This is Mariah, a full blooded wolf from Alaska. She was raised from a pup by someone who also terribly abused her. She was taken from this person and given to a rehab center here in Southern Maine. Her pen is a small 50x50 under tall pines, in a heavily wooded section of a rural town. She is well cared for by her new owners. She has 12 other wolf companions to call out to, within 100 yards and all in her sight. Each wolf has a separate enclosure. She however has a 2 year old part wolf and part Siberian pen mate. I can get her to come to within 15 feet of me. It is very difficult to get a high quality image without the fence in the background. So I wait for the right time, sometimes it might be 3 or 4 hours for her to be in the right light and the right pose, head turn etc.
Yesterday was very overcast, slight rain with sloooooow shutter speed! i had to hand hold as we were in standing water, mosquitoes as big as jumbo jets covered me from head to toe. I earned this image the hard way. Cropped for a 9x12 and 95% of frame here from 15 feet away. These are the specs.:
Canon EOS-1D Mark II N, Shooting Date/Time: 8/11/2008 16:273, Shutter Speed 1/20Sec. Av(Aperture Value) F8.0, Evaluative metering, Exposure Compensation -2, ISO 800, Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, Focal Length: 200.0 mm RAW. Hand held!
I under exposed by 2 stops on purpose. I brought up the light and contrast in PS 6 by using a slight curves adjustment, some minor black point adjustment, then sized and signed it.
Grady! Wow! I am just taken by this one. The only thing I can think of that might make it pop even more would be to very lightly lighten the eyes and the light part on his muzzle just a tiny bit to make those two areas stand out a little bit more. You did a wonderful job getting that fence to NOT be a fence! Nice going!!!
A very compelling image and a wonderful story! I think I agree with most of the comments below....more contrast of some sort...but wow! This is awesome. It belongs in some prominent rescue place with it's story. :cool:
Mariah, Black Wolf
3, Shutter Speed 1/20Sec. Av(Aperture Value) F8.0, Evaluative metering, Exposure Compensation -2, ISO 800, Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, Focal Length: 200.0 mm RAW. Hand held!
