Bull Elk in Rocky Mtn NP

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Guido Bee

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Shot this bull while he was rounding up his harem back in Sept. I think it would have been better if the antlers were more separated from the females in the backgound. Light was behind the group. Eventually another male showed up across the road, behind us, and had better light, but no other elk with him. The second image is the solo guy; better light, but not so much of a story.
Bull Elk at RMNP.jpg
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Bull Elk w Harem.jpg
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First photos is "meh" on account of what looks like mid-day light, an uninteresting background, and a bullseye composition. It looks like an archery practice silhouette - that's kinda rough, I'm not trying to be mean. You nailed the focus and the exposure, there's a tiny amount of catchlight in his eyes, and he's not doing anything particularly awkward. it's not a bad photo, it just lacks interesting-ness.

The second photo is quite a bit better. There's more story elements, there is 3-dimensionality on account of foreground, mid, and background, the light is more interesting (I always love some backlight), there's a kind of geometry of his antlers curving into the herd. Not a fan of his mouth in a weird half-open state, the composition is "ok", but I don't love it - like, I'd print it maybe, I'd publish it if it was the best I had and needed an image to tell a particular story. I don't know what I would have done differently in your situation - a lot of variables to consider about how to make it better in situ. If it were in my catalog, I'd use it as an "almost" and then let it inform me the next time I went out.
 
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jeremyjohnsonphotos said:
First photos is "meh" on account of what looks like mid-day light, an uninteresting background, and a bullseye composition. It looks like an archery practice silhouette - that's kinda rough, I'm not trying to be mean. You nailed the focus and the exposure, there's a tiny amount of catchlight in his eyes, and he's not doing anything particularly awkward. it's not a bad photo, it just lacks interesting-ness.

The second photo is quite a bit better. There's more story elements, there is 3-dimensionality on account of foreground, mid, and background, the light is more interesting (I always love some backlight), there's a kind of geometry of his antlers curving into the herd. Not a fan of his mouth in a weird half-open state, the composition is "ok", but I don't love it - like, I'd print it maybe, I'd publish it if it was the best I had and needed an image to tell a particular story. I don't know what I would have done differently in your situation - a lot of variables to consider about how to make it better in situ. If it were in my catalog, I'd use it as an "almost" and then let it inform me the next time I went out.
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Thanks for the comments. The first shot was actually taken after the second one. The shot with the several females was som3ewhat into the sun, so we were seeing a more shaded side of the elk. Later, I got the shot of the solo male on the other side of the road. It is boring, but the light was better; brighter, but not exactly captivating. Largely a time of day thing going on now in the Rocky Mountain National Park. You have permits to get in at a particular time, and even additional access restrictions for certain parts inside the park. Apparently it is the third most visited park in the system, and fairly crowded even in Sept.
Thanks again, and it seems you are just up the road. We are about 15 miles south of Bremerton. All the best.
 
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My thought was, "To the victor go the spoils!"

The solo elk was clearly NOT the victor. He is all cleaned up and ready to go to the prom, but he does not have a date. The other bull is dirty and exhausted from kicking the stuffing out of all challengers, and keeping the girls in the harem happy. I find the shot of the harem greatly adds to the story.

Just my thoughts as a former bow hunter.
 
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