The Badlands of South Dakota is one of the few places I’ve visited that the light allows one to photograph all day. Sometimes, the the midday light will be just as harsh and bright as any other place, but if one were to give it a few minutes, the weather would shift and bring in clouds or rain (or hail, as my experience has been on several occasions).
Early morning and late afternoon into the evening still tends to be the best time for wildlife, so my midday hours were spent mostly capturing the changing landscape. During one such afternoon, as I was quietly standing on a bluff waiting for the light to change, I heard noise to my left. Up the steep wall came a bighorn doe and her kid, popping up out of nowhere only 30 feet from where I stood.
I didn’t get closer to them, not wanting to disturb them, but I did back up and circle around to a different vantage point, where I could capture the scenery around us…
Always nice to have unexpected company…