Elk wintered in our area of Colorado the past few years, offering many opportunities to observe their behavior from fairly close range, as they never seemed bothered by my presence (or my dog either). I watched these guys sparring for a long while. It never seemed serious, more like they were practicing with a friend.
All comments welcome, thanks.
Canon EOS RP + EF100-400 @400 mm
1/400s, f/5.6, ISO 400
Love this image Cathy. You managed to keep the eyes exposed in the mock battle scene:) I especially enjoyed the details in the antlers and fur. Did you crop off the top of the antlers or did you intentionally take the image this way?
Thanks for the question Laura. Youāve helped me articulate what I was trying to achieve here. I cropped to focus the image on the elksā faces and to emphasize the patterns and negative spaces formed by their necks and intertwined antlers. Iām trying for a kind of street photography approach to the graphic elements as much as a photo of elk, which seems in line with the black and white treatment. Does it read that way?
Yes it noticed the eyes right away. There was an intimacy to your photo that draws you in.
The image did draw me in to focus on the eyes. The tight crop lends an intimacy to the moment.
Excellent composition, Cathy. I really like the intertwined antlers and as mentioned by Laura, the eyes really add to this image.
Thanks @madd_laura and @Dennis_Plank. Iām glad you like the eyes and intimacy. I thought it captured the feeling I had that they were just friends horsing around (elking around?) and definitely not enemies battling to the death.
Cathy
Can you coach me on how I address everyone at once with comments of my images as you have done here. Thanks. Iām new to this site.
@madd_laura Iām no expert at the site, but I have figured out how to direct comments at people:
Type @ and then you should get a pull-down list of people who have responded to your thread and you can select them to add their names one at a time (add another @ symbol to add another name). If the person you want to mention isnāt on the pull-down list that appears, just start typing their user name and the list will refresh for you. Hope that helps. lemme know.
Thanks Cathy
Much simpler than what I was doingš
Hi Cathy! I really like this image. I donāt have anything new to add and can only restate what Laura and Dennis already said - I really like the intertwined antlers and how you captured the eyes. Very nice composition. It does look like they are casually touch foreheads in friendly fashion.
Hey Steve! Thanks for commenting, glad you like it.
Cathy, You did get quit the close up of these two bulls sparring. Iām fascinated that in looking at the photo, I got a feeling that they werenāt seriously fighting, your descriptions backs that up and leaves me wondering about how they would look if fighting seriously. Iāve seen that a couple of times, but from too far away for a good photo. Iām sure they were ātestingā for status. Iām intrigued by the broken tine of the bull on the left. Iāve read that onece they get damage like that, they never regrow a āfullā set of antlers.
Mark, thanks for your comments! I observed bull elk almost daily for two winters. They often would poke each other with their antlers, only to resume grazing side-by-side a minute later. In fact, they all had antler poke marks on their flanks, which I found amusing. I always had the feeling that they were brothers, wrestling and playing constantly. This was all in the winter, after the rut, but before they shed their antlers. I imagine the feeling would be different at the peak of the rut, with hormones raging. Since they do shed their antlers, I always assumed they grew back good as new the next season. But I guess if the damage is bad enough, it could affect the future regrowth.
