Mountain Goat

Gallery: WildlifePosted July 26, 2011158 views8 comments

Well, I'm pretty excited to announce that we just bought a 200-400 f/4 lens from Brad Hill (thanks Brad!), so we decided we should give it a try out in Glacier National Park. We found one cinnamon black bear, but it was too far for pictures and we weren't there for black bears anyway (we're used to 6-12 bears per evening in Waterton!). We went further up the road and found what we were after...4 mountain goats and 1 bighorn sheep. Unfortunately we didn't find any billies, but this nanny was very cooperative and let us get some good pictures of her. It was a great opportunity for me to get used to the lens! There was also a very young mountain goat but he didn't pose for many pictures and was super shaggy. I really like this image because of her pose and the detail in the fur.

Thanks again for the opportunity to have this lens, Brad! I can't wait to use this on some bears and elk this fall!

Thanks for any comments or suggestions!

Nikon D300
Nikkor 200-400 f/4 ED @ 400mm
ISO 200
1/250sec @ f/4

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Carol Nichols on July 26, 2011 at 5:12 PM

Jenaya, how lucky you are to have gotten such a great lens. This is a beautiful mountain goat portrait. The image is very sharp and the lens has very nice bokeh. I love how you can see all the individuals hairs on the underside of the goat. I only wish for maybe a little more room on the left side.

Registered on November 7, 2007, 161 Posts, 1420 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on July 27, 2011 at 9:01 AM

Hey Jenaya,

Wonderful to see you putting that lens to good use right away!! I like the very soft background here (and I love the smooth transition of colours back there as well)...it definitely makes your subject pop out nicely. Very nice detail on goat, especially in the head region. I'm in agreement with Carol's comment about wishing there was a little more room on the left side of the image. If the shot you posted is a crop (and you have more room on the left in the original) I'd experiment with bringing it back, even if it means that some of the goat's neck has to go...

Looking forward to future posts (with that lens!). Always feels good when an old friend of mine is placed in a good home!

Cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on July 27, 2011 at 10:49 AM

You are gong to have a ton of fun with that lens! This is nicely done, although I agree with what has already been mentioned about positioning. Quality of the eye is excellent...it feels almost like we can see you reflected there!

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on July 27, 2011 at 11:12 AM

A superb portrait! What's your fee?

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on July 27, 2011 at 1:25 PM

Thank you for your comments everyone!

I do wish that there was more room on the left, but this is full frame. If I moved the camera to the left I would've cut off the bit of shoulder that's there (and that looked really weird), and if I zoomed out a little bit then I would have had man-made objects around him. My dad did say that he was going to show me how to add canvas, so we might do that later.

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on July 27, 2011 at 11:20 PM

Congrats on the new lens Jenaya

And you found a great subject to break it in on. She's got a great summer coat and I really like the alert pose you captured. Adding canvas looks like a good idea to me. Sweet Portrait!!!

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Jenkins on July 28, 2011 at 10:29 AM

Nice portrait Jenaya.

Registered on April 20, 2008, 307 Posts, 604 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on July 28, 2011 at 1:59 PM

Excellent detail on the larger version, I am sure you will like that lens. Nice portrait image with good eye contact and background to go along, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments