Jasper elkscape

It's nice to get the mountains and trees in the background, but really this is dominated by the dead stuff behind the elk. It overpowers both the background and the elk itself. I think if wouldn't move, and you couldn't get a better angle on him, that this location would be best suited for close-ups at a long focal length and big aperture, to blur the bushy stuff as much as possible.

-Paul

I like this. There's nice red color in the brush, and the image nicely illustrates elk habitat and habits--i.e., moving lower for the winter. While the shot works fine as is, it might have been fun to play with it more, possibly with a polarizer and graduated ND filter, to make the snow more dramatic and intensify the colors in the vegetation. I think there's too much background and foreground for headshots, that this was the right way to go.

This shot has a lot of potential as it is a nice habitat shot. I agree with Cliff about using ND filters or poarizers to make the snow more dramatic. You can still do this by adding a 50% gray layer and adding o taking away light.

Bill Keown

Kelly
I think you did as well as you could. As Cliff noted, to even get a head shot in tight you are going to have to stop down because of the size of the animal. Because the elk is basically sitting in the bushes, I also doubt that you would get a clean smooth background. Its hard to tell here and Paul wasnt along that day but the elk was pretty much IN the brush.

As you know, I had a chance to cross over to the other side of the two track path where the elk laid down. I actually like the shots from over there a little better because the clear(er) path behind cleaned up the background a bit. I still have a great deal of brush on the right side of the frame, and I was in a little tighter then this, still holding the background and mountains.. For comparison, it is here.

Thanks for posting here at NSN..

Don't you just hate when the really good looking animals lie down in clutter for FG or BG. This elk, the male moose etc. It is still neat to see them and get the best shot you can which I think you did here.

Very nice "elkscape". That is a good name for this. I can see why you tried to include the great setting in this. An ND grad would be tough to use here as it would severely darken the tops of the trees. I like the grass in front of him. Nice light on the eye too.

I like the habitat included here Kelly.
I looked at a crop from the top down to the tip of trees on the snow capped hill in the centre. Brings the Elk into the highlight more and makes it a real hibitat image.

even with all of the cold ...fridgid ..temperatures all of the STL posts have been great work....keep them coming.

Thanks, everyone!

Cliff, I never thought of trying a polarizer or a GND with wildlife shots, but I can see how it might have helped here.

Dennis, your angle is MUCH better. Why didn't I try that? Or maybe I did, and have it on some of the slides that are on the way. I know I was moving around a bit and trying different angles but didn't have the nerve to get as close as you.

With my 100-400 lens (f/5.6 being the widest aperture @ 400), I probably couldn't get a head shot with a blurred background, because his head was practically in the bushes. But there might be some on my slides with Chas' 500.

Looks like you had some great environmental conditions to take mammal scapes like this. Nice shot.

Here's another thought. Getting very low and shooting through the brush with a long lens with the eye clearly visible. Not sure if you could have found a clear line to do that. I've tried it with moose a few times and its tough to get a good shot.

Kelly wrote:. . . Cliff, I never thought of trying a polarizer or a GND with wildlife shots, but I can see how it might have helped here. . . .

I don't either when using my 600. But with smaller lenses (that easily take front filters) and animals smaller in the frame, you are essentially making a landscape image with wildlife in the frame, what Arthur Morris calls a birdscape, or in this case what you called an elkscape. While I'm not a landscape specialist, my impression is that many, many great landscape images are made with filters, either to balance exposure or to enhance color. Probably the ND grad wouldn't have worked here, but with what appears to be sidelight, a polarizer might have brought out more color in the brush and conifers. Instead of the ND grad, another possibility would be to expose for the background and use some flash on the elk.

For what it's worth, I blew many opportunities similar to this at Rocky Mountain NP, especially herds of elk in Horseshoe Park with Long's Peak looming above in alpenglow. My fingers were freezing, and I stupidly tried only a 2-stop GND filter, resulting in an overexposed, snow-dusted peak when I exposed for the elk. I shoot very little of this sort of thing, but should have realized stacking both a 2- and a 3-stop filter would be necessary to balance the deep shape with partly sunlit snow.

Nicely done; looks like the 10d served you very well. I would be tempted to crop a bit off the top. It's nice to get the environment included but the sky doesn't add much here IMO. Even the elk just against the brush works well for me.

Rich

I think this is VERY nice Kelly....I really like how the trees sort of open up to let the snowy mountains peek thru. Nice job!