A bull elk splashes through the shallows of Lake Estes to drive off a smaller bull, Estes Park Colorado
I am conflicted about these elk (a.k.a. wapiti) (Cervus canadensis). On one hand, it’s not every day that one comes across elk splashing in the water. And that’s exactly what this bull was doing: whenever a smaller bull approached his harem, the herd bull would charge across the shallows. To my eye, it appeared that he was purposefully making as large a splash as possible.
On the other hand, the elk were in the water to cool off. In other words, they did not enter the lake until the sun was high in the sky and the sweet, soft light long gone. I hate shooting in high-contrast light, particularly with a contrasty subject, like elk. On balance, I must take my splashing elk where I find them, but hopefully next fall I can find them in the water on an overcast day.
A bull elk swims in Lake Estes, Estes Park, Colorado.
The bull occasionally swam deeper into the lake. Note the branches caught in the animal’s antlers from an earlier bush-thrashing display.
A bull elk bugles in Lake Estes, Estes Park, Colorado
In between charges, the herd bull would stop to bugle.
My dad and I made an overnight trip to Rocky Mountain National Park earlier this month to photograph the elk during the second or “false” rut. The park is wonderful in December. The crowds are gone, the snow is falling, and the bulls in the main bachelor herd spar almost constantly. In fact, we almost had too much snow — at times the morning snow was so heavy that it obscured the elk. (Click on the images for a larger view and a slideshow).
Though the snow made it a bit challenging to photograph the bulls fighting in Horseshoe Park, the snow made for some wonderful images of the cow and calf herd in Moraine park. There is something whimsical about a show-covered elk.
As an added bonus, we ran across this mulie. Unfortunately another rude photographer ran this guy off before I could get the perfect image, but I’m reasonably happy wit this one.
One last image of the elk fighting. Less of a sense of motion than the first image, but I like the eye contact.
Bighorn Sheep at the Precipice
At first I wasn’t crazy about this image of a bighorn looking over a precipice. But somehow the image grew on me. Let me know what you think of this image in the comments.
I am torn about this elk silhouette as well. On the one hand, I like the colors and the fact that this isn’t just a boring, “straight” portrait of an elk. On the other hand, it somehow seems a bit too sentimental. Kind of like a painting-on-a-mirror that one might buy at a low-end souvenir store.
Finally, here are two more bighorn images. These guys were in absolutely gorgeous late evening light. Unfortunately, all they wanted to do was rest in the sun. Still, I don’t see bighorn all that often, so I was happy to make these images. I just wish this ram would have rurned his head a bit to camera right.
It is something of a personal embarrassment that I live in close proximity to Colorado’s hordes of (largely tame) elk but don’t have many (read: any) great elk photos in my portfolio. Part of the problem is that elk are so common and are photographed so often that it’s difficult to make an original, captivating image of them. Just think of how many captivating pigeon images you’ve seen. Exactly.
Anyway, with my elk shortage in mind I made a quick trip to Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday to make some elk images. The weather was awful — howling winds, and, eventually, heavy snow –and the light wasn’t that great either. Fortunately, I found a group of bulls that alternated between grazing and sparring. (I’m told this is the product of a second “false” elk rut?) In any event, I made at least one image that I’m happy to add to my portfolio:
Sparring Elk (monochrome)
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