Yellowstone Wolves

Yellowstone wolves were the hook that got me into wildlife photography when I visited Yellowstone nearly 7 years ago. The alpha female of the Lamar Canyon pack swam the Soda Butte creek and came within 50 yards of us. I took many pictures of her with my first DSLR, a Canon T3i and a kit lens 18-250mm.

Since then, every time I return to Yellowstone with an array of ever bigger lens, the wolves kept staying further and further away.

Until this day.

The Wapiti pack had killed a bison yearling in the early morning hours. We were on a snow coat looking for them and got a tip on the carcass. We immediately turned around and were the second group on the scene. The carcass was close to the road, the wolves were bedded way out.

That gave time for us to set up, knowing that they would come back from their nap for more.

Canon 1DX 2, 600f4 II, 2.0X III TC, Gitzo 3530LS, RRS ball head
1/1600, f9, ISO 1250.

Converted to B&W to reduce the impact of red blood on white snow.

I don't know what I'm doing with B&W conversion, so appreciate your comments and feedback.

Processed in DPP, then converted in PS using B&W neutral filter and then adjusted some of the sliders, notably Yellow to increase brightness in the white.

Nik software crashed every time, so no Nik.

Thank you and hope you like it. Sorry for being absent for so long.

Loi

Hi Loi - Lucky you with a sighting so close. I like the bit of chaos that the ravens give to the scene but am not sure about the conversion. I want more detail in the snow and, ironically, more life to the image than the b&w seems to portray. Did you feel the quantity of blood was too much or that the red was too bright? You can always post it with a gore warning.

TFS,
Rachel

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rachel Hollander

Hi Loi - Lucky you with a sighting so close. I like the bit of chaos that the ravens give to the scene but am not sure about the conversion. I want more detail in the snow and, ironically, more life to the image than the b&w seems to portray. Did you feel the quantity of blood was too much or that the red was too bright? You can always post it with a gore warning.

TFS,
Rachel

---

Rachel, here is the color version. A bit gory.

The carcass was next to a thermal hot spring, so the scene was shrouded in steam from the spring constantly, hard to get a true clear shot. sun was in and out at times and in this picture sun was behind cloud. That is why there is not much details on the snow.

Hi Loi - I much prefer the color version. Yes, a bit of gore but I don't find it gratuitous or overwhelming. Rather, it's nature. Let's see what others say.

Rachel

Pretty fabulous Loi, a really amazing sighting. I love the action here both with the wolves the kill and the crows. I also prefer the color version, although I see what the aim was with the conversion and I like that as well. I don't find the gore to be too much or anything. TFS and congrats

Hi Loi -- I would definitely prefer the colour version, that was infact my first thought. The ravens are certainly adding to the chaos but i would have preferred a clear view of the wolves. Nothing very unpleasant regarding the kill and the blood , it is nature after all. I think the 2 x TC is not helping in getting out that critical detail but not a problem here considering the shyness of these animals. Glad to see you posting and hope to see more from you .

TFS !

Cracking natural looking scene, and I much prefer the colour version. The B&W was fine but the colour has a lot more drama. Fantastic eyes on the wolves.

Mike

Great shot. I also prefer the color version. I like the ravens since they are always present when a kill is made. When was this image made?

The colour wins here Loi, but just too tight, using the 1.4 would have been better, as IQ would have also improved. Also a straight 1/2000 even on a tripod as it would have frozen the crows and falling snow. Surprised on the DoF, as the wolf behind and the carcass looks a bit soft. As I guess you were 'on foot' going lower would have been better and you would have been at eye level.

TFS
Steve

Steve, we were on a high cliff shooting down, so couldn't go lower. Have room all around, but wanted to show the face of the one wolf, so cropped a bit tight. The quality of the images degraded because we were shooting thru a cloud of steam from a nearby thermal hot spring. Thank you. Loi