Sunrise Climb

Gallery: WildlifePosted June 4, 2010202 views9 comments

The road to the top of Mt. Evans, Colorado finally opened on the 28th, so I was really excited to get up there as soon as possible to begin my search for mountain goats (lacking decent photos of them, for no good reason). The trip up on the 30th presented some awesome vistas and a couple of marmots, but only one goat – a big billy on the run at about a million yards. Early morning on the 31st, however, made for some great goat shooting. I walked away with a handful of keepers, still on the fence about this shot though...

Sony A200
Sony 75-300 @ 135mm
iso 100
1/640 sec @ f6.3
Mt. Evans, Colorado

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by mark cillo on June 4, 2010 at 1:24 AM

Mt. Evans is awesome! I like the pose of the goat and the overall comp. Nice work!

Registered on July 27, 2008, 143 Posts, 1483 Comments

Comment posted by JACK NEAL on June 4, 2010 at 1:36 AM

This is a great picture! To me, everything looks right. I would like to see a larger shot the next time. Much better to judge a picture. Thanks for posting.

Registered on September 26, 2009, 131 Posts, 554 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on June 4, 2010 at 8:55 AM

Nice shot of the goat, I like that there is both snow and rocks. Mt. Evans is a great place to go for goats and other alpine critters.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Marsel van Oosten on June 5, 2010 at 5:50 AM

Great action and some wonderful textures in the ice. I don't know why you're on the fence about this shot, but if this were mine it would be because of how the shape of the main subject and the background interact. In particular the neck area where the curve of the neck touches the line of the rock, resulting in a little white triangle. This will probably sound as nit-picking, but it is stuff like this that I always pay great attention to when selecting images. Maybe you took multiple shots here and there might be another where the goat is positioned against just snow or just rocks?

Registered on March 9, 2004, 285 Posts, 2277 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on June 5, 2010 at 9:22 AM

Cool action capture, one to be quite happy with. In terms of nit picking, my first reaction was that the light was somehow flat; & although I see some shadows, it seems to be missing warmth or sparkle. Perhaps you were holding back on exposure to retain detail in the snow and the end result is less bright than the eye would have seen it? I am not sure. The other (inconspicuous to most viewers, I am sure) thing I notice is it appears there is only one horn. Unless this really is a one horned individual, it is a little too bad the alignment was that precise. All that said, the diagonals make nice composition elements and an action capture like this one is way more interesting than a goat just standing.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on June 5, 2010 at 11:14 AM

Not sure what there is to be on the fence about with this one - nice action with the snow and good exposure.

- Luke

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Walters on June 5, 2010 at 5:07 PM

I really like this one. Seems to be just clingling to the snow trying to get on to the dry rock.

Registered on October 30, 2005, 405 Posts, 3693 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on June 5, 2010 at 10:44 PM

I quite like this, Guy! If only he had turned his head to look in your direction.....

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Runco on June 6, 2010 at 11:04 PM

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Marsel & Lon: You guys nailed it - the "triangle" above the neck, the horns seemingly joining together and the flat light, as well as the lack of space on the left, are what had me on the fence about this shot.

Good thing I took multiple shots!

Registered on September 9, 2008, 77 Posts, 705 Comments