An Early Snow

Gallery: WildlifePosted October 20, 2012343 views11 comments

I know this guy doesn't qualify as a monster bull moose, but he sure was cooperative for me! This is the same bull from my previous two posts, but this image was taken the following day.

Jenaya and I got up at dawn and headed back into this guy's territory, and we were so busy looking to the west into the river valley where we normally find moose that I nearly missed the fact he was standing less than 50yds from the road to the east! I had just spotted a cow moose up in the trees several hundred yards away and I have no doubt this bull was continuing the quest I caught him in the day before.

He was kind enough to strike a pose for nearly a full minute before he moved off about 30yds and paused again (sadly this time not QUITE in a clear spot).

I would have loved to get a lower camera angle on him, and was so tempted to creep the truck forward to get his bell free from the background structure and maybe his hind legs in the clear as well, but I knew he'd move the second I did, so we just happily photographed what he gave us.

Probably my favourite aspect to this image is the pristine wintery scene. I love the way a fresh snowfall photographs in the morning (and I was digging the snow in his antlers as well)!

Thanks for looking!

Field Notes:
Nikon D7000
Nikkor AF-S 200-400mm f/4 IF-ED VR @ 220mm
ISO 640
1/1250sec @ f/6.3
-0.3EV to retain detail in snow highlights
mounted on beanbag from truck window

Processing Notes:
Converted from RAW using Phase One Capture One Pro
Cropped to app. 95% of original to remove very minor distracting elements from left and right sides
VERY slight selective adjustments to contrast, tones and highlights
Slight reduction to saturation using Nik Viveza 2
Usual selective sharpening

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on October 20, 2012 at 8:34 AM

Hi John, without doubt this is my favorite of the moose photos you have recently posted. I like the position of the big guy, the detail in his coat and in the snow. The BG is busy, but for me that works well showing the habitat of the moose. I can't believe the length of his bell, I have never seen one so long! Thanks for sharing. I can see this as a holiday card.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on October 20, 2012 at 11:21 AM

I like this one too. Sometimes the only way I know that Winter is happening is to see the photos posted here, and this is the one that did just that. I like the setting and the look that you're getting. Almost seems like he's giving you a smile.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by jack jaeger jr on October 20, 2012 at 3:18 PM

Thats some gotea !

Registered on April 2, 2012, 26 Posts, 355 Comments

Comment posted by Joe James on October 20, 2012 at 5:07 PM

That's a WINNER! Great pose and composition.

Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on October 20, 2012 at 7:14 PM

Hello John

Some dewlap!! are you near the kananaskis area? or waterton?

Nice clean image. is it hunting season there now? I was out in our area(Algonquin park/ontario) on wednesday and did see a couple moose, but much warmer here with no snow & leaves have just fallen. It's moose hunting season here and moose are very nervous.

Enkjoy your images and you narrative... Thanks for sharing.

Bill

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on October 20, 2012 at 10:11 PM

Looks good John. Excellent composition and I really like the habitat - not busy in my opinion. I'm surprised that you dialed in -0.3EV, my reaction to this scene would be to add a little positive compensation; I'm glad Nikon cameras exposure algorithms are smarter than me..

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on October 21, 2012 at 1:40 AM

Thanks for your kind remarks!

Bill - Waterton area (not actually inside the park here) and yes, hunting season is on (at least in some areas). Jenaya and I experienced first-hand how hunting pressure affects wildlife photography in the Yukon, but we still managed to find a few critters to photograph last month.

Gary - I know! I was surprised as well! I took a few shots at 0EV, checked my histogram and was shocked to see (barely) blown highlights! -0.3 was all that was needed, but I have one FULL curve on the histogram, and that's with a camera with very good dynamic range! It didn't seem to be all that contrasty to my eye, but I don't think I could have held the full range with the D300, and certainly not my D2X.

Thanks again!

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on October 21, 2012 at 7:37 AM

I really like this image. The fresh undisturbed snow, the way the bull stands out from the white of the rest of the image and the detail and clarity of the animal. Vine image.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on October 21, 2012 at 10:11 PM

Another sweet moose photo John. I really like how the more open areas of the landscape lead me through the frame. Excellent exposure work too.

Ken Archer

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

Comment posted by Guy Runco on October 22, 2012 at 4:50 PM

Great shot John - love the composition, and the bull and surrounding foliage are plenty sharp to my eye. I'm a sucker for a snow-covered antler

, so this one definitely gets a thumbs up from me!

Registered on September 9, 2008, 77 Posts, 705 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on October 24, 2012 at 10:13 AM

Hi John,

Simple and very nice - I like it! What stands out for me is how well the background (meaning, in this case, everything but the subject) is rendered - love the nice subtle light-on-light tones in the snow and bushes. Compositionally and pose-wise this is strong too - well done. My only minor (as in very minor) nit is the exposure on the moose - while I realize and appreciate this is a very dark moose, I'm thinking I'd like to see slightly more dark-on-dark detail on the side of the moose. But this is a really trivial nit and overall I very much like this shot...

Cheers...thanks for sharing...

Brad

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