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Tule Elk, locking horns

kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
edited December 21, 2011 in Wildlife
In an effort to find clear skies to shoot the eclipse early Saturday, I found myself almost two hours from home with my biggest lens in the car at daybreak. And thus it was a perfect time to look for tule elk at San Luis NWR in CA's central valley.

At one time there were over 500,000 tule elk in CA and practically driven to extinction. Today they are back up to just 4,000 elk.

1 - Found one
IMG1742-XL.jpg

2 - Found a couple more looking quite social
IMG1747-XL.jpg

3 - Suddenly there seems to be some aggressive posturing
IMG1741-XL.jpg

4 - The match begins with an audible "clack" that can be heard from a long distance
IMG1706-XL.jpg

5
IMG1724-XL.jpg

6
IMG1722-XL.jpg

7 - The match ends abruptly and it's back to being buddies like nothing ever happened
IMG1727-XL.jpg

8 - Suddenly a fresh round of provocation ensues.
IMG1737-XL.jpg

The end. :D

Thanks for looking,
-joel
Moderator of Landscapes forum
Link to my Smugmug site

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    DsrtVWDsrtVW Registered Users Posts: 1,991 Major grins
    edited December 12, 2011
    Nice shots Joel. Nice of them to be close enough to get some shots and action to boot. Looks a bit frosty that morning.
    Chris K. NANPA Member
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    kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited December 13, 2011
    DsrtVW wrote: »
    Nice shots Joel. Nice of them to be close enough to get some shots and action to boot. Looks a bit frosty that morning.
    Howdy, Chris. It was you of course who clued me into the San Luis NWR, so thanks for that. thumb.gif

    Yes it was a bit frosty indeed. BTW, I swung by the Merced NWR as well, and the Sand Hills are all gone. eek7.gif
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
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    AFBlueAFBlue Registered Users Posts: 135 Major grins
    edited December 13, 2011
    Fantastic shots! From your description, sounds like this might fit in the luck-beats-brains (planning) file. (Looking for eclipse; found elk modeling/posing for you.)

    Jerry
    http://beautyofnaturephotography.com
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    Dennis KaczorDennis Kaczor Registered Users Posts: 2,413 Major grins
    edited December 13, 2011
    Fantastic series Joel, love the first image and I really like the action images as well.
    Regards - Dennis

    Dennis Kaczor Photography
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    PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited December 13, 2011
    Joel, I love this series! You got some great shots and managed to be in just the right spot to capture the action. You got great angles on those clashing of antlers. I was trying to pick the ones I like best, and concluded that I just plain like them all. I do love #7, I guess for the symmetry of both heads and eyes in focus, and both sets of antlers or horns or whatever they are all visible, and almost looking like one set. Congratulations! Merry Christmas, Pam
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    pmaxwellpmaxwell Registered Users Posts: 129 Major grins
    edited December 13, 2011
    I really like them all, especially the PBBBBTTTT raspberry in the last one.
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    Pete
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    D90markD90mark Registered Users Posts: 79 Big grins
    edited December 14, 2011
    Very nice set, I really like that last one. I am sure that got the adrenaline flowing.
    http://mpcimages.smugmug.com/
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    kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited December 14, 2011
    Thanks for the comments, everybody! It was really a neat thing to observe. I'm glad you liked the shots. thumb.gif
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
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    Sexy6ChickSexy6Chick Registered Users Posts: 948 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2011
    Joel this is a great series of shots!
    ~*Natalie*~

    A lover of all things photography.

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    kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited December 15, 2011
    Thanks, Natalie!

    I've processed two more shots that compliment the series I think.

    Tres Amigos
    IMG1756-XL.jpg

    Dos
    IMG1773-XL.jpg
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
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    carlogallianicarlogalliani Registered Users Posts: 769 Major grins
    edited December 15, 2011
    great set and very nice shots
    Carlo Galliani
    http://www.pbase.com/carlogalliani
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    PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited December 15, 2011
    They sure do compliment the series! Merry Christmas! Pam
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    zoomerzoomer Registered Users Posts: 3,688 Major grins
    edited December 15, 2011
    Great way to spend a morning.
    Appears to be a slight color cast in the first series, light blue maybe. And could use a smidge of black point maybe.
    The second group look good color wise and looks like you upped your contrast a smidge.....of course this monitor is crap so I could be wrong :).
    5 is my favorite of the set, nice action, beautiful animals.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/21695902@N06/
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    kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited December 15, 2011
    Thanks, Carlo, Pam and Mike.

    Mike, you wouldn't believe how much black point adjustment were in these shots. Like almost 100%. Despite what it looks like, the animals were pretty far off. These were shot at 700mm on a crop-body. Plus it was foggy and flat light. The natural lighting was very cool. I used a CS auto-color on them and it probably exaggerated the effect but I liked it. I'm probably weird that way (see the moniker above my avatar). So maybe a little warmer may have been a better call. I always appreciate your input on processing -- you have a really good eye, my man.

    Just for fun, here's a shot straight out of the camera with no correction so you can see what I was up against.

    i-L7QzSfv-L.jpg
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
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    DsrtVWDsrtVW Registered Users Posts: 1,991 Major grins
    edited December 15, 2011
    kdog wrote: »
    Howdy, Chris. It was you of course who clued me into the San Luis NWR, so thanks for that. thumb.gif

    Yes it was a bit frosty indeed. BTW, I swung by the Merced NWR as well, and the Sand Hills are all gone. eek7.gif
    What time did you go by Merced, the Sandhills could have just been out feeding. I noticed there that early morning or late sunset is best when they are going out or coming in to roost.
    Chris K. NANPA Member
    http://kadvantage.smugmug.com/
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    kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited December 16, 2011
    DsrtVW wrote: »
    What time did you go by Merced, the Sandhills could have just been out feeding. I noticed there that early morning or late sunset is best when they are going out or coming in to roost.
    Mid-day. Maybe that explains it. Thanks.
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
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    ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,914 moderator
    edited December 16, 2011
    Very nice. Almost looks like they're walking in snow.
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
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    HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited December 16, 2011
    Excellent Joel and really good processing of the images.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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    pmaxwellpmaxwell Registered Users Posts: 129 Major grins
    edited December 16, 2011
    Kdog, Thanks for posting the pre processed image. I'd love to see more images posted with both before and after processing. I would have assumed the originals were SOOC. I see I have a lot to learn about processing.
    Google+ - Facebook - SmugMug

    Pete
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    DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited December 16, 2011
    Wonderful series -- really enjoyed looking at these. Loved the gesture in the last photo rolleyes1.gif
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
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    Sexy6ChickSexy6Chick Registered Users Posts: 948 Major grins
    edited December 19, 2011
    kdog wrote: »
    Dos
    IMG1773-XL.jpg

    Love this one!thumb.gif
    ~*Natalie*~

    A lover of all things photography.

    Olympus E-500

    My Smugmug Gallery
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    Colorado CJColorado CJ Registered Users Posts: 155 Major grins
    edited December 19, 2011
    Nice series! The foggy atmosphere really adds something to these photos.

    These elk look a little different than the ones I'm used to here in Colorado, I see that Tule Elk are a subspecies. Beautiful animals non the less!
    http://andrewmarjamaphotography.com
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    PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited December 21, 2011
    Joel, I also appreciate your posting the original image. I never would have guessed it was so far off the final product. You did a GREAT job! Merry Christmas, Pam
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