Horns Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Inspired by Itzhak Avigur’s photo I spent last Saturday at the wild life preservation center on Mount Carmel. The purpose of the center is to re-introduce species that were recently extinct in the Carmel to the mountain. The target population of the center is mainly birds of pray (eagles and hawks) and herbivores.

In the photo are two Iranian wild sheep (Ovis orientalis cyclocerus) displaying their horns.

I tried looking up some info on this wonderful creature and all I could find was hunting websites… If anybody has a better link, I’ll be glad to read it.

Cool-ice, Aegean, gg01, bullybeef53, ChrisJ, ma-tibou, jrj, jp80, Motrem, GerhardT has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Cool-ice (5289) 2004-09-03 14:27

They have golden horns with this light, it's beautiful !
And the composition is excellent, too.
Really well done, Liora, congratulations !

Aegean (2567) 2004-09-03 14:50

I agree about the composition and the framing of the two animals...Perspective and colors are great...

gg01 (355) 2004-09-03 15:27

it's beautiful !
Really well done, Liora, congratulations

bullybeef53 (3231) 2004-09-03 19:08

The framing is very nice But I think your colors are off so I did a workshop at hope you like it .

[workshop] [compare] +

avish (47) 2004-09-03 19:22

Here's what I found:
The Iranian wild sheep is considered to be the ancestor of domesticated sheep. Scholars believe it to be the "Zemer" mentioned in Hebrew Bible. Those sheep are common in central Asia and the middle east. They live in mountains, herding in higher places during summer and lower in winter*.
During mating season, the fur around males' neck and chest turns dark (as seen in the picture). The males follow their better halves with their tongues out (to detect smell) and fight each other, horn to horn. If mating is successful, you can expect 1-2 lambs by springtime.

*This is probably less relevant about Carmel Mt. where the climate is moderate all year long.

I'm not sure whether to put this wonderful pic on my Wildlife In Israel theme, or not. As far as I know, those sheep only live in Israel in close reproduction centers. Is this a "regular" open reserve, or a close center?

ChrisJ (70443) 2004-09-04 3:02

Good dual portrait of the Iranian wild sheep. Well composed.

hdl (6737) 2004-09-04 5:44

Hi Liora, so you see that we learn from each other. And that's the meaning of the site, I guess.
It's an excellent picture; very good soft tones and good composition of these cute animals (or at least that's how they look to me).

jrj (34779) 2004-09-04 8:37

Nice shot Liora - the two goats is captured very well close to this tree. Well done.

ma-tibou (4566) 2004-09-05 3:06

Une très belle photo animalière Liora, Bravo joli travail d'approche.
Amitié.

spence (1679) 2004-09-05 3:59

Great shot of these animals, Liora - aren't their horns just amazing? I like their different poses and the way you've composed the shot is excellent.

gepall (1808) 2004-09-06 10:43

Very good and balanced shot.
I like the position of the first sheep that demostrates it's pride

harold (2271) 2004-09-17 6:13

Très bien réalisé cette photo . De belles couleurs bravo.

dsidwell (9745) 2004-10-11 8:00 [Comment]

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gbac (1931) 2004-10-11 15:55

Superbes animaux et surtout ce qui est impressionnant ce sont ces cornes d'une longueur incroyable.
Le cadrage est excellent et la luminosité bien maîtrisée.
Bravo et merci de partager Liora.

CoolDan (2490) 2004-10-12 16:37

Quelles cornes... Très jolie photo de ces belles bêtes Liora.

Motrem (2392) 2004-10-15 19:44 [Comment]

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waskahegan (0) 2004-10-20 15:45

composition is excellent, elegant animals, great details.

GerhardT (76) 2004-10-31 10:15

This is an excellent shot of an animal I have not seen before. The two different poses compliments the composition. You should think of posting these on Treknature the sister site, with notes like this they will go down well.

stoofon (76) 2005-09-30 9:45

I like! good composition, nice animals!