I love the outdoors and spend a lot of time in the back country camping. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of my favorites destinations. I've visited many different areas of the park but had not been to Cataloochee Valley since Elk were reintroduced to GSMNP in 2001. Cindy and I got a chance to visit on Nov. 4 to see the Elk and enjoy the park.
Photographing wild animals can be a challenge. Unlike a zoo or nature center, the animals are not enclosed so often you often have to "hunt" them and be ready with your camera at all times. The good news is the Elk in the Smokies are easy to photograph and relatively easy to find. They frequently can be found in the fields in Cataloochee and are not easily spooked by humans. The best time to see them is early morning or evening but they often herd together in the open fields during the day as well. Note: all the elk are tagged with numbers and wear tracking collars.
Cindy and I arrived around 1 p.m. with plans to hang around until sunset. When we arrived, I immediately saw a large bull by himself so I hopped out and took a few quick photos and then decided to drive down the gravel road to find a head. Sure enough, there was a herd of 35 in the field not far from the road. There were not many people there, probably only 8-10 vehicles parked along the road.
As I got out of the car, a couple of the females decided to cross the road right in front of me. I was able to get some closeup shots without moving.
Later on, we went back to the place where the large male was located and a second male had joined him. I got several good shots of the two bulls together.
We were only in the Smokies for about 4 hours but we took hundreds of photos of elk, turkeys, and other beautiful and interesting views in the park.
All my shots of the elk and turkeys were using a Canon 70-200 f4 L lens.
Here are some tips for photographing animals:
1) Use a monopod or tripod to help you steady the camera. It's a must if you are using a long lens.
2) Use a single point to focus your subject on. Focus on the animal's eye(s).
3) Watch your backgrounds. Move to a different location (if possible) to get more appealing backgrounds. If you are shooting dark animals, look for light colored backgrounds and vice versa.
4) Maximize your available light: Bump up your ISO; find those animals in brighter areas; watch your shadow areas.
5) Shoot in RAW.
6) Take lots of photos
Here are some of others shots we got during the day. To view the entire gallery, go here:
Smokies & Western NC gallery
For more info on the elk in the Smokies, go here:
GSMNP
A few photos from the trip:
