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?
That is a hard one Bob. In one way I would pick the one with the mouth closed if I were going to frame it and put it on the wall, but the other would be very useful in an article about elk natural behavior, but then when I think further I can see a case for picking the one with the mouth open as it is a good composition and it shows an unusual pose.
Buckwheat has told me an interesting thing he has observed when showing photos of bulls. When he shows them to people that are not really in to elk–they prefer photos of a bull with his mouth closed, while many like us ,who watch and photograph them a lot ,often prefer the photos of them bugling.