Fall Colors and a Few Moose

[NorthernFocus]

Shared an interesting and wildly varying morning with a few moose today. We had fog coming and going which made for challenging shooting but offered some amazing lighting opportunities for landscape. Here's a few shots. Thought there was going to be an epic battle between the two large bulls in this series but after posturing for a few minutes they decided it wasn't worth it and went their separate ways.

I hope the colors don't look too wonky. I've been having some issues lately with translation from LR to Zenfolio. Not sure what has changed...

As always best viewed in the light box.

First, here are a couple of shots of the valley where I do most of my moose photography. These first three shot with D810/70-200mm f4.

1) The valley as seen from the lookout where most of my moose hunts begin. This and the next one are three shot stitched panos.



2) Same of everything but a bit tighter.



3) And with a moose in the foreground.



The rest of these taken with D4/300mm f2.8 VRII

4) Here's a big boy on the opposite side. He came over and visited for a while.



5) Here he is a bit closer. You can see he still has tatters of velvet hanging on his antlers plus a bit of branch from thrashing the bushes.



6) Another big boy. This was actually one of the first shots of the day taken between patches of fog.



7) This cow and twin calves wandered through while the fog was pretty thick. The boys checked her out but she won't breed again until next year when her kids are ready to support themselves.

[IzzieK]

What a beautiful place you live in, Dan...!!! (You must be the 57th State... ) I like that you always accompany your uploads with some narratives...

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[bnnrcn]

Great set Dan, thanks for sharing I would clone the blurred dark green part on the bottom left corner in #5 as it distracts a bit.

[Rebel]

Very nice Dan, the photos of the Moose are awesome.

[Manfred M]

Dan - at this time of year. I'm quite jealous of where you live. Give it another few weeks and I won't be...

As always, you produce exquisite wildlife shots. My wife and I keep discussing getting back up into that part of the world again, but can't see that happening over the short term - too many other "commitments" right now.

[KimC]

Just beautiful. If I had to select one, it would be the last one -- love the atmosphere in that one, as well as the one calf looking at you and the beautiful vegetation on the ground.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for commenting, folks.

Binnur, I agree I need to go back and remove the OOF branch in that shot. The moose were in an awkward spot on a slope with the tall grass and them moving around a good bit. Sometimes there's so much going on and so quickly that it's hard to pay proper attention to composition and personal safety at the same time.

Kim, in that last shot the fog was so thick that there was very little detail in the photo SOOC. It took a bit of processing to pull that one out. It could still use a few tweaks.

[Barbara Ponder]

Love seeing Alaska through your eyes and images. It takes me to places and things I probably will never have the opportunity to see and makes me feel as if I am there.