Nature photography requires the patience of Job.

One must sit and wait for hours on end – sometimes without reward… sometimes with great reward. Or one can roam ceaselessly, hoping to get lucky.

One is also at the whim of nature, which is a fairly awesome thing.

We recently returned to Radium Hot Springs for the November 3-5 Headbanger Festival, a celebration of the local herd of Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep.

Tourism Radium once again put on a captivating, hands-on event, with interactive and educational workshops, unique presentations, and bountiful opportunities to photograph bighorn sheep during the rut.

This year we spent more time out and about with our cameras and our patience, and impatience, was not rewarded with head-smashing action.

The rams, often seen butting heads around the village at this time of year, wanted nothing to do with one another this weekend; a mild disappointment for one wandering Radium Hot Springs and area with camera in hand.

Yet, the sheep were still plentiful, as were other wildlife species; Radium was the quintessential mountain hot springs village after the first big snow of the year; and the festival, which brought people from the Lower Mainland, Kelowna, Calgary and other locales – was a delight.

It was particularly heartwarming to hear keynote speaker Kevin Van Tighem, former Banff National Park superintendent and nature book writing machine, pay homage to the late Ian Jack, as well as Larry Halverson who was in attendance at the festival supper.

Kudos to festival organizers and village volunteers for staging a fascinating and unique celebration of nature and the bighorn sheep.

Photos and video by Carrie Schafer and Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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