Buffalo River Elk

Big eik! The picture is very dark. You might lighten it up a little. Hard to get a detailed picture at a long distance, but I love your subject. Thanks for posting.

Hi Ken

You've got a nice subject here, but the light looks very flat and didn't help you out much at all. On my monitor the image looks on the under-exposed side, particularly on the elk itself. If the image were mine I'd probably try doing a little selective brightening of the subject, but this might be a little tricky here as some colour noise is already showing (more visible on the larger version of the image).

Brad

PS: Please don't hesitate to jump in and comment on the images of others - I know the recommended ratio of 5 comments for every image post can be tough to maintain, but getting a little closer to this comment:image ratio would be appreciated. I know many new members are a little hesitant to leave comments, but ultimately the success of all the galleries are determined largely by the comments members leave on the images that are posted. If you're unsure or uneasy about commenting/"critiquing" there are several good resources on this website discussing it. Start right here:

http://www.naturephotographers.net/naturephotos/wildlifephotography.html

and you'll find links to the the image posting guidelines and two articles on critiquing ("The Art of Image Critique" and "More Thoughts on Photo Critique.").

I agree with the previous comments. I notice he is wearing a radio collar, part of the management of the species in the area but esthetically not ideal. It would be nice to see a catchlight in his eye.

He is a fine bull. I understand the importance of radio collars in studies, but I sure hate it when I find them on an otherwise perfect subject! I agree with the comments of others regarding the distance and it certainly reaffirms one of our biggest challenges with quality wildlife captures...getting close! It looks to me like you have a good opportunity with this Arkansas herd.

Ken, this is a nice specimen. Apart from the suggestions put forward by others I would like to mention that when a subject is too far and you cannot get any closer,an alternative approach can be to go for an 'animalscape'. Of course this will not always work as you need nice habitat for that as an ingredient as well, but just keep that in mind on a next shoot with subjects being out of range.