Curious Caribou

Gallery: WildlifePosted January 6, 2011130 views8 comments

We found this lonely male far away in the horizon. He was looking at us and we decided to raise our arms, like Peter, our Inuit guide, told us, and surprisingly the caribou approached us little by little. As Peter told us, the explanation could be probably he had never seen a human. Sometimes this trick works sometimes it doesn't work but if you have success you can get really close to the caribou.
Taken in summer 2009 near Maguse River in Nunavut, Canada
Canon 1D Mk3
300mm f2.8
f 3.2
1/1250
ISO 400
Tripod and crop.

Feedback and comments always welcomed and greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on January 6, 2011 at 8:01 AM

Welcome, Oscar!
This is a really fine image! Nice colors and detail. Love the head-turn and flowers in the FG.
There is quire a bit of noise in the BG, so another round of noise control might be in order. I'd also like to see this beautiful buck a bit less centered, for interest and balance. I bet you could also bring out that nice eye a little more with some levels.

I wonder if raising your arms might trick caribou into thinking you're another animal with antlers - and thence arouse suspicion and curiosity? Don't know how good their eyesight is..

Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on January 6, 2011 at 8:58 AM

Really nice pose! I would consider cropping a thin slice off the bottom to minimize the oof flowers and would try Sandy's idea of a touch of brightness on the face to bring out the eye. Congrats on the experience and the capture!

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

Comment posted by John Tobias on January 6, 2011 at 11:35 AM

This is a very nice caribou photo. Great pose with the head turned. Also nice amount of habitat included. From what I have read the hands above the head is an old hunters trick to get the caribou to come closer. Also have read that holding a tripod with legs extended will also work. Welcome to NPN, hope to see more of your photos. Thanks for sharing.

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

Comment posted by Darren Colello on January 6, 2011 at 12:05 PM

I always enjoy observing caribou. Very nice comp. Thanks for sharing this Oscar.

Registered on July 27, 2009, 175 Posts, 1100 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on January 7, 2011 at 4:48 AM

Great shot of this gorgeous bull. What a rack of antlers! It's a wonderful intimate shot with still some of its environment in view. I like the flowers in the foreground. Wish the horizon line was a little more above the antler on the left. Having said that, it wouldn't bother me at all to have this in my portfolio! What a great experience to be out there with them!

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on January 7, 2011 at 8:57 AM

Hello again Oscar,

The first thing that strikes me about this image is the massive size of the "rack" (antlers) relative to the size of the caribou. Before I looked at your specs (and the flowers in the foreground) I was thinking there was a little distortion caused by use of a wide-angle lens!! Amazing. I like the image as presented, but tend to agree with Lon about cropping a little off the bottom. If the image were mine I'd probably do some selective brightening of parts of the caribou itself (including the head region as Sandy has suggested), but that's largely a personal preference thing...

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Oscar Benavides on January 8, 2011 at 2:27 AM

Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions.

Registered on January 2, 2011, 12 Posts, 141 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Walters on January 9, 2011 at 11:01 AM

Regal looking caribou! Like the flowers in the foreground as well. Would like to see a little more detail around the eye.

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