I suppose his antlers would work a little better as a back scratcher if the tines were turned the other way round, but perhaps evolution had a different use in mind …

One day in Yellowstone, I decided to walk around the thermal features in the Mammoth and Norris areas, taking small landscapes in places like the Artists’ Paintpots. Even though I wasn’t looking for wildlife, the wildlife found me.

Just a little ways off the boardwalk were a few elk, including a cow and her calf. The calf wanted to nurse so it reached underneath it’s mother and gave her a hard smack to get the milk flowing (I saw bison do the same hard head bump, the mothers didn’t seem to mind but I instinctively covered my nipples each time).

I had my wide angle zoom out to photograph the thermal areas, but the elk were close enough that I didn’t need to switch to my telephoto to photograph this lovely little moment.

Most formal portraits of children are taken in a studio or a staged setting, with a staple of rubber duckies and cute phrases and wild gesticulations to get the child to look at the camera and smile.

I prefer photographing children in a more natural environment, and needed no toys or waving arms to get this child to smile.

I’m just that good.