Elk Cows Near Prairie Creek

Posted by Stephen Phillips (San Francisco, United States) on 8 October 2008 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.

( second in series of four images )

[notebook]: These are Roosevelt Elk - the largest of the subspecies.

This series was shot with a Canon 5D & Canon f/2.8 70-200mm IS lens + Canon 1.4 extender / 230mm / ISO 400 / f/4.0 @ 1/250

This is a detail from a group of thirty female elk. As I wrote in yesterday's post - I was surprised, in that it is rutting season and eight males were in a group a short distance north. Yet, here were these unattended does.

More, tomorrow...

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Comments (19)

Zygène from morlaix, France

une très belle capture sauvage ;-)

8 Oct 2008 5:27am

cellinux from Galati, Romania

wonderful capture. they seem to be intersted in your camera :)

8 Oct 2008 5:44am

Ana Lúcia from Leiria, Portugal

Seem curious. :) Wonderful Stephen.

8 Oct 2008 6:40am

Behrooz Sangani from Tehran, Iran

Beautiful creatures! Are you comfortable focusing with an extender? I can't make my mind buying one.

8 Oct 2008 7:47am

Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada

They are stunning, lovely compo, you're not bothering them at all, must be a good soul ;)

8 Oct 2008 10:56am

Kylie Greenan from Richmond, Australia

Magic... love it, how they are looking at you, the sun on them, great shot!

8 Oct 2008 11:08am

bluechameleon from Vancouver, Canada

Great image Stephen! I really like how they seem so blassé about being photographed!!

8 Oct 2008 1:28pm

Alun Lambert from cheshire, United Kingdom

great wild life shot

8 Oct 2008 1:32pm

Rui from Leiria, Portugal

Very well captured. They seem a bit surprised. Cool shot Stephen.

8 Oct 2008 1:41pm

yz from Budapest, Hungary

Hey, they've spotted you! This is very nice work with a relatively short focal length fot this kind of photography.

8 Oct 2008 2:01pm

Evelyne Dubos from Le Mans, France

Another great one, but i prefere the excellent yesterday one, because today there is more animals but the picture is less legible, animals are the one on the other ones (sorry it's difficult to express my feeling in english, hope you unterstand what i mean... :-)

8 Oct 2008 2:08pm

@Evelyne Dubos: I agree - and believe I understand your point. I would have preferred to shoot this wider - taking in all of the cows - but had to weigh this against the risk of moving from my position and the time it would take to get another camera from the car. So, I included this image as it is necessary to tell the story. I hope you manage to view the next two posts here. Thanks, Evelyne.

Evelyne Dubos from Le Mans, France

Of course Stephen... and i know it's not easy to take such pictures...

8 Oct 2008 2:46pm

Viewfinder from Bradenton, United States

And such lovely young elken maidens these are. I am sure the adolescent males from yesterday's shot are pining for their attention. But... I know enough about elk to know there is surely a bull elk or two hanging around and ready to add their genes to the mix.

8 Oct 2008 3:19pm

Thomas Griffioen from Rotterdam, Netherlands

Congratulations! 4 of 'em are looking into the lens! Great hunting shot!

8 Oct 2008 6:29pm

Anthony from Bielefeld, Germany

Looks like the one in the middle has spotted you !!

8 Oct 2008 7:09pm

Observing from West Cheshire, United Kingdom

I'm on safari...! wonderful image of the wild animals.

8 Oct 2008 9:39pm

dj.tigersprout from San Bruno, CA, United States

beautifully done Stephen -- and they are visually engaged!! what an accomplishment! they aren't running -- in fact they seem quite curious!! maybe they sense that you are a 'funny' looking male elk and wonder why you have a camera! ;) wonderful shot -- i love how they are spread out and falling out of the frame -- shows how relaxed they are in their natural habitat -- even with you in the area! bravo!!

8 Oct 2008 10:39pm

@dj.tigersprout: I was chased by a large Elk many years ago. It was this time of year and up in the main park. Rutting season and when there are young - are the two times of year it is seriously dangerous to approach. The Elk in this area are fairly comfortable with having humans around. Just not too close.