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Week's Dairy

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted October 23, 2016141 views7 comments

About three miles north of here is what fifteen years ago was a dairy farm. When they went out of business it was bought by USFWS and included in the Black River NWR. The elk were quick to adopt it as a wintering area and seem to be coming earlier in the fall and leaving later in the spring. There's no public access but a couple of places to pull off the road. This was taken yesterday morning in one of those breaks in the clouds that David mentioned.

7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @150 mm, tripod & ballhead with 2 sec timer, f/16, 1/125, iso 640 aperture priority, pattern metering, -1/3EV. Processed in LR5 & CS6. Image straightened and a slight crop. I increased the brightness on the fall foliage and added some saturation as the sun didn't really come out, but rather filtered through and left everything a bit flat. Taken at 9:29 AM yesterday.

Comments and criticisms are always appreciated.

Thanks,

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on October 23, 2016 at 10:41 PM

Dennis, interesting photo. I do wish it had a bit more contrast/pop. It seems just a bit flat. Also, I wonder how this would work as a pano crop with less grass in the FG and the sky gone in the BG. Just a thought. Thanks for sharing.

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

Comment posted by Jim Gavin on October 24, 2016 at 1:26 AM

I like this image, even that it is a bit flat and perhaps a crop from the top (but not bottom) as John suggests. It accurately portrays the weather conditions that we experience here on the west side of the mountains at this time of year. Besides I really like elk and this is a fine shot of some.

Registered on August 14, 2008, 293 Posts, 1250 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on October 24, 2016 at 11:27 AM

That's quite a collection of Elk, Dennis, clearly the rut is over with several good size bulls resting quietly. The broad swaths of different color look good and you've got good glowing fall color in the tall trees. The touch of contrast in the cloudy sky is a good addition. I know from experience that a light overcast really lets fall colors pop, as they do here.

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

Comment posted by David Schoen on October 25, 2016 at 1:30 PM

I like the bands of different shades of green leading up to the golden tones of the trees in the background. Better to have real elk than slow elk.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on October 25, 2016 at 4:04 PM

Hi Dennis crying

An amazing scene with fine color and interesting subjects.. hope the elk survive and do well

Albert Darmo

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on October 25, 2016 at 10:41 PM

Fine combination of elements, Dennis. The fall colors provide a colorful backdrop to the elk. The image has strong layers.

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on October 26, 2016 at 12:13 AM

Critterscapes are my favorites! I like your processing here. Sunlight filtered through clouds really lets the colors show by cutting down on sky reflections on the leaves, but the lack of well-defined shadows can make shapes look kind of flat, and you overcame that well here.

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments