Agitated and Disappointed

You certainly caught the frustrated look on this guy. I do think it is a bit tight in the frame, a bit more space around the elk would be nice IMHO. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks John, I was actually thinking of cropping this down to his head and antlers but also like his rigid stop posture. I love this "expression", he's thinking he's going to get a new girlfriend and, surprise, it's only me with a camera.

Grat alert pose from this fellow - nice processing under tough conditions -
turned out very well, imo.
Sandy

Superb pose well captured Russ. Instead of cropping you could also add a slight bit of canvas on the top and fill it. Like you I think the pose is too good to crop away

Hi Russ,

Definitely a very alert and focused pose that you captured here. I agree with others who said this was too good of a pose to crop away. Tough lighting with that bright band near the top of the frame, but you handled it quite well overall. While I suppose it could be argued that the tree on the left is part of the story (presumably the tree you were using for cover?), to me it does distract a tad (as does the out-of-focus bush on the right). But overall an interesting shot.

As moderator I feel compelled to point out a potential ethics issue: While with most animals luring them in with calls tends to be less harmful than doing the same with food, there are still some who would feel that intentionally manipulating a wild animal's behaviour (via calling it in) for the sole purpose of photography is getting close to - or perhaps crossing - an ethical boundary. Like with most individual instances of playing bird calls and/or songs back to them to lure them in, it's likely the case that no harm was done here (and certainly far less harm than luring it in and then shooting it with a gun!!). But animals that are breeding are commonly on an extremely tight energy balance and responding to false challenges can take their toll on them (especially if done repeatedly). I totally get that you didn't call the bull in yourself, but your commentary suggests it was done for your benefit. Anyway...enough of that...and I do want to acknowledge that the NPN guidelines on this specific issue (and how they pertains to wildlife) are a bit vague...they specifically state "Photos of baited wildlife are prohibited" - but whether or not using vocalizations to draw wildlife in is "baiting" is open to debate. Just food for thought...

But thanks for posting this…it's a very interesting shot!

Cheers…

Brad

Thanks for your comments Brad, and perhaps a few more details are in order here. I did not go out with the intention of baiting or using an artificial device to draw a bull elk close in order to take a picture. I serendipitously encountered a stranger who was already engaged in that process when I came onto the scene. There are hunters and others who consider skill the in the use of these devices a sport in and of itself, but ethical and personal judgments regarding those activities and practices is a discussion for a different forum. The stranger I encountered was not engaged in any illegal activity and was pursuing his hobby, just like I was pursuing mine. I fully realize some folks would be deeply offended to witness someone engaged in this activity and would have chosen to avoid the situation altogether, but in the spur of the moment that was not the choice I made. However, my presence did not change the events that morning, this situation would have occurred with or without me. I realize your comments pertain to the appropriateness of an image for this site, I just wouldn't want my behavior to adversely effect a wild animal. In retrospect, not sure I would do the same thing.