Category Archives: Winslow Hill

Backgrounds

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Backgrounds are critical in photography. A bad background can ruin an otherwise excellent photograph. A good background can enhance even a mediocre photo. Backgrounds are critical, so learn to pay attention to the background when making photographs.

This background is nothing fancy. In fact, that’s why it works. The white clouds in the background help to eliminate any distractions and help the subject of the bull elk stand out in this photo. I do wish the blue sky was brighter, but otherwise I think this photo works. What do you think?

 

Bugling in an Unusual Pose

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This bull is bugling in the fall rut as many bulls do, but I was struck by his somewhat unusual pose in this photograph.

His back legs are spread out slightly, which created an interesting angle in his left rear leg. The bugling posture is typical, with antlers tilted backward. I am not sure exactly what it is about this photograph that I like, but I do like it. Do you?

Elk Silhouette

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There is just something special about a silhouette that is fascinating to me. I am not exactly sure what it is, but I do like silhouettes.

Creating a silhouette is easy to do and with today’s digital cameras you get instant feedback to see if you got it right or not. One evening this fall we were watching elk and this bull appeared on the horizon line. The sky was a tint of blue and conditions were just right for a silhouette. The method for creating as silhouette is to expose for the sky, which is the brightest part of the image. Here’s how I do it most of the time: I tilt the camera so that the viewfinder is filled with the brighter sky, then I press halfway down on the shutter release. This calculates the exposure setting in the camera’s computer. Then, while keeping the shutter release halfway down, I recompose the photograph in the viewfinder to my liking. Then I focus using the back button and press the shutter release all the way down to capture the image. Easy!

 

Open or Closed?

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I came across this spike during my trip to Elk County at the end of September. He was feeding with a cow who both found some delicious red berries to feast on. It had just rained all morning and I was heading back to my cabin after yet another wet morning. I found these elk serendipitously within a very short drive of my cabin. My photo morning wasn’t over yet and I was thrilled!

I first took a few shots from out of my truck window and then slowly went outside to get some better photographs. The two elk accepted me or were so interested in those delicious berries that they didn’t mind me and my camera. After a quick, intense look at me, this spike went right back to eating. And I kept clicking the shutter release.

Fortunately, I captured this spike right when he was looking straight at me. Now here is the question: Is the photograph with his mouth open better than the one with his mouth closed? Which one do you like the best?

 

Frustrated Bull

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You cannot see it in this photograph, but there is an entire field of cows very close to this bull. The problem for this bull is that none of the cows are ready to mate. So, this bull is frustrated.

I’ve watched bulls in the rut for many years now and there is a pattern which repeats itself over and over. A bull will follow a cow, sniffing to see if she is in heat. Typically the cow will trot or run away. This leaves the bull frustrated and almost every single time he will bugle at this exact moment. This is the time to be ready with your camera, which is exactly what I did here in this photograph.

Watching and observing animals is not only enjoyable, it can teach you to be prepared for the best photographic moment!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

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Young uns often imitate their mothers. It is part of nature’s way to teach young animals how to survive. Lessons in feeding, grooming, and protection from predators are all vital to survival. If the young animals do not learn these lessons they will be in trouble.

In addition to the critical importance of these lessons, they are often fun to watch! Do you remember that one television commercial which shows a son imitating every move his father makes? It is comical to watch and so it is nature as well.

Here is a photograph I captured this year during the rut, the elk mating season. It shows how the calf is imitating and actually mirroring its mother. They are feeding in the food plot and little one is in the same pose as its mother.

Watch animals long enough and you will some amazing sights!

Looking Back

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This young calf was in the midst of a nice herd of elk. Several bulls were bugling and keeping a very close eye on their harems. The evening was full of suspense in the midst of the fall rut. Even the cows were showing signs of the rambunctious activity. But in the midst of it all, this young calf was lying down and looking back.

What was the calf looking back at? It’s mother? A bugling bull? Honestly, I don’t know. I framed the calf in my viewfinder and pressed the shutter release.

I like this photograph for a number of reasons. First, even though the calf is lying down, its ears are up and alert. And, secondly, look closely at those ears? Do you see how the late light of the setting sun is reflecting off them? This helps to highlight them because the viewer’s eye is drawn to the brightest part of the photograph.

Do you like this photograph? Why?

Do You Just Shoot the Bull?

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Wildlife photographers often strive to photograph only the big bulls. Don’t get me wrong, these majestic creatures are certainly worth photographing. However, if we only focus on the bulls we miss other excellent photographic opportunities. This cow was in the midst of a herd of elk, which included several bulls. Everyone was aiming at the big bulls, but I thought this cow was worth a shot, too. What do you think?

Bugling Bull

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There is nothing quite like an ear-pereicing bugle to roll across a brisk fall day!

If you haven’t heard this unique sound in nature, you owe it to yourself to find a way to be in a place where you can hear it. There is nothing in all of nature like it. It is impossible to describe with words and even this photograph cannot even come close to hearing the sound in person. You just have to hear it for yourself!

I came across this bull because I first heard him bugling. I was just on my way for a walk, barely out the door, when I heard a bugle. Knowing the area well, I followed the sound and located this bull feeding in a meadow with two cows. It was mid-afternoon on a rainy day but the clouds opened up a little bit and some rays of warm sunlight washed over the scene. It looked magical.

Eventually, this bull had enough food in his stomach and he wandered into the woods and laid down to chew his cud. I know enough about wildlife photography to know that spending time with subject is imperative. Time, lots of time, is required to completely document and photograph these majestic mammals. In this case, for example, I could have left after the bull wandered out of the warm sunlight washing over the meadow and moved into the much darker woods where many small trees obstructed most clear views of this bull. Move on or stick with him? I chose to stick with him. And this is the photograph I eventually captured. I am very glad I stayed with him!

 

 

 

Capturing the Fight

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Capturing a classic battle like this with a camera often is frustrating to me. I never seem to be at the right place at the right time. Or the light is fading too quickly, or the fog is too thick for a good photograph. These fight scenes seem to be elusive to me, which can be very frustrating at times.

This photo captures some of the energy in this fight. It all started, as usual, with much posturing from each bull. This is typical and I could just tell that these two bulls were going to go at it. Then, in an instant, they ran toward each other and crashed their antlers together with an ear-piercing jolt! This is what the fall elk rut is all about!

I like the way these two bulls are working hard to dominate the other. I also really like the dirt flying in the air, both between their antlers and behind the right bull’s hind feet. This helps to portray the massive power and energy present in a real honest-to-goodness fight between two mature bulls. Many elk viewers think they are witnessing a fight when in reality they are simply witnessing what is called sparring, which is much tamer and mild compared to a full-blown fight. A lot of us think these fights last longer than they actually do, too. I went back and looked at the metadata from my photographs to determine the starting and ending time of this fight. It only lasted 2 minutes and 20 seconds. This might not seem long to us, but I’m guessing it seems like an eternity for these two bulls!

The one problem with photographing this bull-fight was that we were losing light in a hurry. I had to bump up the ISO to 800 on my D300. I am finding that I do get some decent photographs with this setting and the noise is at a reasonable level, which is good. Then use the noise reduction feature in Lightroom to clean it up. The newer cameras and software have come a long way in recent years in dealing with noise. I found out this week that I can get usable photographs even at an ISO setting of 1600.

This was the only real fight I witnessed this and it was a powerful one. I hope my photographs do a reasonably decent job of portraying the fierce energy present in these fights between two bulls. It sure is something to see!