During the fall rut

[Nancy Bell]

Not sure if this elk female is all that eager for the attentions of the bull elk. Photographed in Rocky Mt. National Park, Colorado, after sunset. I spent most of the early evening with another elk herd and hundreds of people & cars (as usual during the rut). Only as I was leaving the park and the light nearly gone, did I discover this smaller herd in a more photogenic place. And no other people around! Just had time for a few images before it got too dark.

Canon 40D, Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS, 1/200, f3.5, ISO 800

Eager to learn and appreciate all comments & critiques.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Nancy - definitely a bonus to have both the male and female. The male almost looks like he is smiling. I think it looks just slightly washed out which may be due to the available light and time of day. I would try a levels adjustment bringing the right slider in about 10 points and moving the midtone/middle slider to the right about 10-15 points depending on taste. You still retain all the nice detail but it just elevates it a notch IMHO.

TFS,
Rachel

[dankearl]

I also thinks it could use a bit more saturation.
Nice it get both and very sharp and nicely exposed.
That is a big Bull!

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Nancy, certainly it paid of for you to stop somewhere else. Rachel aid already most. I might try to punch slightly the eye of the female, to give this proud male a lovely smile back :bg3:
Details are great for me as well sharpness.

Enjoy your weekend

Ciao
Anette

[edwardselfe]

Nice tension between the two. I think the image needs slight cw rotation, and I would boost saturation and contrast a little as per previous posts. I like the way they two are arranged in the frame - it makes an interesting shot and my eyes keep moving around in the image finding more details. There's nice background interest too - the yellow bushes and trees are placed in useful and not distracting places.
Ed

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Nancy, congrats on getting this with the kit, pushing the 40D above 800 is IMHO, never ideal. With the limited DOF you are not going to get the female in focus, as she appears to be 'behind' the bull, not on the same plane, so perhaps going to f/2.8 on the bull may have given you better SS and a fraction more sharpness? Originally when I saw it, like Dan I thought you could tweak a bit more warmth and you could try Saturation or Lumin adjustment layer, dragging the slider back to taste, however I found I then needed to adjust the reds etc. I just added a Mid tone adjustment layer to it, different to Levels as this uses layers subtracting from each other, but perhaps levels may do the same, but watch your blacks, as both B & W are on the edge and in fact the whites in parts are blown, but small in the grass, so no problem. I would also suggest a 1.5CW rotation, personal choice, but I think it helps, WDYT? I had to teak your image once rotated, as I had little image area to play with!

Comparing the two, I like your OP of the female, likewise the head & mane of the bull, perhaps an amalgamation of the two? Apologies on the IQ, in rotating, layering, I had to downsize and so the IQ suffered, but it's about the colour & rotation for me. Happy to delete if you wish, just let me know. :wave:

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Just for comparison purposes, here's a rp I had done with the levels adjustments I had suggested.

Rachel

[Nancy Bell]

Thank you everyone for your comments & observations. It is great seeing both reposts with the techniques described. I like the added contrast and will play around with both techniques. ISO 800 is the limit for me on the 40D. Steve, I see what you are saying about f3.5 vs 2.8 and the expected results. And for some reason, the fine degrees of straightness elude me and I only "see" it when pointed out :e3. This is full frame so there is not much space to adjust with. All good advice that I can act upon.

[Steve Canuel]

Nice to catch the interaction and a bonus to get both male and female in the same shot. I also like the two poses, one for a vertical, one for a side view. Color of the OP looks about right for my experience, it can be difficult sometime to match up what we remember/like, what we know to be right, and what the camera sees. Same with the leveling. Sloping BGs, and flat FGs can play tricks on the eye.

[Morkel Erasmus]

A lovely moment here, Nancy - quirky poses :bg3:.
Rachel's RP rocks it for me...
:cheers: