Elk in Cataloochee - my images - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Bill Wood · #1 01-28-2009, 06:15 PM

My wife and I went up to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park last weekend.
We visited the Cataloochee area which is in the SE corner of the North Carolina section of the park. This area doesn't get much traffic because it's somewhat difficult to get too. The only access is a one-lane dirt road that winds through the mountains and has some pretty scary dropoffs due to erosion. There are no guardrails so travel at your own risk! Once you're in Cataloochee there is a two-lane paved road. It's well worth the white knuckle drive to get into the park.

Elk once roamed this area but the last one was killed off in the late 1700's. Loss of habitat and overhunting are seen as the cause. The Park Service began an experiment in 2001 to reintroduce elk. 49 were brought in between 2001 and 2002. Almost all of the animals have ear tags and collars with radio transmitters so each can be tracked (with the help of Photoshop I made these tags and collars a little less obvious). They seem to have flourished as the population has almost doubled in size. They're scattered over a pretty large area but, we were fortunate to see and photograph four.

These are large animals and weigh around 700 pounds. They stand 5 feet tall at the shoulder and are 7 to 10 feet long from nose to tail. Their antlers can be as much as 5 feet across. Each year they shed their antlers in March and have completely regrown them by August.

Enjoy!

Chad300tdt · #2 01-28-2009, 06:44 PM

That's really cool how you were able to maintain such a sharp focus on the animals yet the backgrounds are fuzzed. It almost looks the Elk were photoshopped in.

The first one is amazing. The antlers are in focus in front of those branches. How were you able to do that?

Medmech · #3 01-28-2009, 06:46 PM

That's awesome, I can't believe they are mating this late in the year this and I haven't seen anything without snow on it for awhile.

Elk · #4 01-28-2009, 07:23 PM

Nice pictures! They tell a funny story, the last one has a 'yeah, that's right' look on his face. How far away did you take them?

And I hope you don't mind me using a picture as a base for a signature

pawoSD · #5 01-28-2009, 07:26 PM

Beautiful photos! I want to visit there!

Did you take the E430 or the Tundra there?

Bill Wood · #6 01-28-2009, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad300tdt

That's really cool how you were able to maintain such a sharp focus on the animals yet the backgrounds are fuzzed. It almost looks the Elk were photoshopped in.

The first one is amazing. The antlers are in focus in front of those branches. How were you able to do that?

That's what you can do with pro glass. It's my Nikon 300mm f/2.8 VR that I bought earlier this year.

powerpig · #7 01-28-2009, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Webmaster

That's what you can do with pro glass. It's my Nikon 300mm f/2.8 VR that I bought earlier this year.

For $4500-$6000 for the lens, it should take the pic, post it, and wash your car.

Great pics!

iwrock · #8 01-28-2009, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Webmaster

That's what you can do with pro glass. It's my Nikon 300mm f/2.8 VR that I bought earlier this year.

Dang, kind of wish I did not buy the Canon now, and got the Nikon instead.

Amazing pictures. What do you use to edit them?

Bill Wood · #9 01-28-2009, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iwrock

Dang, kind of wish I did not buy the Canon now, and got the Nikon instead.

Amazing pictures. What do you use to edit them?

Nikon Capture NX2 for RAW conversion and Photoshop CS3 for final editing.

LaRondo · #10 01-29-2009, 02:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad300tdt

That's really cool how you were able to maintain such a sharp focus on the animals yet the backgrounds are fuzzed. It almost looks the Elk were photoshopped in.

The first one is amazing. The antlers are in focus in front of those branches. How were you able to do that?

It's called Depth of Field.

Chad300tdt · #11 01-29-2009, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Webmaster

That's what you can do with pro glass. It's my Nikon 300mm f/2.8 VR that I bought earlier this year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaRondo

It's called Depth of Field.

Cool info.

With my camera equipment and budget, I'll have to stick with creating those FX in Photoshop.

You could buy 10 cameras like mine for the cost of Bill's lens.

I could buy a new Mac and CS software package for the cost of that lens.

I do want to get a new digital camera soon. I just want something that can take a high res pic quickly in a broad range of lighting (that I could adjust for) and have the ability to use at least a wide angle lens. Anything else I can fake in photoshop. Although it would be cool to be able to bracket exposures so I could do true HDR instead of forcing exposures in PS.

My current DSC-P150 is a toy but has a lens adapter to allow use of a wide angle lens. The adapter blocks zoom capabilities and flash though.

Mike D · #12 01-29-2009, 09:15 AM

Shucks, those are "little" elk. In the East/Central part of Arizona there's a place named "Hannagan Meadow". It's at about an 8000 foot elevation and it's a forest. Freakin' elks are like rabbits or white-tailed deer in the mid-western states.

They killed off the wolves which kept them in check back in the mid 1800's and now they (the elk) are almost like vermin. They are re-introducing the Mexican Gray wolf into the area for control.

Beautiful creatures but it's a bit unnerving to have one walk beside a motorhome and look you in the eye, at eye level!

I'd guess 1100-1300 pounders are pretty normal up there. Some big black bears too. It's definitely what you'd call a primitive area.

LaRondo · #13 01-29-2009, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad300tdt

Cool info.

With my camera equipment and budget, I'll have to stick with creating those FX in Photoshop.

You could buy 10 cameras like mine for the cost of Bill's lens.

I could buy a new Mac and CS software package for the cost of that lens.

I do want to get a new digital camera soon. I just want something that can take a high res pic quickly in a broad range of lighting (that I could adjust for) and have the ability to use at least a wide angle lens. Anything else I can fake in photoshop. Although it would be cool to be able to bracket exposures so I could do true HDR instead of forcing exposures in PS.

My current DSC-P150 is a toy but has a lens adapter to allow use of a wide angle lens. The adapter blocks zoom capabilities and flash though.

I dunno what all that means. Just make sure you bring the tripod!

oops, pardon me, I see VR stands for Vibration Reduction. However, a lens like this (f 2.8) will naturally be very center focused, it's a matter of physics.

Chad300tdt · #14 01-29-2009, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaRondo

I dunno what all that means. Just make sure you bring the tripod!

Yeah, a tripod is essential. Having a camera that brackets exposures would make it less of a necessity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/03/10/35-fantastic-hdr-pictures/

Dee8go · #15 01-29-2009, 10:15 AM

The operator has a LOT to do with picture quality. Better equipment obviously is a help, but it won't make up for lack of skill. I used to sell thousands of dollars worth of photo equipment to people whose work was mediocre at best.

If you use a long telephoto lens focused fairly close to your position at a fairly wide aperture, you'll get that effect with whatever lens you use.

Nice work, Bill. Obviously, you know how to get a lot out of the stuff you have. Your pictures always look good.