Category Archives: Wildlife Photography

Join Us for our next Amazing Photo Trip!

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How would  you like to capture some amazing photographs of the majestic Pennsylvania elk?

Our Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience is a great opportunity to learn more about wildlife photography and make great memories at the same time!

Click on the photo above for a sample of photographs you could capture on one of these trips.

These photo trips offer complete lodging and food for three days. You will experience three photography workshops and have plenty of chances to be out photographing these amazing creatures. It will be an experience of a lifetime!

Along the way you will meet some terrific people, experience the elk culture of Pennsylvania, and learn some valuable wildlife photography tips.

Our upcoming Winter Experience is scheduled for February 21-24. More information is available here.

Please consider joining us for an amazing photography experience. And if you refer a friend to attend with you, we will take 10% off the regular price for you.

Chillin’ Bull

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My son and I came across this bull in the small village of Benezette. He was in town just chillin’–laying comfortably beside the road not seemingly bothered by all the attention he was getting! He is not a gigantic bull by any means, but he will hopefully be some day. He looked rather majestic at times and I am hoping we get the opportunity to watch him grow over the next 10 years.

The weekend of New Year’s we saw a lot of elk and two nice bulls. We saw some small bulls, too, but two were 7x7s. It was good to see that at least a few big bulls are still around after the elk hunting season. We do not see as many of the big bulls as we used to before the elk hunt started again. I understand that hunters want the trophy bulls, but I agree with Willard Hill that a healthy balance needs to be struck between the hunters and those of us who like to view and photograph the elk. I am happy to see that more and more hunters are going back to using bows, as I also prefer them to guns. There was a time when I used to collect and assemble the upper parts for AR-15’s with the other equipments, to make the perfect range gun. But now, I would rather invest in the best compound bow for the money, and take time practicing the skill than relying on advanced weapons against these beautiful creatures. I have been a hunter for 33 years, but I choose to photograph the PA elk rather than hunting them more and more often. I do believe that hunting is a viable and good solution to manage wildlife. It just needs to be done sensibly and with respect to all parties involved including those who enjoy viewing and watching the elk. After all, we now have a Visitor Center up on Winslow Hill so we need to have elk to view. I believe keeping some of the big bulls alive not only makes sense but is imperative.

Balance is a difficult goal. I am not nieve enough to believe the attempt to keep everyone happy is possible. In fact, this shouldn’t even be the goal. However, balance is the key.

New Year’s on Winslow Hill

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Lydia, James, and I spent the New Year holiday up on Winslow Hill. This is a perfect time to get away to the quiet mountains and celebrate the passing of one year into all the hope and anticipation of a new one. It is a time for reflection. I counted my blessings acknowledging that this year I was able to spend more time in the mountains. My son also bagged his first buck, so that was another blessing. Time spent photographing the Pennsylvania elk is still another. Blessings abounded this past year!

It is also a time to look ahead with anticipation upon the new year. What will this year bring? How many times will I get out to photograph wildlife? Will there be any noteworthy photo purchases this year? What will I learn? What will I see? Where will I go? I am getting eager and excited just thinking about it!

Reflecting, pondering, hoping, and wondering are all important components to any New Year’s celebration. And I can think of nowhere better to do this than up in the mountains on Winslow Hill!

I wonder what this bull is thinking as he looks ahead to a new year?

End of Year Madness!

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Well, we are just about ready to say goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011. Can you believe it?

Looking back over the past year, I have assembled some great photographic memories. Some are recorded for posterity in digital format, some of which you can see on my website. Other memories are etched in my mind and consists of terrific shots missed or great people I’ve met over the past year. 2010 has been a photographic blast for me!

In this end-of-season madness, I find myself doing some things that are important. I just upgraded my old wireless network router to a 300Mbps N Gigabit router. The main problem I was having on my network were IP address conflicts and slow speeds. I hope the new router will rectify these annoying problems. Upgrading equipment is important. I still have about 500 GB of empty space on my Drobo, so  an additional hard drive is on the short order list. I am still working on the Photoshop CS5 learning curve, which is pretty steep and will take me some time but will be well worth the effort.

All photo print orders have been fulfilled and it was a good year for me. I continue to learn the ins and outs of the photo business, which is exhilarating for me. Sometimes I stumble and fall, but most people are patient and a complete pleasure to work with. I am learning to streamline the process and am now able to offer more product services than a year ago.

And, of course, I continue to take time behind the viewfinder–my most favorite place to be these days, especially outdoors on a wildlife or sports shoot. Moments spent with the camera are “precious and few” to quote an old song.

I am excited to discover what the New Year will reveal for me photographically. I am looking forward to new opportunities and new learning!

Yes, 2010 was a great year, but I believe 2011 is going to be even better!

 

Small Bull in the Snow

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On my last day of my recent two-week vacation, I found three small bulls hanging out together. As is typical, I saw them as I was beginning my drive home, but I had my camera and tripod at the ready so I could take a few minutes to snap a few photos.

I like photos of the elk in the snow because it really brings out the contrast in the hide of these majestic animals. This bachelor group was just beyond Medix Run on the Quehanna Highway. They were a little nervous about my presence at first, but as usual eventually warmed up to my presence and accepted me taking their photographs.

This bull was the biggest of the three, as the other two were just spikes. But they will all be bigger next year!

Bull 2D

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We saw this bull several times during the rut this year. He is magnificent in many ways. Just look at his antlers!

As a photographer I would prefer him not having that collar around his neck. It just seems far too distracting to me and I don’t even have to wear it! I understand,  however, that it helps the Pennsylvania Game Commission track the elk and assist in the herd size estimations. I further realize that I could spend the time in Photoshop to carefully remove the collar from the photograph, but I am far too influenced by my college training in journalism to feel right about doing that. So, I resort to documenting these elk just as they are–collars and all. After all, part of our joy of photography also serves as a type  of documentation of the elk herd here in Pennsylvania.

I like this image for several reasons. The bright blue sky provides an awesome background, as I mentioned yesterday. I also like how the bull appears to stand out and almost pop off the screen. Those antler aren’t bad either. And, to a degree, I even like that I can readily read the number and letter “2D” on this bull’s collar. It clearly shows exactly which bull this is among the herd.

What do you think about all this?

What a Blue Sky!

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I was driving up onto the top of Winslow Hill looking for elk as is my typical routine. This time the elk were not close by, but I spotted a sizable herd on the side of the Saddle. There was only one option in my mind–drive to the bottom of Dewey Road past the Gilbert Farm, park my truck in the lot, and hike up to photograph these magnificent creatures!

So that’s exactly what I did. I even remember thinking to myself, “should I come in above them or from below?” Then it hit me. The sky was a brilliant blue and the words of Lennie Lee Rue III came crashing into my head: “Whenever possible, try to “skyline” an animal. Photographs of an animal standing on the top of a hill against a bright blue sky have tremendous impact.” (How to Photograph Animals in the Wild, Dr. Leonard Lee Rue III and Len Rue, Jr., p. 128-129)

I made this decision quickly and found myself making my way steadily in the direction of where I knew the elk herd was located. Before long I saw the body of a bull elk with his antlers protruding into the bright blue sky! I was in the right location and just needed to be sure not to frighten the elk. I knew there were plenty of other elk just over the ridge, but this one had my full attention!

I believe this photograph is one example of Lennie Lee Rue III’s rule #5 from his “Tips on Wildlife Photography.” Thank you, Dr. Rue, for your inspiration and for teaching me this wonderful photographic rule.

What do you think of this photograph?

Silhouette

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Making a photographic silhouette is very easy and fun to do.

The conditions required for this type of shot are back-lighting and a subject on the horizon line. For example, in my photo here, the bull elk is right on the horizon line where there is nothing but sky behind him. This component of a silhouette shot is what makes the subject really stand out.

The procedure to get a shot like this could not be easier. I just shoot my camera in the direction of the brightest part of the sky and take my meter reading from that location. Then I recompose the shot to include the subject right where I want it to be in my viewfinder. On this photo I paid attention to the rule of thirds and kept the subject in the lower-right third of the image.

Give it a try. Making a silhouette is fun and easy. And the results can be stunning!

Contrast is Good

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One of the unique features of the elk I photograph in Pennsylvania is their posteriors, which contrast beautifully with their darker hide and even darker neck and face.

Contrast is good in photography. Our human eyes see contrast immediately and what we see as an obvious contract is not always conveyed in the photographs we take. The problem is that the range of contrast depicted in photographs is not nearly as good as the range we see with our eyes.

Contrast is the difference between black and white and everything in  between on a sliding scale. Contrasting colors make for a much punchier photograph. This is important to consider when composing a photographic subject. What is the background like? Is it similar or dissimilar from the subject? Part of the problem in photographing wildlife is that the subjects often blend in with their background too well. This is how God made them as a form of protection so they can hide from predators, but it makes our job much more difficult when trying to photograph these animals.

Contrast is good.

Composition

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The layout or composition of a photograph is important.

There are some general guidelines in composition, such as not cutting off subjects at their joints or chopping the top of their head off at the top of the photograph. Two other important compositional guidelines are the rule of thirds and horizon lines.

Let’s start with horizon lines. When photographing a subject make sure the photograph is not cut exactly in half with the horizon line going directly through the middle of the photo. This just doesn’t look good. To show more of the sky and clouds, drop the horizon line to roughly one-third of the way from the bottom of the photo. Alternatively, to show more of the landscape, pop the horizon line to roughly one-third of the way from the top of the photo. Compare photographs that follow this guideline with a photo that cuts the horizon right through the middle of the photo and see what you think.

The rule of thirds is another very helpful compositional guideline. Imagine your photograph has lines that resemble a tic-tac-toe board overlaying your photo. This pattern divides your photo in thirds both horizontally and vertically. Now note where these lines intersect. This guideline suggests you put your subject on one of these intersecting lines rather than dead in the middle of the photo like a bullseye.

The photograph here follows the rule of the thirds. The top of the calf’s head is at the top right of the imaginary intersecting lines. This produces a more pleasing composition. The body of the calf is also not right in the middle of the photograph, so it also follows the horizon guideline correctly.

Work with these two compositional guidelines in your photograph and see if they make a difference. My guess is that you will produce more pleasing and compositionally correct photographs.