Bison Skull

Back in the fall of 2010 my business partner Frank and I collected a bison skeleton.  This was through our company, Palcoprep Inc.  My first cousin Vic and his wife used to raise bison on a farm west of Wetaskiwin.  They have since sold their herd and moved off the farm.  Frank and I collected the skeleton of an old bull that had died on the farm, with the intention of molding all the bones and to be able to produce a cast of the complete skeleton.  We hope to be able to market casts of the skeleton to a native interpretive center in southern Alberta, or perhaps to a museum in the Northwest Territories.  We are hopeful that other opportunities will arise as well.  Over a year ago my cousin loaned us the skull from this old bull.  It is massive, and measures 28" across the horns.  We plan on taking a mold from this skull and then returning it to my cousin.  I'm afraid we are guilty of not getting to this project nearly as quickly as we originally hoped.  In any event, I finally found the time to photograph this impressive skull.  I shot it with my studio lights and 4x5 view camera.  I also took a couple of shots with my 8x10 camera, with the intention of producing some alternative process prints.  These will be 8" x 10" prints, contract printed from the original negative on hand coated fine art paper.  I have not yet decided whether I will use the Palladium and Iron based Ziatype method, or the Van Dyke Brown method, or perhaps both.  Until I find time to get around to that, here is a scan of one of the proofs from that photo shoot.  In the mean time I will now forward the skull to the Palcoprep shop in Drumheller so that the molding process can finally get underway.