"That Was a Good One!" A wild stallion appears to enjoy a good joke, but he's really just smelling and gesturing towards his mares. Montana's last band of wild horses live in the Pryor Mountains, in the southeastern corner of the state. You can learn more about Montana's wild mustangs by visiting the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center.

I like to photograph animals behaving naturally. Animal behavior is fascinating, often curious, and sometimes funny.

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JohnAshleyFineArt > "Curious Fawn."

Curiousity gets the best of a spotted fawn, and he peeks out from underneath mom's protective care. (Note cards available here.)

Behind the lens.

For a newborn animal, there's a lot that must be learned in a short amount of time if it's going to survive to adulthood. Both fear and curiousity are instinctive, and they tend to temper each other during this crash course in learning.

Here, curiousity wins out over fear as a spotted fawn sneaks a look at what might well be her first glimpse of a human.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Eye-to-eye."

A bull moose looks forward to a summer of growing his velvet-covered antlers. The caloric needs to grow a pair of antlers is about the same amount that a female moose needs to grow a calf.

Behind the lens.

We discovered this moose on a trail in Glacier National Park. Instead of chasing him with a camera, we hustled back down the trail, set up the camera at eye level, and then sat still and waited. In this way, the moose could choose whether or not to approach us, based on his comfort level -- not ours. He stopped to look us over, and then kept his eye on us as he walked past peacefully. Is it just me, or is he smiling at our trailside etiquette?

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Moose Mom."

A mother moose pauses to check on her calf while exploring the lakeshore.

Behind the lens.

These moose arrived on my birthday, in late June several years ago. That's the kind of wonderful gift that you can't buy at the department store. (But you can purchase a print here!)

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Moose Meadow."

Mother moose and calf feed peacefully, side-by-side in a grassy meadow. (Note cards available here.)

Behind the lens.

There's something about this photograph that I can't quite put my finger on. People respond well to the balance between the two moose, the two trees, and the calm green colors. Everything combines to form a peaceful, calming image.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Moose March."

Mom moose listens to her baby behind her while feeding in a shallow western Montana lake -- but what is the baby listening to? (Note cards available here.)

Behind the lens.

This image is from the forests west of Glacier National Park. If you're already at a lake when moose arrive, they tend to ignore you. If you arrive after they do, they'll often leave. This was one of those wonderful morning that I arrived first, and I got to watch them feed for almost half an hour.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Bullwinkle"

A big bull moose gingerly wraps his lips around the delicious leaves of fall, in Glacier National Park.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Thirsty Grizzly."

A wild and free grizzly bear stops to sip from a pool of water while ambling around in Glacier National Park. (Note cards available here.)

Behind the lens.

A lot of photographers rent captive bears that otherwise live in cages when not posing for photographs. Then they put the bear up high and photograph them from below eye level, making these "pets" look like scary monsters. Can you guess my opinion of so-called "game" farms, and so-called photographers?

I like this image because it is the antithesis of the others. Here is a wild bear just being a bear, getting a drink of water and going about life. It isn't posed or scary, it's natural.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Resting Trout."

A westslope cutthroat trout rests along the edge of a small stream during its journey up the creek to spawn.

Behind the lens.

When we name the "forest animals," we don't tend to include fish in that group. But the health of the water, and thus the fish, is dependent on the health of the land surrounding them. To keep our native fish healthy, we need to maintain a good amount of wild, un-manicured land (ie -- forests) intact around our lakes, streams and rivers.

I intentionally set out to photograph this trout in a way that shows the overhanging vegetation at the water's edge. These are natural resting places for fish -- and we all need nice places to rest.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Trout Bubbles."

A westslope cutthroat trout swims into the bubbling current of a small spawning stream in western Montana. (Note cards available here.)

Behind the lens.

This was a difficult image to create. I wanted an eye-level portrait of the trout that included the air bubbles, which would show off the current that the fish was swimming in. But the fish is under a log in the shadowed corner of an undercut bank. Just getting in position without scaring the fish away was challenging -- and time-consuming.

The low light levels meant a slow shutter speed,and that in turn helps show motion in the air bubbles. I had to be pretty close to the fish because that much current tends to pick up debris, and shaded underwater areas want to turn blue on you. So the resulting image is a pleasing compromise between lighting, motion and camera positioning.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Bighorn Hillside"

A herd of bighorn sheep rams graze on a spring time hillside in western Montana.

Behind the lens.

I was fairly high in elevation while photographing these bighorns, and the clouds were moving in and out like fog. The frame just before this one (with fewer faces) was mostly in the fog, this frame a few seconds later (with more faces) was in the clear. You just never know...

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Montana Traffic Jam"

A rather large bison claims the middle of the road at the National Bison Range, in western Montana.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "That Was a Good One!"

A wild stallion appears to enjoy a good joke, but he's really just smelling and gesturing towards his mares. Montana's last band of wild horses live in the Pryor Mountains, in the southeastern corner of the state.

You can learn more about Montana's wild mustangs by visiting the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Bighorn Ram."

A bighorn sheep ram rests in a field full of springtime flowers in western Montana.

Behind the lens.

"That Was a Good One!"

A wild stallion appears to enjoy a good joke, but he's really just smelling and gesturing towards his mares. Montana's last band of wild horses live in the Pryor Mountains, in the southeastern corner of the state.

You can learn more about Montana's wild mustangs by visiting the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center.

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Keywords: laugh montana stallion wild horse john ashley

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