Nuances - Daybreak Elk

The pure and simple beauty of wildlife never ceases to amaze and impress me. And it can be so darned easy to overlook! I shot this image very early this past Sunday AM. My goal had been to photograph Mountain Goats (females with kids) but I had struck out (I couldn't find them). I was just about to head home when I looked into a meadow and saw two female elk laying down and watching me. The sun still hadn't made it clear of the high mountains, so the elk were in soft light. The elk seemed so calm and relaxed that I didn't want to move any closer at all, and I happened to have a long lens plus 2x teleconverter with me. So, I placed my 600mm lens plus 2x TC on my D3s, placed the heavy setup on a beanbag balanced on a rock, and took a look through the viewfinder. I was immediately struck by the beauty of the soft (though slightly directional) lighting and the dark tones in the elk's face. When the elk turned both ears to the side I saw the beautiful black backside (which, to be honest, I didn't even know they had) which contrasted so well with the white base.

I hung with the two elk for about the next half hour, capturing different poses while they laid there. After a time they both started to regurgitate boluses of food and, quite literally, chew their cud. When sunlight struck the two elk I decided to pack up and leave. Nice experience.

The resulting images from the encounter aren't what I'd call dramatic, but I quite like many of them. They're nuanced and subtle, but if you take the time to REALLY look at them, there's a lot there (like the beatiful blue sky reflecting in this elk's eyes). And, I'm growing very fond of the light BEFORE sunrise. I'm grateful that some of the newer high-end digital cameras allow you to work in such low light, though after a few weeks of getting up HOURS before sunrise to work with this beautiful soft light I don't know if I should praise or curse Nikon for producing the D3S!

Subject: Female elk (Cervus elaphus) at daybreak
Location: Kootenay National Park, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: 600mm f4 VR - paired with 2x TC-20EIII teleconverter (1200mm EFL) - supported on bean bag
Exposure: 1/125s @ f9; ISO 1400; -0.33 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting of camera.
Crop: Negligible - this is about 95% of full-framed image

All the contextual information surrounding this shot (including processing details) can be found here:

http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/latest/detail_3.html.

All comments and critiques welcome, but probably better to view larger image first.

Cheers...

Brad