Tule Elk

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5, 1/1600s, ISO:400

I'm not sure if this guy was in the process of sitting down or standing up.  Kind of a funky stance.  It's the intensity in the eye that I like about this shot.

As I recall, this group of elk was pretty close to the trail heading out to Tomales Point.  That's always a fun hike to take in the fall.  The elk are in rut and quite active.

Tule elk are smaller than Roosevelt and Rocky Mountain elk, but with males weighing in at five hundred pounds or so they are still large animals.  I've read that their small size may be due to poor nourishment.  Some people claim tule elk can grow to be nine hundred pounds, meaning they are potentially the same size as the other American breeds of elk.  I haven't seen any that big.

Tule elk are only found in California.  There used to be hundreds of thousands of these animals roaming the wilderness but by the late nineteenth century they had been reduced to a very small number of individuals (a single breeding pair or up to thirty animals depending on the source).  They were discovered by a game warden and Henry Miller, the rancher who owned the land they were found on, protected them.  Today, Point Reyes is struggling to keep the herds numbers in control.  I read they were going to sterilize some of the females but I don't know if that ever happened.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 192, image #4754.

Golf Deer

Black-tailed Deer -- Pacific Grove Golf Links, CA
Canon PowerShot SD770 IS

Deer are a common sight on the golf course in Pacific Grove.  Actually, it seems like they are common pretty much everywhere in that town.  I took this photo in 2009 with my little SD770.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 187, image #5471.

Bison in the Sagebrush

American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 1600

We saw this guy off by himself traveling North toward Mammoth Hot Springs on the West side of the Grand Loop in Yellowstone.  We had him/her all to ourselves for a little while.  We stayed on the opposite side of the road.  This photo was taken completely zoomed in to 400mm and is roughly fifty percent cropped.  I point this out because we were careful to keep our distance.  The people that pulled in front of us and got out of their car within twenty feet of this large animal were not nearly so cautious or respectful.  This is one of my great frustrations with the national parks.  The parks are great but people with their cell phones often spoil what could be amazing experiences with a little more care about their surroundings.

American Bison

American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 6400, f/5.6, 1/1600s

The high ISO on this shot from a month ago meant for a bit of fuzziness and drab colors, but fiddling around with it in DxO OpticsPro in black and white I found I could draw out the texture of the fur nicely.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 186, image #9264.

Moose

Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/800s, ISO: 6400

I saw three moose on my trip to Grand Teton National Park a few weeks ago.  One eluded my lens entirely.  The other two I caught in less than ideal conditions for photography, but who cares?  Holy cow, I saw moose in the wild!

American Badger

American Badger -- Yellowstone National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO: 2000

I never thought I'd see a badger in the wild.  It happened a couple of weeks ago in Yellowstone.  Pretty cool.

Coyote

Coyote -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon Powershot SX40 HS

This picture almost looks like a painting, doesn't it?  There aren't any effects on this shot, this is just what the camera did in this case.  I think I like it.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 181, image #7362.

Rolling in the Grass

American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

We saw this guy lying in the grass on our way up to Mammoth Hot Springs.  We stopped for a few pictures from the other side of the road.  He was pretty cool to us.

American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

How Close Is Too Close?

Rocky Mountain Elk -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

This, folks, is too close.

I shot this from across the road.  These tourists were as close as they look, maybe ten feet away from this elk.  I'm always amazed at the patience of these beautiful creatures.  I was frustrated with these people but not enough to chastise them.  I'm not a ranger, just a fellow tourist, after all.

This reminds me of another encounter with some even bigger elk in Redwood National Park.

Roosevelt Elk -- Redwood National Park, CA

Mule Deer

Mule Deer -- Grand Teton National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO: 6400

I spotted a couple of mule deer in a field one early morning this summer in Grand Teton National Park.  There's nothing all that unusual about seeing deer in the Western states, but I still get excited about it.  Shoot, I see deer on about half of my drives to work, but I still love it when I spot 'em.  Where I live we have Columbian black-tailed deer.  They inhabit most of the Pacific coastline.  Mule deer live in the Sierra mountains in California as well as most of the Western United States.  I was talking to a ranger at Pinnacles National Park and she said Columbian black-tailed deer inhabit that park but that they're getting "muley."

Anyway, I'm not sure what's going on with the fur on their faces, but these two dudes looked a little rough.

Mule Deer -- Grand Teton National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 6400

Rocky Mountain Elk

Rocky Mountain Elk -- Grand Teton National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 6400, f/5.6, 1/1600s

Thursday, July 9, 2015.  This would end up being an epic day.  We toured the Northern loop of Yellowstone for the first (and only so far) time.  We saw and photographed elk, deer, hawks, eagles. bison and grizzly bears along with many of the geographical features of the Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks.

This was the first animal I shot that day.  It was an elk (obviously) not too far from our campsite.  Jim was still sawing logs in his tent so I went for an early morning drive to see what I could see.  I was hoping for a moose or a grizzly bear, but I wasn't exactly disappointed by this elk.  Little did I know the grizzly bears would come later in the day.

Hiding in the Grass

Tule Elk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 5000

I took this picture late in the day last October at San Luis National Wildlife Refuge.  That place is hit or miss for elk photos.  I get killer shots on some trips, on others I get skunked.  Same with coyotes.  More often than not I don't see a coyote there, but I've had a couple of very nice opportunities as well.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 155, image #6326.

Sea Lions on the Rocks

California Sea Lion -- Yaquina Bay, Newport, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5, 1/1600s, ISO: 800

What this picture reminds me is just how close some of us live to wildlife.  Shoot, I live close to wildlife.  A pair of peregrine falcons have been nesting about a block from my house for a few years.  They're the fastest living things on the planet.  Can you imagine all that goes on under the water in this harbor?

I should learn how to scuba dive.

What Difference Do Tools Make?

California Sea Lion -- Newport, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 2000, f/5, 1/1000s

If you follow this blog you might be thinking to yourself that you've seen this photo before.  You haven't, but you've seen one very similar.  This is one of a series of shots I took of this particular sea lion.  The previous post can be seen here.

Why post such similar photos?  Well, I'm always reluctant to post photos on the road because I don't have my entire arsenal of post-processing software loaded on my laptop.  There's not much of a point.  My personal laptop's monitor isn't very good.  My work laptop has a fantastic retina monitor (it's a Mac) but it's my work laptop so I'm reluctant to use for anything other than a temporary back up for images if it's the only computer I'm traveling with (which is usually the case).  I can't really dive into the post-processing step until I get home, and a photo like this shows pretty clearly why I'd rather wait to post until I've gotten home rather than post on the road.

I've posted the original image below.  The difference between the two is striking.  The original is overexposed.  No problem, DXO OpticsPro 10 can take care of that.  Once that's corrected, it's still a bit drab.  DXO OpticsPro 10 to the rescue again.  Add a little microcontrast and a good cropping and it's ready to go.  Sometimes I need to pull out the big stick and beat the photo around in Photoshop.  On the road all I have is Picasa.  It's good in a pinch but not as powerful as what I have at home.

What's the point?  I dunno.  Post-processing is a huge part of photography.  It's half the fun.  In the old days of film, it was mostly just professionals and students who had access to the types of tools needed to do any sort of post processing.  Now it's available for free on the internet or for a small fee for some products and a larger fee for others.  I don't think I'd have ever gotten into photography if I had to work with film.

Backlit Hare

Black-tailed Jackrabbit -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 800

How often do you get a chance to take photos of a jackrabbit running straight toward you?

I can tell you how often it has happened for me.  I began shooting wildlife about four years ago.  I've photographed more jackrabbits than I can count.  I've got plenty of shots of them sitting in the grass.  I've got plenty of shots of their butts as they run away from me.  A week ago I had a first.  This hare didn't run away from me, instead he ran straight toward the car.  He ran straight toward the car while Pongo was hanging out the driver side window watching him!  I was able to take the best shots of a jackrabbit I've ever taken in spite of the fact that the sun was behind the hare.

Pongo didn't bark or try to jump out the window (I keep him on a long leash tied to a chair in the car just in case).  I've seen him confused before when wild animals have directly approached us.  I'm not sure if he was confused or just excited, but he bounced around a bit without losing his head and leaping after the jackrabbit.  He did a good job.

Western Gray Squirrel

Western Gray Squirrel -- Salem, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, 1/1600s, f/5, ISO: 800

Squirrels are Pongo's sworn enemies, so he was delighted to find a large population in the neighborhood where my parents' live.  Not a walk went by during daylight hours where he didn't try to give chase.  My arm is sore from all the yanking on the leash.

I think they are cute.  Pongo assures me that they are little critters with the worst of intentions.

California Sea Lion

California Sea Lion -- Newport, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, 1/1000s, f/5, ISO: 2000

The scene at the sea lion docks in Newport was absolute chaos, and yet this particular sea lion seemed to be sleeping through it all.  I don't know how with all the barking, lunging and growling going on.  The life of a local celebrity, I guess.

Beaver Dam

American Beaver -- Yellowstone National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5, 1/1000s, ISO: 1250

This beaver dam can be easily spotted from the road leading into Yellowstone National Park from the South.  We stopped for some photos of the dam and the beavers' lodge to the left of this photo.  We never spotted a beaver, though, at least not until I got home and found one in this picture.  It's a little tough to make him/her out to the left of the dam with a branch in mouth.

Pronghorn in Wyoming

Pronghorn -- U.S. Route 89, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/2000s. ISO: 320

Aren't pronghorn wonderful?  I guess there are a lot in Eastern Oregon, I need to get up there to see them.  I've only seen them in Wyoming.  Love Wyoming, though, I'd like to spend more time there as well.  There are so many amazing things to see in the American West, how will I ever get it all in?

Bobcat

Bobcat -- Pinnacles National Park, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II, ISO: 800, f/5.6, 1/250s

The ol' random number generator pulled up this picture from last year.  It's a bobcat that Pongo and I saw at Pinnacles National Park.  This is the third of three that I've seen there in the last few years.  So, yeah, if you want to go someplace where you have at least a chance of seeing a bobcat, you could do worse than Pinnacles.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 148, image #7914.