Rocky - Sprague Lake

Wen to Rocky this am with Mr Nick and took some sunrise pics of Sprague Lake and then found coyotes and elk. Cool, cloudy morning with some smoke haze.

#1

#2

#3

Great shots! Really like the coyote surrounded by the grass.

I don't believe I've ever seen purplish-pink elk before. You might have a new species on your hands here, Bill.

P.S. Love the coyote shot!

new breed Todd, called Pelk!

The sunrise shot has some potential with just a bit more detail in the foreground and the elimination of the halo around the pine tree.
The wildlife images rock, though!
As you're aware , there's a pretty strong magenta color cast in the elk portrait. Once that's gone, it looks magnificent!

Well the strong magenta cast was caused by this being shot in the dark half way across Sprague Lake half an hour before sunrise with the beginnings of a nice cloudy red sky above, and that is how it looked, I did notice that when the sun came up the elk did change back to a paler color. Since I had got up at 4am I think my eyes were pretty much the same color as the elk!

Wonderful series, Bill.

Good stuff here Bill. You have an interesting take there with those trees. I have tried capturing a good image with those trees as well, but yours looks promising. Maybe some more light in the FG as John mentioned. And good "butt-shot" of the coyote with the grasses showing how well they can blend into the environment.

Nice stuff, Bill. As mentioned, lightening up the foreground would help #1. The color cast in #3 doesn't bother me at all. I figured you shot this early and that's what the color was.

Terrific, Bill--that coyote shot is awesome!! I personally would tame that color cast on the elk a bit, it has gone beyond a "cast" for the rhs elk and has become pure purple--and as Todd 'tactfully' pointed out, Elk aint purple I think if you just tweak the WB a bit it will be fine. But that's just our opinion--you're the boss!

And I do appreciate the opinions y'all, thanks for looking. I wish I'd taken the "elk in the water in the dark" a little more seriously and tried some more shots of them, the light was fantastic. It's a bit like shooting Antelope Canyon, your eye doesn't see much but the camera finds all the light and color. The funniest part was that I didn't know that they were there until I heard this loud grunt and I was "fearful" of a mountain lion, then some splashing and then in the half light I could make out 5 or 6 elk!

The coyote shot is great, and the light on the elk is gorgeous, just a little wb work as Stan said.

Bill,
love the comp in the first shot, The Coyote shot is fantastic!

Nice shots-I would say lighten up the foreground a little in the first. Wiley Coyote is great!

Love the coyote shot Bill. The placement of the flowers, DOF everything is awesome. The clarity and color of the eye anchors the whole image for me. Nicely done!