It can be a challenge to photograph in the late morning on a sunny day. The light gets hot and harsh. However on this morning, the sunny foreground was complimented by some dramatic cloud action in the distance and the perpendicular lighting, although contrasty, made for some drama in lighting. At 10:30 am, this bull moose was still wading and feeding in a tundra pond. If you are familiar with this region, you will know that Mt. McKinley is to the right, but it was clouded over. And, even if it was visible (a bull moose and Mt. McKinley is a sought after shot) it would not have been as interesting from a light perspective. I’ve always been fond of the contextual shots of wildlife in a broad landscape setting, and I particularly like the dramatic light and clouds in this frame.
I photographed a lot of bull moose during my trip in Denali last week. It is a subject I have extensive coverage of, but not much imagery of large bull moose still in velvet antlers, so I was pleased to acquire some pictures of that stage of development. Soon, the bulls will be losing the velvet and preparing for the mating season. I’ll be back in Denali National Park for that later in the month and look forward to the splendid fall colors that will carpet that wonderful landscape.
Bull moose in tundra pond with the Muldrow glacier and Alaska Range mountains in the distance. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 100-400mm (170mm) f/5.6L IS, 1/200 sec @ f/8, ISO 100
