Before sunup

Gallery: WildlifePosted February 11, 20151,995 views13 comments

Bull elk in February are looking kind of worn, with tufted hair and many battered, broken antlers. This one shows some of those effects. However, this is really about the sky, which was at times gaudy pink and purple, but the pose came as that was toning down.

D610, Tamron 150-600 @280, f8, 1/250, ISO 2000, -1.3ev, minor crop to reduce foreground grasses

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on February 11, 2015 at 12:55 PM

This is really nice Lon. The sky is simply beautiful. I do wish the elk's antlers were not so beat up. There is a symmetry in elk antlers that would have been nice to see reflected here. Regardless, wonderful capture.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Roel Wijtmans on February 11, 2015 at 2:54 PM

Gorgeous! The elk really stands out against both the background and the foreground, which works perfect! Often the foreground is just as dark as the animal, and those two become more or less one, but here the elk really contrasts with everything else, putting even more emphasize on it. Well done!

Registered on September 30, 2012, 116 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Thomas Haney on February 11, 2015 at 8:29 PM

Beautiful shot Lon, I especially like the detail in the foreground and the elk's pose.

Registered on April 7, 2013, 138 Posts, 537 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 11, 2015 at 9:19 PM

Beautiful image Lon, love the colors with the pinks and purples and the comp.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on February 12, 2015 at 7:14 AM

Cool frame with beautiful colours!
Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on February 12, 2015 at 8:23 AM

Lon,
Wonderful colours in this one, the Elk is the icing on the cake

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on February 12, 2015 at 4:06 PM

Hello Lon

Really COOL how you have captured mood of cold, with frosty grasses & Sky with great layered textures & hues!

Bill

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

Comment posted by Brad Hill on February 12, 2015 at 4:52 PM

Hey Lon,

This one is really sweet. Love the simplicity, lighting, positioning of the subject in the frame (especially the foreground/background split of the frame) and, of course, the colour.

Given this is a critiquing gallery, I guess I have to find one nit!

But about the only thing I could find is a tiny faint halo (presumably from sharpening?) around the elk - most noticeable (but still hardly noticeable) along the head of the elk.

Well done!

Cheers...

Brad

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

Comment posted by John Launstein on February 12, 2015 at 8:27 PM

Stunning, Lon! Been after this for a long while but have never had the silhouette opportunity present itself while there was any real interest to the sky. You have a great sky and gorgeous grasses with pure perfection on the near-silhouette (I love that you can see a little coat detail and change of tones in the elk). Awesome stuff.

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

Comment posted by Josiah Launstein on February 12, 2015 at 11:44 PM

Wow! This picture is really cool. I love photographing elk because they are just so awesome. I like how the bull is on the top of a ridge and it is a really cool background. I love how the elk is silhouetted and the broken antler is cool..

Registered on January 26, 2013, 52 Posts, 126 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on February 13, 2015 at 3:03 PM

Hi Lon, love the cool winter feel the image conveys. The almost silhouette of the Elk with hints of subtle detail is nice and is perfect set against that sky. Cracking colours!!! like the slight incline too.

TFS
Steve

Registered on March 25, 2007, 189 Posts, 1064 Comments

Comment posted by Ingrid Vekemans on February 28, 2015 at 2:02 PM

Another example of how important colour and light is. And then you need a subject to walk into that and make a great composition of it. Well done.

Grt, Ingrid.

Registered on August 2, 2010, 138 Posts, 780 Comments

Comment posted by Mario Moreno on March 7, 2015 at 6:56 AM

I love silhouettes and this is really good Lon . . . .

Registered on January 24, 2012, 163 Posts, 369 Comments