I went to Elk County (that's the actual name of the county), Pennsylvania two days ago to photograph elks, arrived there right before sunrise. It was quite foggy and cold, until the sun peeped through. I enjoyed seeing the steam coming out from the bull's mouth. This was my first time to see elks in person. It was fun to watch the big bull elk rounding up his ladies and chasing 3 or 4 boys away. I will probably go back next month when the fall foliage peaks.
All C&C are welcome and appreciated. Thanks for looking.
AGeoJO wrote:
Excellent set, Douglas and image #2, #3, #4, #6 and #8 are my top picks.
Joshua
Thank you, Joshua, for your encouragement.
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kdacharya wrote:
wonderfully done, Douglas. really difficult to pick a fav. bravo. certainly vote worthy
Thank you, KD. We may run into each other in Conowingo soon?
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Bobg657 wrote:
Great images Douglas, thanks for sharing these!
Bob
Thank you, Bob. Glad you like them.
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Dave_E wrote:
Those are a great shot of shots.
Dave
Thank you for your kind words, Dave.
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lighthound wrote:
Now that is a nice bull! I'll be clicking on some this weekend I hope.
Nicely done Douglas!
Dave
Thank you, Dave. Hope the elks and the weather will cooperate.
Here are a few more shots from the same trip. I stayed there for only two hours after sunrise. It's a 500-mile trip (round trip) but it was well worth it.
Well done, Douglas. 500 miles is a lot of driving for two hours of shooting, though I think I've probably done something similar in the past...
Out of curiosity, would you be willing to share, specifically, where these images were taken in Benezette?
I was up there last year near the end of October and the rut was basically over. Additionally, I didn't find the fall foliage to be worth seeing at that time. So, if you're heading back, I would encourage you to do so soon!
This year I'm heading to the Smoky Mountains to check out the elk rut; it's about the same distance as Benezette for me, so I kind of have that binary choice to make.
Robert Snow wrote:
Great images, and I particularly like the second image where you captured an elk 'steaming' into the morning cool air.
bob snow
Thank you, Bob, I was glad I was able to capture the two bull fighting and the bull blowing out steam in sunlight.
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girvincn wrote:
Well done, Douglas. 500 miles is a lot of driving for two hours of shooting, though I think I've probably done something similar in the past...
Out of curiosity, would you be willing to share, specifically, where these images were taken in Benezette?
I was up there last year near the end of October and the rut was basically over. Additionally, I didn't find the fall foliage to be worth seeing at that time. So, if you're heading back, I would encourage you to do so soon!
This year I'm heading to the Smoky Mountains to check out the elk rut; it's about the same distance as Benezette for me, so I kind of have that binary choice to make....Show more →
I left my house at 2:45 AM to get there before sunrise. I was planning to be there for the whole day but around 9:00 the elks went into the woods. I read they are more active at dawn and dusk. I drove to the other published viewing areas but didn't see a thing. I got what I wanted so I decided to go home. If you google Benezette, Elk County you will see several viewing areas off Winslow Hill Dr. The field where I shot these is not one of the published viewing areas, but there were about 50 other photographers there.
If you look up Benezette post office on google map, you will see south of the post office there is a bridge crossing to the other side of the river, and a big open field off Utz Hollow Rd, just park along the road. I saw about 30 elks there, big and small in the field. I was told the elks frequent the field. One thing about the field though, the sun light doesn't hit the field until probably 20-30 minutes after sunrise because the field is surrounded by tress and mountains. But that gives good chance to morning fog too, I think. Some of these where shot at ISO 6400. I used the crop mode in the Sony A7RIV with a 200-600 lens, still had to crop quite a bit in post.
frdjohns wrote:
What a great set Douglas. Pretty sure I was there at the same time...big field behind the gas station across the stream?
I was a little further down the field from your vantage point (towards the west). What a great morning, and you captured it quite well.
Thank you! I was there this past Monday morning. A friend told me about this location. I moved between two spots not far from the bridge. Hope to go back in a couple weeks when the leaves are pretty.
