Author Archives: bobshank

Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience

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This week my friend and professional photographer, Dick McCreight, are hosting our Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience.

The rut is on and the elk are active. This is a great time of year to photograph the elk, and in fact, is my favorite time of year. I love the sights, sounds, and feelings that accompany the fall season in the mountains. It is truly a beautiful time of year to be sure!

I am busy out shooting much of the day and leading photo workshops this week, so I won’t have time to post any photos. However, I am hoping to have plenty of photographs to share in upcoming blog entries.

You can find out more about our Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience trips here. They are lots of fun and we always learn a lot about photography from each other on these photo trips. We’d love to have you join us on one of these trips sometime!

Football

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Last night I photographed the Leighton vs. Pleasant Valley football game. It was a very good game from the PV side. Lehighton put up a good fight and it was only 21-0 at halftime. But it was hard to stop the three-pronged attack of the PV quarterback Walling, receiver Irving, and running back Getz. Some incredible receptions and tough running yards kept the Indians on their heels most of the night.

Photographing football sure is different from baseball. For one thing, the game was at night so I had to really make adjustments for the lighting conditions. Secondly, the flow of the game is much different. Fortunately, I coached football for about nine years so this wasn’t all that bad for me, but it was different from photographing a baseball game. Being at the middle school game this past week was also helpful and prepared me well for this high school game.

You can check out the photos I captured at this football game here. And I included a few photos here in my blog entry, too.

Check Out My New Book!

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I just published my first book! The title is “How I Photograph the Pennsylvania Elk.”

The book shares my approach to photographing the elk of Pennsylvania and includes tips on locating the elk, techniques on how get quality photos of the elk, as well as some tips on what to wear when photographing the elk. There is a brief history of the PA elk, too. I’ve been hiking the elk range in Pennsylvania for over twenty years now and I enjoy each and every outing. There is no place like the mountains and my book shares how I locate the elk and photograph them.

I got the idea of self-publishing a book from photographer, Dave Black. I listened to a podcast where he was interviewed and he talked about how he used Blurb to self-publish his book, “The Way I See It.” You can find out more about this by going to Dave Black’s article here.

In addition to sharing some practical tips and suggestions, I also share some personal stories from my experiences photographing the elk.

You can view a description of the book and see a preview of seven pages in the book here.

Football Game

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Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph a middle school football game. The Stroudsburg Mounties were hosting the Pleasant Valley Bears. I knew several players on both sides, but one of the Stroudsburg moms asked me to get some photos of her son. The action was fast and furious with lots of scoring throughout the game.

I found football to be much different than photographing baseball. The action seemed more non-stop and fast-paced. I coached football for quite a few years, including at the middle school level for three years. Knowing the game sure helps when trying to photograph a game! One quick tip I learned quickly is to line up on the sideline slightly behind the line of scrimmage to get a clear shot of the backfield. Handoffs, pitches, and the QB dropping back for a pass are examples of shots I was able to get with this technique.  Of course, this would also be a good location for a QB sack, too. I found it much harder to capture a receiver catching a pass.

Over all, I believe I was able to capture some good, quality photographs of the game. Here are five photos, but you can see all the photos from this shoot here.

Traffic on Winslow Hill

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I was in complete disbelief this past Saturday at just how many vehicles were on the road on Winslow Hill viewing the elk. Granted, I have not been there on a weekend for quite some time since I do prefer weekdays to weekends when viewing the elk. But the sheer number of cars, trucks, and motorcycles was absolutely amazing and mind-boggling to me!

At one point, as we were watching two nice bulls recovering from a fight, there was a line of vehicles almost as far as I could see slowly coming up the road. There was some cooperation among drivers as most vehicles pulled completely off the road to allow traffic to pass by, but it was slow going to be sure. Many passersby were shooting cameras through windows as they stopped briefly to snap a photo.

A few others were completely selfish and rude as they simply parked their car in the middle of their lane of travel, seemingly not caring about anyone else but themselves. This inconsiderate behavior is frowned upon by both locals and tourists alike. It needlessly ties up traffic and creates a bottleneck. The one place this happened had a parking lot not even 100 feet down the road. Trespassing and other acts of disrespect need to be pointed out before these unethical behaviors become habit.

Elk County Visitor Center Looks Great!

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This past weekend my son and I were up on the elk range. We were thrilled to see lots of elk and some nice bulls. We also had the chance to make our first visit to the newly opened Elk County Visitor Center. I was not quite sure what to expect. I mean I heard all the reports touting how great the center was going be, but I guess I can be somewhat cynical at times. I am also a Doubting Thomas as well. Rather believing all the hype, I say the proof is in the pudding.

So I drove up the driveway of the Elk Center without many high expectations. When we arrived I liked the appearance of the new building but still took a kind of wait-and-see approach to my impression. Well, let me tell you, the Visitor Center if very nice and it looks great! The architects and those who had the vision for this building did many things right. The building is attractive and creative at the same time. It appears that the intention is to share and teach information about the Pennsylvania elk herd and they are already achieving this goal in a big way.

The displays in the main room are interactive and informative. Volunteers were present to answer questions and talk about the elk herd, proper viewing etiquette, and questions about the center. The theater presentation was creative and informative and fun to watch. Over all, the new center impressed me even though I entered the building with a non-impressive attitude. I really liked what I saw and experienced in the Elk County Visitor Center.

I hope you get a chance to see it, too. And when you do I’d love to hear your impressions on the new center.

Here are a couple photos I captured on my trip.


The PA Elk Rut is On!

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This weekend in Elk County proved to me that the PA elk rut has begun. We heard a lot of bugling, saw some bulls getting into a frenzy, and saw the aftermath of a fight for dominance. Yes, the rut has begun! I think it is only really starting and in my opinion will be in full swing sometime this week. I saw several bulls chasing cows, one intently, but I did not witness any mounts or breeding.

The traffic up on Winslow Hill was unbelievable to me. Admittedly, it has been quite some time since I was on the elk range on a Saturday, but the number of cars and traffic jams was surprising to me.

The elk did not seem to mind in the least though. They went about their business as usual. We saw some decent sized harems being managed by some nice bulls. And we saw bulls every time we went out. In fact, some bulls were nice. We saw two bulls that were at least a 7×7 or 8×7. Even the lesser bulls seemed to have nice mass to their antlers. The cows seemed healthy but not yet ready to mate. We also saw a few calves that are growing up quickly.

Here are four photographs from our one-day trip this weekend.

Some New Baseball Photos and Still More to Come

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Late last night I posted some baseball photos from this past weekend’s ECTB Tournament. The Sunday games were rained out, but some great baseball was played on Saturday!

I photographed the 11u game first, then had the chance to photograph the two 15u games. The players were hitting and driving the ball, and the defense was solid. The 15u team won both of their games and they looked strong. It is always fun for me to photograph a baseball game but when the action on the field is played with confidence and precision, it makes it even more enjoyable!

You can see some of the photos from these three games here.

And I am posting a just a few photos here.

Time to Be in the Mountians!

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I can feel it. The weather is slowly changing as the evenings and mornings are getting cooler. The leaves on the trees are starting to show some hints that their colors might soon be changing, too. Yep, I can feel it–it’s time to be in the mountains again!

I absolutely love this time of year. It is so beautiful and even the wildlife is becoming more active. The breeding season of the elk feature bugle sounds and sights that are breathtaking and photogenic.

This weekend I will be in the mountains with my son, James, to see and photograph the elk. I can’t wait. It’s only going to be a one day trip but at least we will see firsthand how the elk rut is going. We hope to hear some ear-piercing bugles, see some sparing, and capture some of this action with our cameras. It’s going to be sweet!

There is no place like the mountains and there is no place I’d rather be than in the mountains behind my viewfinder!

Here’s a photo of my colleague and professional photographer, Dick McCreight behind his viewfinder.

Selling Photographs

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I heard a very interesting podcast tonight while I was driving in my truck. That discussion revolved around the differences between the different ways to market and sell images. Mainly, they were discussing the difference between “rights managed,” and “royalty free” pricing.

Have any of you had any success selling photographs?

A majority of my photo sales are with parents who want the action images I captured in a baseball game, a school musical, or some other event. This is much different from selling photographs to magazines or other venues. I also sell wildlife and landscape photos occasionally. But I am curious to how you market and sell your photos. What works for you? Are any of you into micro-stock photography, for example, selling photos on iStockPhoto or some company like that? What works? What do you find frustrating?