Elk

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 1DX Canon 100-400 L IS II @ 200mm, Auto ISO 6400 +0.3 1/1250 sec f5.6
Another shot from West Yellowstone.
All C&C welcome

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Jon - Nice look at a bull elk in the fall tones of the sage brush environment. The dead evergreen behind him makes it a bit busy. It looks like he was angled slightly away from you so my guess is that any images with him further to the right and with the sage behind him are not as good a view. Colors and details look good.

TFS,
Rachel

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi Jon - Nice look at a bull elk in the fall tones of the sage brush environment. The dead evergreen behind him makes it a bit busy. It looks like he was angled slightly away from you so my guess is that any images with him further to the right and with the sage behind him are not as good a view. Colors and details look good.

TFS,
Rachel
Your observations are absolutely spot on Rachel. I wasn't crazy about the green bush either but I satisfied myself that it showed the conditions/natural surroundings.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jon, I like the colours and good call on the techs. With hindsight I might have waited a fraction more, so the Elk was a little bit further on to ensure the neck part (only) was clear from the dead tree foliage, as I can live with the part above the ridge of the back. I don't feel it's angled away, just you shooting more left to right as he passes, with a slight head turn to you, as he was probably parallel to you a few metres back. Personally I might crop a fraction off the top to loose the white sky.

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thank you for your comments everyone much appreciated, here is the the elk 2 frames later,it is perhaps more clearly delineated but I feel the former image conveys me getting into the environment alongside the elk a little more. I think you will disagree?

[Steve Kaluski]

Jon, the IQ will hold, but I might come in a fraction more, a little off the top (loosing the hint/patches of sky) and then more on the RHS, just a thought?

[Rachel Hollander]

Jon - there are different feels to the images. I think you zoomed in slightly for the second image so the first image gives a looser feel with more of the environment. Although I'm not sure I would have felt the same way if they weren't presented in the same thread. There's also a subtle difference in the tones of the elk and I prefer the op for that too. Sorry, I'm not much help in picking a preference.

Cheers,
Rachel

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks again Steve & Rachel, I appreciate your comments very much.
( I copied the all raw conversion settings from the first image to the second to try to get similar colours).

[haseeb badar]

Hi Jon -- I liked the First one better , matter of personal preference and if you ask me to reason it then the only thing that comes to my mind is a more wider feel to it and as far as separation from the BKG is concerned then i would prefer the tree rather than the tall grasses intersecting behind the snout . I also liked the dry colours of the environment . Agree on loosing that sky .

TFS !

[Morkel Erasmus]

I really like the tones and feel in this - prefer the first one, just like the pose better and the dynamic of the frame, regardless of the busy-ish background.