I first saw his magnificent head ornament as he grazed with two smaller bulls at late dusk. Then I saw the short hind leg and knew it was “tripod” a bull elk I’d heard about and seen in a recent newspaper photo. I chose an ISO of 1000 to make a few images of him on August 21 in the minutes available before darkness came to the meadow.
This was yesterday morning in which two of my favorite subjects offered an image I could not ignore! I woke at sunrise and grabbed tripod and camera and hit the deck barefoot. The temperature was 49 degrees F, but I didn’t notice my cold feet until I’d spent 25 min. watching and photographing the moon setting alongside lions head. I love the way the shadow of the mountains behind me slip away to reveal the a radiant lion as the sun rises.
Some people say they can’t see the lion in this over 9,000 ft rock outcrop, but I know he’s there for he motivates me to get out of my warm bed and photograph. The lion performs well with clouds and fog, snow and trees, and early light. I adore him with the moon. Some people do morning yoga salutations to the sun, but my morning salutations often point to the lion on my western horizon.