Farmlands and Wildlife +Edit

[AlanLichty]

When I am out shooting and driving I typically keep my camera and drone readily available to pull out whenever I see something worth shooting and can find a turnout. I was seeing a lot of nice fall colors when I was driving on a road that follows the North Fork of the Smith River and found a turnout so I launched my drone to see what kinds of scenes I could get from the air. I spotted some really nice stands of deciduous trees just above lands that have been cleared for grazing when I spotted a herd of elk that had made themselves at home in one of the fields. Quite a few of the hills in this part of the valleys are private and have logged through the years so the usual dense conifer stands of the coastal forests give way to maples and alders. In this scene the light green deciduous trees are the alders and most of the oranges and yellows are maples.

Single frame at 70mm with a 16:9 crop.

Edit - new version with a tighter crop on the elk herd:

C&C always welcome.

 

[JimFox]

This is really cool, I hadn't spotted the elk at first. And while I don't think they could be known as elk visually, it's cool to know that those are elk.

Did you also use the longer lens and isolate the fall colors on the hillsides?

 

[AlanLichty]

This is really cool, I hadn't spotted the elk at first. And while I don't think they could be known as elk visually, it's cool to know that those are elk.

Did you also use the longer lens and isolate the fall colors on the hillsides?

Thanks Jim - I didn't spot the elk until I was processing the shot. They are easy to identify in the original image at 100% zoom but there isn't a good composition with that view. I did take quite a few shots in this area at various focal lengths and do have some that are more focused on the colors. I cropped out extra sky at the top and open fields at the bottom to better frame the colors and the elk.

I just added a new crop that shows less of the hillsides and more of the elk.

 

[MonikaC]

I like the edit, also. I didn't notice the elk at first, but they're more prominent and the composition is better balanced in the crop.

 

[Peter Michal]

Nice composition with the moose visible, Alan. It draws more attention to the moose in the foreground.. good job!

 

[AlanLichty]

I like the edit, also. I didn't notice the elk at first, but they're more prominent and the composition is better balanced in the crop.

Thanks Monika - had I spotted the elk while I had the drone in the air I would have switched over to the 166mm lens and taken a shot of the herd. At the time my primary focus was on the colors on the hillside above the pastures. After Jim's comments I tried to make sure I still had some fall colors in the scene.

 

[AlanLichty]

Nice composition with the moose visible, Alan. It draws more attention to the moose in the foreground.. good job!

Thanks Peter - as I just mentioned in my response to Monika I would have gone for a shot of just the elk if I had spotted them on my drone controller screen. My controller viewfinder is smaller than the image in the first post so spotting features in the frame like the elk can be challenging. That second image is nearly a 100% crop from the 48MP 70mm lens/sensor on my drone.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

I like both images with a slight preference for the first one. While the elk are cool to have in the image, the fall colors is the main subject. The colors on the hillside provides a nice visual treat.

 

[AlanLichty]

I like both images with a slight preference for the first one. While the elk are cool to have in the image, the fall colors is the main subject. The colors on the hillside provides a nice visual treat.

Thanks Jameel - the hillside colors were indeed the actual subject and the elk were an interesting and nice bonus. The hillside is almost a bit of a curiosity with how many different species are present. If this was on USFS land or a private timber company it would have been replanted with single species conifers since they are worth more money to the sawmills.

 

[BlackRockArt]

When I am out shooting and driving I typically keep my camera and drone readily available to pull out whenever I see something worth shooting and can find a turnout. I was seeing a lot of nice fall colors when I was driving on a road that follows the North Fork of the Smith River and found a turnout so I launched my drone to see what kinds of scenes I could get from the air. I spotted some really nice stands of deciduous trees just above lands that have been cleared for grazing when I spotted a herd of elk that had made themselves at home in one of the fields. Quite a few of the hills in this part of the valleys are private and have logged through the years so the usual dense conifer stands of the coastal forests give way to maples and alders. In this scene the light green deciduous trees are the alders and most of the oranges and yellows are maples.

Single frame at 70mm with a 16:9 crop.

View attachment 85204

Edit - new version with a tighter crop on the elk herd:

View attachment 85208


C&C always welcome.

Wow, Alan, so much details in this photo.

Oliver

 

[AlanLichty]

Wow, Alan, so much details in this photo.

Oliver

Thanks Oliver - I do like the resolution of the 70mm lens on the Mavic 3 Pro. I wish my piggy bank would let me grab a Mavic 4 Pro before they get banned.....