crossing the country road. I actually “know” these two having watched them grow up from fawns. One is 4 and the other is 3 years old. Running into them often around the ranch, they have seen me so much that they are “Fairly tolerant” of my old Jeep (anyway). I haven’t seen them since my new ride arrived. No clue how they will react to the new rig. I suspect that they will not let me get too close for a while? Familiarity is a big deal with deer. My old Jeep never pushed or pressured them. They just don’t know that about the new bigger black truck.

I tried really hard to move more to my right. That would have better nest those antlers. . They weren’t in the mood for sitting still for me. Deer are like photographing a 2 year old human. They are very photographic but they don’t necessarily want to sit still for you lolol. These two are thick as thieves they are. “The deer on the right is called goal post and is missing his left brow tine. A male mule deer’s ears are 22 inches wide. I’m curious as to how large he will be next spring but he is starting to put on some neck mass.

These guys with the award for synchronized posing certainly. I’m not sure how they could get more alike without me cloning them in the digital darkroom lolol.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands. (Wyotana)

Title: Double Mint Bucks

Posted on January 19, 2020January 11, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Bucks Wrestling During Rut

The two hoodlum mule deer were rutting away on a nice warm morning in the late November sun. There is a lot of effort involved in pushing against another high power to weight individual. These two are not monsters but they are serious about what they are doing. There are females gathered nearby with a bigger buck in charge (more or less for that time). Itinerant Bucks come through ranging quite a few miles in their travels.

The male these guys were training for had a nice herd of females numbering 15 or so. I suspect there will be others besides these two clowns trying to take them away. A lot of itinerant bucks walk through and they have a pretty big range which they can cover quickly. Some of those are bigger than these two by far. Ultimately, the bigger necks and musculature wins the fight but antler size WOWS the gals….

I had a buck try to run me down in my backyard one night in November 2012. It’s a long story but both of us walked away relatively unhurt. I definitely came out of it better than the deer did but he survived too lolol. This event was the causation of me getting serious about building a deer resistant fence around our entire compound. I haven’t had a deer eat my flowers for several years. Young trees survive, it’s a miracle cure for deer pressure.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands (Wyotana)

Title: Bucks Wrestling During Rut

Posted on January 16, 2020January 16, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Buck Ready For Rut

This thick necked 5×6 is working his gals. Running across the field corralling any strays and chasing away challenging suitors. How ever you want to classify him he’s a busy guy at the moment. He obviously survived the hunting locally which was heavier this year. I suspect he will father quite a few fawns shortly. I believe that rut was about 20 days late this year starting in Latest November-mid December. . The rest of the summer was a month late so I suspect they are also effected by the offset weather. This was indeed a very odd year weather wise. Lots of water = lots of grass but fortunately it all didn’t catch fire. There is a LOT of one hour fuel out there at the moment. The cattle are busy eating this all down as I type.

Biologists say that a Bucks neck will swell up much bigger than this capture. They will swell up to 50 percent larger of a circumference adding more muscle mass. This is all related of course to the Rut which is the annual fight to breed. They live in a world of scents and hormones floating in the air from the does in the group he has control of.. He will defend his haram against all new challenges from itinerate males. Looks to me like he needs to do some running as that gut is nothing to “go into the ring” with lolol.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands (Wyotana).

Title: Buck Ready For Rut

Posted on December 24, 2019December 17, 2019 by Frank Bliss

Best Friend Bucks

These two are the best of friends. These two are thick as thieves they are. About 5 minutes earlier, they were sparring with antlers locked. This image was taken about 2 months before the rut. The time is nearing here. They really were working on building up their necks. Those necks will swell considerably the close to the rut they get.

I have followed these two around for several years. These 3.5 year olds have known me since the beginning seeing me out on the ranch land taking photos of their childhood and parents. Now they are starting to really accept me as a another grazing animal. I slowly over time carefully approach deer. They are aware of my vehicles and how I approach. I drive like I’m grazing stopping and stopping. No hurry. Might take me 1/2 an hour to get up this close. I’ve actually worked inside of deer herd boundaries before. I didn’t get a chance to do that this year for what ever reason. Everything has to line up just so for a good day of grazing with the Mule Deer. I will see what they do to my new truck that is supposed to be here two weeks before this posts. Running late.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Title: Best Friend Bucks

Posted on December 22, 2019December 15, 2019 by Frank Bliss

Mule Deer Antler Nesting

This image takes a little examination to figure out whats going on lol. I’m always looking for nested antlers images. Getting deer to line up properly is way above my pay grade. Usually only a deal with “Sneaky Pete” will get deer to take direction.👀 Occasionally I get lucky and can move to just the right spot to take the image. It would be typical for one or the other deer to be moving but not as fast as the moment of their alignment which is fleeting. Usually I don’t have enough time and can’t get the camera set just so. Moments like this last a few seconds at best. Catching unique moments in space and time is the still photographers job. Otherwise we’d be shooting a movie lolol. (I am not and will never be a videographer).

Taken a last year about the same day so not as much snow cover in this capture. Currently the ground continues accumulating snow for the winter… Totally covered by 9 inches or so of snow flat with bigger drifts out in the backcountry. Still waiting (as I type this) for my new ford f-150 that is replacing my 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee. My vehicles play a significant roll in my photography. Being agile and fast in moving from place to place gives me more opportunity to chase light. Light is faster of course but I can predict where it’s going to be and get there first. 😜😜

I spent two hours last Sunday morning (since this posts a week after I write it) clearing my driveway. That’s pretty fast considering how much snow has fallen the year. More importantly most of the fall snow that has fallen for the last month hasn’t melted much. It much harder for the wildlings to get their food grazing. Most ungulates paw the ground to get to grass or just eat sage like Pronghorn do. Running water is the game though. Animals like these bucks are attracted to any open water in this spell of below freezing weather.

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands (Wyotana) 2:1 Aspect Ratio to 40 inches.
Title: Mule Deer Antler Nesting

Posted on November 25, 2019November 16, 2019 by Bliss

Mule Deer Buck Near Rut

Biologists say that a Bucks neck will swell up as showin the Mule Deer Buck Near Rut capture. They will swell up to 50 percent larger of a circumference adding more muscle mass. This is all related of course to the Rut which is the annual fight to breed. They live in a world of scents and hormones floating in the air from the does in the group.

This male had a nice herd of females numbering 15 or so but I suspect there will be others trying to take them away. A lot of itinerant bucks walk through and they have a pretty big range which they can cover quickly. I like his unibrow and he might be the father of ‘Mr. Unibrow” a young fawn with a split ear I’m watching. His unibrow is equally developed as well. Is that a “W” I see for a Wyoming Muley?

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands

Title: Mule Deer Buck Near Rut