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Images from the Id – Close Encounters of the Moose Kind Part 3 or So What is Wrong with this Picture?
In a span of two summers, I was able to get about 300 shots of moose. Most of the images I could not have gotten in any other place and most are quite nice. But… There are some problems that bother me and have tempered my enthusiasm for wildlife photography. I was trained as a biologist and have always had a love for nature and wildlife and modern wildlife photography has become a competitive “sport”. In the days of film, a good portrait was a good wildlife shot. Now with digital and its advantages of high ISO, fast cameras and long lens along with the ability to shoot a very large number of images and keep the “best”, the results are lightyears better. Now the animal photographs must be active and showing behavior. Sometimes exceptional portraits will score but that is rare. At present when the photographer wants to get that special shot, there is a major competition in the very act of shooting the “shot”, For example, in the moose shots, the first time I went to the site there were 9 moose and 3 photographers within two months there were the same moose but 15 photographers. Shooting the elk rut in Rocky Mountain National Park, about 50+ photographers of various levels. Because of the ability to communicate (social media etc.) along with increasing population of photographers and increased access demand, everyone knows where to go. Apache Bosque in New Mexico attracts millions of migratory birds each winter and thousands of photographers. Arguably, this can effect the lives of the animals. Probably not so much the birds at Apache Bosque because they are so far away but in many cases the proximity of the photographers have changed the behavior of the animals. Moose and Elk are losing their fear of man and man is losing the fear of the animal. It is becoming hard for some to think of the animal as wild. Many people are getting much to close for safety. The poor Park Rangers are going nuts trying to enforce Park rules which are for the protection of both people and animals. It is very hard not to do something dangerous when everyone else is. Environmentalist and conservationists claim that one of the worst practices has become the baiting of animals and birds, most notably the Snowy Owl with mice. There is definite proof that this adversely effects the behavior and survival of the owls and many locations have outlawed it but it is still practiced. The video is an example of the moose getting to close to the photographer not visa versa. The photographer, my wife, had little choice.
This week’s image is a rutting bull elk at Rocky Mountain National Park last October. The shot is a result of experience and knowledge of the behavior of the animal. I was in a group of 5 photographers using a car for protection “just in case”. I predicted the place where he would appear and location of the bull on a hill above us. I also was ready for his charge back to his harem. Metadata – 1/100 sec, ISO 200 f-13, 400 mm (600 effective) Processed in Adobe Lightroom 5
