New work: "Bighorn Brotherhood"

“A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.” (Edward Steichen)

"Bighorn Brotherhood" (c) John Ashley

I enjoy customer compliments, just like everyone else. But what I love about this job is when a wild animal chooses to allow me into his personal space. It's sort of like saying, "You're okay, so I'm going to ignore you now and do whatever I would be doing if you weren't here." Whenever this happens, it always makes those moments - and the resulting images - stand apart from when the animal considers you a potential threat. Animal behavior can be a subtle thing, but sometimes those nuances can show through and render the camera invisible.