Hi All! Wow it's been a long time since I've been able to post anything here. I've had to settle with living the wildlife photographer's life vicariously through my daughter (Jenaya)!
We were able to spend a couple weeks camping in Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta) to close out the fall season this year, and were treated(?)
to a heavy early-season snow. I was up before dawn hoping for some epic steam conditions for bull elk bugling, but alas they were bedded deep in the forest so I had to venture into new territory in search of other critters.
I spotted a cow moose who was attracting some attention from some of the local boys in a river bottom and got the tripod set up just in time to follow this bull as he plowed through the fresh snow in pursuit of the leading lady. I definitely didn't bat 1.000 but was quite pleased with this frame, or whatever a digital capture in a sequence is called!
Processing this one was a little tougher than normal for me as I think there are 4-5 colour temperature zones in the scene as the first light of day began to wash into the valley. This was my final solution, helped along a little by Nik Color Efex Pro.
Thanks for taking the time to check this one out...I welcome your comments and suggestions.
Field Notes:
Nikon D7000
Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 IF-ED VR lens @ 400mm
ISO 640
1/1600 @ f/5.6
Tripod mounted
Processing Notes:
Full frame
Converted from RAW using Phase One Capture One Pro
Usual tweaks in PS5 along with light work in Nik Viveza 2 and Color Efex Pro
Cloned out small spot of OOF snow in background that was acting as a mirror to the first rays of sun and was completely blown out
NOTE: See below for repost based on suggestions
Comments
9 commentsit was very bright conditions and when i was packing up to leave an indigenous fellow showed up and politely informed me that he was going to shoot the moose that I had called in...(i had actually called in 4) but I didn't tell him that.. I had my 3 year old with me so we packed up and left....bummer...
Anyway congrats on your shot its a keeper.
Awesome shot, as some of the others have said the processing looks spot on. Love the lifted leg, nice action! I agree with Richard that perhaps cropping the top of the frame down to the darker trees would help put more emphasis on the Moose. Anyhow, nice shot, can't wait to see more!
-Cam
Nice Work John
Ken Archer
I had certainly considered this type of crop initially, but wanted an "animalscape" feel to the image and give a strong sense of the moose's environment. I know you still get that in the cropped version to a degree, but I really liked the sense of depth and space the original provided, and was attracted to the interplay of light and shadow. But this one works, too!
Thanks again...looking forward to hearing which you prefer between these two versions! It's the original for me but that has a lot to do with having enjoyed the experience and location so much and actually getting in one frame exactly what I had wanted!
I definitely prefer your original post to the re-post. To me the original is a very nice "enviroscape" and the inclusion of the trees in the background adds great context and a sense of scale to the image. And I think the the background is a big asset in the first shot. To me the second one is "just" a shot of a moose (albeit one in nice light!) and the background in that one does little to enhance the shot. In the same vein, in the original shot I much prefer the relative dominance (size) of the moose in the frame - in the second one I find the moose large enough so that the shot becomes about JUST the moose. I think you get my drift on this - in my eyes a very nice environmental shot has gone to a shot "of a" moose (based on previous discussions I think you know what i mean!).
Cheers...thanks for sharing this one...
Brad