Sentinel of the North

During a trip to Norway in search of musk ox, I was hoping to find and photograph a large bull. Late in the afternoon on our first day, I spotted an old bull grazing alone in a small valley. He clearly wanted to keep his distance, so we moved on and spent the evening searching for other musk ox to photograph. As we made our way back to camp later that evening, we unexpectedly crossed paths with the same bull again—this time walking steadily toward us, plowing through the thick lichen that blankets the ground in Dovrefjell National Park. The encounter was brief, with the sun setting quickly, but I was able to capture a small series of images. Among them was this beautiful shot, a moment that made the long day incredibly rewarding.