Hi all! Back with another elk image from the fall. This young elk was part of a very small group under the watchful care of a fine-looking 7x7 bull far from main rut activity in Jasper National Park this fall. Josiah and I found this group one frosty morning when out looking for some new models.
While the bull was a very handsome guy and tremendously gentle with his herd of cows and youngsters, he had suffered a horrible injury below his right eye that led to Josiah and Marlise naming him "sweet zombie." He's not the main story in this frame, but the injury did lead me to start paying more attention to the other individuals in the herd, and this cutie was most obliging. I repositioned to include the bull in the background for a bit more interest and story, and liked the result. I was not able to back up any further from my subject than I was here because of the topography, so this is a bit tighter than I would have preferred (ah the joys of a fixed focal length lens, eh?).
As always, thanks for your time, comments, critiques and suggestions...and please view the larger version for best quality if time permits.
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Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4D IF-ED
ISO 500
1/500sec @ f/4.5
-0.66 stop underexposed from meter
Mounted on FEISOL CT-3372 Elite tripod with Acratech GV2 ballhead and Wimberley Sidekick
Full frame with extra margin on bottom to keep watermark from crowding the legs further.
Comments
3 commentsThe initial view makes you think the OOF adult in the background is distracting, A look at the larger version shows this not to be case
I looked at this one several times before commenting - largely because I was quite torn on it. The obvious source of my equivocation is the bull in the background (you certainly rendered the youngster nicely...and she IS a cutie) - just couldn't decide if the inclusion of the bull helped tell a story (though I'm not sure what that story is...simply that they're a social species??) or if it distracted from the shot of the youngster. I guess in the end it depends on what one considers the shot to be "of" - a shot of a elk calf or a group of elk. Anyway...at the end of the day I think Nate was on the right track - that a bit of separation between the calf and bull have improved the shot. So for me the bull (as presented here) does feel like a distraction (and for me, this is true regardless of the size of the image I look at).
One last comment: I do very much like how you (and your merry band of family members!!) "work" a subject and look for a unique way to capture and/or present it. You pretty clearly work hard to find the best image possible...and you (or your kids) almost never post an image that's just a simple documentary shot - something I tend to call an "of a" image - that in reality is little more than a snapshot. Always something to think about in your shots...
Cheers...
Brad