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Thread: First Post Here - Bull Elks Sparring

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    Default First Post Here - Bull Elks Sparring

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    Just returned from my first trip to photograph wildlife in Colorado with Weldon Lee and Lori Huff, who were wonderful guides. Up until this time, I have been mostly a bird photographer but am attempting to broaden my horizons. Wildlife subjects were much larger than birds in the frame :o, and it was quite an eye-opening and exciting experience.

    These elk were photographed in RMNP on my first morning...talk about beginner's luck. I understand that this behavior isn't often seen or captured, so I felt pretty lucky.

    Canon 1D3, Canon 100-400 @ 275 mm
    F5.6, 1/250sec, ISO 800, manual mode
    Hand held, Slight crop

    Thank you in advance for any C & C. I am really looking forward to leaning more about wildlife photography.

    Marina

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Hi Marina, yep, animals do fill the frame much better than birds, and one finds that you have to zoom out, rather than trying to fill the frame with a smaller subject. The central placement works well here, and congrats on capturing the rare action.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    HI Marina - welcome to the wildlife forum. Great interaction and behavior captured. I also like the muted colors of the environment. Do you have any shots that are wider and show both elks in full?

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Great work, Marina. I find the layered background to be great support for the elk. Nice behavior captured, looking forward to more!

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    The picture has a really nice look and the light on the antlers (? They are called that, right? Not a familiaer animal for me) and the open eyes make the picture for me. I wondered about the missing nose but on reflection I quite like it as the grass is so beautiful.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Maria and welcome to the world of Wildlife.

    For me, it's the soft, gentle light I love, shooting early morning or late afternoon cannot be beaten IMHO and hearing the clash and rattle of the antlers was also fun too, i guess. Sadly the grass covering the lhs elk is not ideal, but there is nothing much you could do about that. I see where you are coming from in the crop, but I too would prefer a wider view.

    Would suggest you think about close-ups & wider POV when shooting wildlife whilst in the same spot, once you have the shot you wanted, then change and go for something different, you never know, you might come back with something you hadn't thought of :D:D

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    Thank you everyone for your thoughtful comments. In answer to your questions, I have many wider captures of both of these animals while they are sparring, but I have yet to process them. This was my favorite on first glance, so I processed this one first. I photographed them wide first, then zoomed in. I will look for one to process with a wider POV.

    The light was gentle here, but this photo was difficult to process b/c it was not uniform. The light was filtering through the trees, hitting either side of the elk but not the elk, so had to do some adjusting. Glad it wasn't obvious.

    THank you again for your critiques, comments and words of encouragement.

    Marina

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