Twilight Challenge

I thought I should carry on the "Launstein tradition" here and post an elk shot or two. ;)

This is one of my favourites from the 2010 rut, and happens to be a shot of my favourite bull! Despite good numbers of bulls and cows gathering in Waterton Lakes National Park for the rut, we were hard-pressed to find them and when we did, to catch any breaks in terms of lighting and location. Finally, the day before we left for Banff in hopes of finding some bulls there, this guy wandered over the Continental Divide and walked out of the forest just as we drove by. He was fully prepared for battle, covered in...well, the stuff bull elk think is attractive to lady elk, and bugling challenges to any and all who might hear.

Not only that, but he walked over and checked Jenaya and I out and decided we were OK folks, and proceeded to put on a show, walking back and forth across the meadow posing and bugling for 15mins. Finally he decided to head north and started walking up an incline leading to the ridge pictured here. We had lost light for detailed images, but I knew immediately there was a chance for an opportunity here. I set up my tripod, calculated his angle, and decided I'd do my best impression of a bugle as he crested the ridge in hopes he'd stop for a moment and pose. Turns out I didn't need to...he walked up to the very crest and bugled his lungs out in all directions while I happily (and anxiously) filled my CF card.

We ended up watching and photographing this bull five more times during the rut, and he was always very comfortable with us and our truck, while interestingly very shy of others. Maybe we bonded ;) but I wouldn't trust that sentimental thought enough to go up and give him a pet. He ended up being one of the dominant herd bulls, at one point holding a harem in excess of 80 cows, and will remain one of my all-time favourite animals I've had the privilege of spending time with.

I increased the blacks slightly in ACR to create a stronger silhouette and applied the usual sharpening, etc. I tried a graduated ND effect in ACR and LOVED the resulting look, but it created a little colour banding in the sky that betrayed the use of that processing, so what you see is nearly exactly as composed and shot. Wish we could attach sound. :)

Nikon D2X
AF Nikkor 80-400 ED f/4-5.6 VR lens @ 400mm
ISO 400
1/500sec @ f/8
Center-weighted metering on manual for sky
tripod mounted