Jim Bodkin, APSA, PPSA
December 2024 - Bugling Elk
Original
About the Image(s)
My favorite time at Rocky Mountain NP is in the fall during the mating season called the rut. The bull elks attempt to build their harems by either stealing from the harems of other bull elks or enticing them to join him by bugling to attract them. This bull had about 10-12 cows in his harem, but was attempting to attract more!
Spoiler alert: He was not successful in the 2 hours I watched.
Captured with Canon 7D Mk II with Canon 500mm prime lens at 1/80 sec, f/9 and ISO 200 on a tripod.
Processed in LR for all adjustments, tonal changes and cropping, and then finished with Topaz DeNoise AI and Sharpen AI.
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Jim.
5 comments posted
Allen Kurth
Classic shot of the bull elk in great light. I like how you brought detail out of the grass in the shadow Posted: 12/09/2024 22:00:10
I love RMNP in fall during the elk rut. Your image looks really nice, very sharp with side lighting. Action is beautifully captured.
I would have cropped it a bit less to show more of the meadow. Also, it looks too warm to me. I would lower the color temperature a bit.
Last a thought on composition. It looks like this image was shot in the Beaver meadow in RMNP. The meadow kind of slopes down. My experience over there was that it is almost impossible to create an eye level image with a separation of the subject from the background. In your image, grass looks quite sharp. I don't think you can do much about it, other than wait until the bulls come out of the meadow and go towards the hill :-) Posted: 12/11/2024 16:51:41
I would have cropped it a bit less to show more of the meadow. Also, it looks too warm to me. I would lower the color temperature a bit.
Last a thought on composition. It looks like this image was shot in the Beaver meadow in RMNP. The meadow kind of slopes down. My experience over there was that it is almost impossible to create an eye level image with a separation of the subject from the background. In your image, grass looks quite sharp. I don't think you can do much about it, other than wait until the bulls come out of the meadow and go towards the hill :-) Posted: 12/11/2024 16:51:41
Deborah Albert
I love this, my only suggestions are to decrease white on antlers and may darken upper part of background, again just a tad. Posted: 12/11/2024 17:18:34
Excellent shot and very good post processing. Posted: 12/19/2024 22:15:00
This is a very pleasant image, it will gain acceptances but not medals (and of course that's the best you can expect from the majority of images). You did a remarkable job of pulling up the color, perhaps going a tiny bit too far but in general the editing is very convinving and more or less natural in appearance. The story is less compelling because we don't see the cows he is trying to impress, but it's also a very realistic scene as this is what bulls spend much of their time doing.
Lillian Posted: 12/22/2024 18:55:21
Lillian Posted: 12/22/2024 18:55:21