Fall in the Rockies
by John Launstein
Well, I'm back with more elk photos! While not the biggest bull in the forest, I sure couldn't fault this guy for his choice of settings for a rest! Josiah and I thanked him a few times for showing up in this place on the first day with snow on the Rocks and a little morning cloud for drama.
This bull was grazing when we first spotted him, and we barely got set up before he decided it was time for a morning rest. Josiah and I quietly worked every angle we could think of while he rested then waited around for him to rise for a few shots of him standing below the mountains. Incidentally when he did rise and begin to walk while he grazed, we realized he had a serious limp, likely from an injury incurred in the rut activity. In the end, this was one of my favourites. I switched lenses to the 70-200 and laid on the (cold) ground to shoot through the foreground vegetation to add the burgandy tones on this frame, though certainly took a few without as well.
Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions (though if you propose alternate crops, I probably already have those comps full-frame in various poses...I figured I might as well work every conceiveable variable when you have light, colour, setting and a comfortable subject!).
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Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/4G IF-ED VR @ 140mm
ISO 100
1/400sec @ f/4.5
-0.66 underexposed from meter
95% of full-frame with minor crop to remove branches at edges
Comments
11 commentsI like it, due to the fall and winter feeling. Also the foreground and background layer of plants, trees and montains create a nice sense of depth.
This one is close to being a classic - just such a great "Rockies" scene. Very nicely done. I love the layers, the colours, the composition and more.
I like that you chose to include the band of red-leaved bushes in the foreground - it adds even more depth to the shot. That leads me to a few questions: given you seemed to have a lot of light (based on your techs), why did you choose such a large aperture and high shutter speed? Hand-held shot? I guess it seems to me that extending a little more DoF into the foreground (sharpening up the foreground bushes a bit) might have added to the shot (without causing any problems with subject isolation and separation from the background given that the position of the elk on the grass does that by itself). Just curious...
But super nicely done...great scene captured exceptionally well.
Cheers...
Brad
Great setting, wonderful colours n beautiful subject!
Agree about more DOF.
Jagdeep Rajput
PS. On second thoughts, may be bit more room at the top.
Brad et al hoping for more DOF: Interesting and kind of an obvious route I SHOULD have gone, at least for some frames, but I wanted to expand the burgundy brush at the bottom as a wider aperture tends to do (i.e. in front of depth of field OOF zone spreads OOF objects "wider" then if they were more in focus) and also maintain a clear contrast in sharpness between the bull's antlers and the background forest. This aperture at this focal length on the full-frame camera gave me the look I was envisioning, and for whatever reason that included the background including the mountains playing a softer, supporting cast role. I guess it's what I was feeling in the moment!
Now this is what I call an animal in its environment shot, a real beauty