This bull elk was content to eat and keep eating the red berries on this bush. We watched him eat his supper for a nice long time!
As you can see in this photo, it was late summer when the velvet was still on his antlers. The soft-looking stuff makes for some beautiful photos! The background helps to tell the story in this photo, and isn’t that what we try to accomplish in our photographs–to tell a story? If there is any truth to the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words,” then we have to make sure our photographs contain the elements we want to tell the story we are trying to convey.
Shouldn’t a photograph stand up on its own without the photographer having to explain it?
To a degree I’m with you there. But that does rely on the elements of a photo being universally understood. For instance, a shot of someone looking anguished holding a moblie phone to his ear would mean nothing to a tribesman who didn’t know what a moblie was. (OK not a brilliant example). Your shot works, though, and its lovely to see such a magnificent animal in his native habitat enjoying lunch!