RMP Elk

Todd and I were lucky enough to come across a small herd of bull elk in RMNP. This one was just far enough from the others for me to isolate it in the frame. Then it even made eye contact with me (probably thinking, "Another doofus from Florida who hasn't seen an elk before").

The only issue was the sun, which was very bright and almost directly overhead. This caused the elk to appear overly dark in the raw file, since I was exposing to the right for the whole scene, as I usually do.

Anyway, I tried to lighten the elk in PS to show its more natural color, rather than just a very dark brown shape. I hope I didn't go too far.

Comments welcome.

Canon 7D+100-400, F11, 1/1000, ISO 400.

Cool elk, but he's overly orange in my monitor.

Great pose and eye contact here Lance! I do think there has been too much shadow recovery. The elks shadow confirms the tough lighting situation. I think if you pull the shadows back down to a more realistic level, then do some dodging on the elk it might look more natural. He is a beautiful specimen!

Great shot, but to me it looks a little over processed.

This is exactly the feedback I was looking for, and sort of suspected.

Thanks, everyone.

I hope you'll post another version after reprocessing this one.
It's really a magnificent pose with an excellent background from top to bottom.

This is perfect just the way it is, because these were special, radioactive elk, so they tend to glow orange like that, even in full-on sunlight.

Yeah buddy, just back it down a few notches, maybe keep the detail in his face but let the body go more naturally dark, and reduce his saturation a bit. There's an amazing photo in there, you just need to coax it out.

With a bit more restraint...

Thanks again, everyone.

Bingo, you nailed it the secind time around. Good processing and very nice photograph. The great clouds are a nice touch.

The re-post is much more natural looking, tough lighting for sure but this is a keeper!.

That pose is really great Lance. The second posting works really nicely.

The first would make an easy target this fall in his day-glow coat. Or maybe he's camouflaged, planning to take out a few hunters instead?

I love the second one as well. Thanks for sharing.

Elk looks a LOT better, but I think the sky looks too cyan. If it were mine I'd play with the blue to make it a more realistic shade.

That repost makes him look like the majestic animal he is. Much better.

Like the comp and the repost looks much better, but agree with what Pam said about a bit too much cyan to my eyes.

Hey Lance, Cool shot, especially after your PS touchup. Not everyday a photographer gets this opportunity.