Pennsylvania Bulls Shed Velvet

Early Stages Of Shedding: Canon 1DXMKII- Canon 500mm F4.0 IS

Pennsylvania bull elk usually shed their velvet in a time frame centered around mid-August.  This is likely why the annual Elk Expo is scheduled for mid-month as it is an especially good time to visit the elk range..  As I did not plan on attending the Expo this year I decided to avoid the large crowds that are there that weekend so it was a question of whether to go the week before or the week after.  I finally decided on the week before and as we shall see it was good that I did.

I got there late  in the afternoon on August 14th. There was only a slight chance of thunderstorms that evening, so I took a long walk and checked out several remote food plots. As I did on the last two trips, I carried the Panasonic FZ2500 on the tripod for video and the Canon 1DXMKII with 100-400mm IS II lens in a shoulder bag to take stills.  It was hot as usual and the sweat ran freely, but I was rewarded handsomely when I came to the edge of a back country food plot and saw a fine 6x6 grazing. I filmed him for some time and when he lifted his head I switched to the 1DXMKII for  a few still photos. . You cannot see it in the photo below, but when I looked at the video of the encounter it was easy to see blood spots and several cracks in the velvet.

6x6 Before Shedding: Canon 1DXMKII- Canon 100-400mm IS II

Eventually a small bachelor group of young bulls came out and none of them had shed the velvet yet either.

Bachelor Group: Canon 1DXMKII- Canon 100-400mm IS II

Next evening I repeated the walk. The 6x6 was with a group of smaller bulls and now his velvet was hanging in strips. 

Bachelor Group: Canon 1DXMKII- Canon 100-400mm IS II

Velvet Hanging In Strips: Canon 1DXMKII- Canon 100-400mm IS II

I didn't make that walk again during the August trip, so I didn't get to record this bull once his antlers were completely bare.

A few large bulls showed no signs of shedding yet which was the case with a fine 6x7 that I photographed  shortly after dawn on Wednesday morning. As is usually the case in Pennsylvania Country, it was a foggy morning and I saw several other bulls but got no more good still photos.

6x7 On Foggy Morning: Canon 1DXMKII- Canon 70-200mm IS II

Thursday morning was also foggy and I saw several bulls in a meadow shortly after dawn.  A large 7x7 had not yet shed.

7x7 In Fog: Canon 1DXMKII- Canon 100-400mm IS II

7x7-Another View: Canon 1DMKII- Canon 300mm F2.8 IS

The 7x7 was with a large group of  bulls which were in various stages of shedding.  At one point two squared off in a sparring match, which gave a good photo opportunity.

Bulls Sparring As Dawn: Canon 1DXMKII- Canon 300mm F2.8 IS

Bulls Sparring As Pre-rut Begins: Canon 1DXMKII- Canon 100-400mm IS II

After sunrise I found more bulls sparring in a meadow quite a distance from where I photographed the other bachelor group.

Sparring After Sunrise:Canon 1DXMKII- Canon 500mm IS-1.4x extender

Sparring After Sunrise:Canon 1DXMKII- Canon 500mm IS-1.4x extender

On Friday morning there was time for a short trip around the Benezette area before leaving for home. I found the bull that is shown at the beginning of the post and he was just beginning to lose the velvet. A bit later I  photographed one that was completely shed and had  a branch caught in his antlers from polishing his antlers in trees and branches.

Completely Shed:Canon 1DXMKII- Canon 500mm F4.0 IS

As it turned out choosing this week was the right decision as few of the bulls had shed when I arrived on Monday, but by Thursday and Friday mornings most were well along in the process. Had I waited until the week after the expo, opportunities for getting velvet shedding photos and film clips would have been mostly over.

With the velvet  shed, the bulls are sparring as the pre-rut gets underway. In a short time the full-blown rut will begin and it will peak sometime after mid-month and then wind down in October.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Early and Late Is The Key For Successfully Photographing Summer Bulls

7x7 Along Winslow Hill Road

 Today,s post features more photos of bull elk from the mid-June trip to Pennsylvania Elk Country.  While I saw several cows and calves it seemed that bulls were much easier to see and photograph.  Some had impressive antler growth, but most were young bulls such as the one in the photo below. This class of bull needs to get a few more years on him to grow truly impressive antlers, although they can look quite large to someone used to seeing only whitetail deer.

4x4 Pauses From Grazing

I found another 4x4 grazing in a small opening by the roadside  along Dents Run Road and photographed him with the 7D MKII and the 100-400mm IS II lens.

4x4 Along Dents Run Road

 It seems especially in the summer, that one can only see bulls consistently either very early in the morning or late in the evening.  They are usually back in the woods either before the first rays of the sun touches the meadows, or shortly thereafter in the mornings and they usually do not emerge again until shortly before sundown or later and the hotter it is, the more this rule applies.  The bull below was photographed on the first evening of the trip as I found him feeding along Winslow Hill Road.   This photo was taken at ISO 1000 with a Canon 5D MKIII and the 70-200 IS II L lens at f2.8 and 1/50 sec. shutter speed. This lens and the 300mm f2.8 are my two favorite low light elk lenses.

4X4 In Low Light-Winslow Hill Road

One cannot tell from the angle of the photo above but this bull will be at least a 5x5 as his main beams were beginning to fork into another set of points.  I cannot be certain as bulls with this general configuration are quite common,  but I think I filmed this bull several miles from this spot on Thursday morning with the GH4, but this was video only so I cannot post a comparison shot.

The next photo was taken at 5:44 a.m. on June 15th and  helps make the point that one needs to be out early. The equipment used was the 5D MKIII and 600mm F4 IS lens.  It was taken at ISO 1000 at 1/60 sec. f4.5.

Bachelor Group Interacting

The last photo for the day contradicts my advice somewhat as you did not need to be out extra-early to get it as these bulls were still in the meadow at 7:08 a.m. on June 16th.

Still Out After Sunrise On A Foggy Morning

I hope you enjoyed the photographs and remember that the key to success is getting up early and staying out late.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill

Mid-February Wildlife-Canon 100-400mm L IS II Problems

Whitetail Herd In Snowstorm

 Just a short time ago we were plunged into the depth of winter with deep snow and bitter cold.  This changed quickly; however, as we saw in the Ice-Out post. While snow still remained on the ground in most places, life was much easier for the deer and turkeys as they could now travel about easily looking for food.

Alert Gobbler

Travel Was Easy

Three days later, there was even less snow in the spot the turkeys were photographed  and deer liked to stand there, basking in the rays of the afternoon sun.

Doe Basking In Late Winter Sun

Doe Grooming Fawn

There was even less snow by yesterday morning and I photographed a buck, that was a small spike last fall, and some does feeding in a neighbor's rye field.

Last Year's Spike

Deer Pause From Grazing In Rye

After a chilly start, yesterday turned into a balmy day  that reached the mid 60s.  This made my thoughts turn to the coming spring waterfowl migration and hopefully a trip or two to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area.  If the current weather pattern does not change, the peak of the snow geese and tundra swan migration should be much earlier than in the past two years.

All photos were taken with the Canon 7D MK II.  The 24-105mm IS L lens was used for the first photo and the 70-200mm 2.8 L IS II was used for the remainder. I love the sharpness of the new Canon 100-400mm IS II, and have been using it a lot this winter, but I have had problems with it (or the camera it is mounted on) locking up (auto-focus stops and the IS doesn't work).  Seldom a day goes by without this happening at least once.  Strangely it seems to do it more often with the 7D MK II, but it does it occasionally with the 5D MK III, the 70D, and the original 7D.  Sometimes simply moving the focusing ring a bit will restore function, while other times re-seating the lens will do the trick, but sometimes the battery must be removed and re-inserted.  I returned the lens and the 7D MK II to Canon at the end of December, and they changed the focus assembly and other parts and calibrated the camera with the lens, but the problem was still there.  I sent the lens back at the beginning of the week and Canon is currently servicing it so I could not use it for the photos in today's post and the 70-200mm is filling in as the telephoto lens to use when photographing from the vehicle until it gets back. Hopefully they will find the problem this time

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

2014 Photo Accomplishments

Today I would like to share two images with you that were published in 2014. Both were somewhat unusual images.  The first is of "Limpy" the great Pennsylvania bull elk that thrilled numerous wildlife watchers and photographers for years before being killed in this year's elk season.  He was most likely the most photographed bull in the state in recent years and his images graced  several publications. This year I submitted a photograph of him to Pennsylvania Magazine for consideration in their 2014 Photo Contest.

Limpy-2013: Canon 70D-Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II @ 200mm-ISO 400-1/800 sec. f 5.0

The photo was taken in The Saddle at 6:47 on Wednesday September 25, 2013 as the sun was about to set.  Many will recall this evening as a lot of elk enthusiasts were there to witness the dramatic events and stunning scenery.  At the time I recalled how the  crew from Wild Horizons, who filmed in The Saddle a few years ago, preferred to film in dramatic light and I worked to exploit the situation to the best of my ability as this was definitely dramatic light.  I have never been sure that I made the best choices in the situation.  Perhaps I should have exposed for more detail on the elk, but the way it is shown above is the outcome I had in mind when I pressed the shutter.

Whatever the case, it captured second place  in the Wildlife Diorama category, while Ronald Kauffman of York won first place with a dramatic photo of an eagle flying from a nest and Donald Biresch of Ottsville captured third place with a dramatic photo of wolves photographed at The Wolf Sanctuary of Pennsylvania in Lancaster County.    Winning photos and those earning an honorable mention in the Wildlife Diorama category were published in the September/October issue of Pennsylvania Magazine.

I was also pleased when Bugle Magazine chose the Overlook Bull photograph that was feature in the September 29, 2014 post, "Elk Activity Is Now Spotty" to accompany a short article about the co-operative effort between The Pennsylvania Game Commission and The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to acquire the Woodring Property.

Overlook Bull:  Canon 70D- Canon 17-40@ 39mm ISO 100-1/60 sec. f 5.0

This is an unusual image and I have mixed feelings about it, but as one photographer pointed out it is a different type image than what one usually sees from Pennsylvania Elk County.  When I saw the situation I had no chance to change anything, I had to go with the camera and lens that was on my chest ready to go.  I have seen a lot of elk around this overlook, but never on it with the mountains visible behind.  The light was very contrasty and it would have been impossible to get acceptable quality with film or with a straight-out -of- camera jpeg image with a digital camera.  As it was, the original RAW file is washed out over the mountains and the side of the elk and tree trunks are deeply shadowed. Even though the mountains and sky were too bright the detail was not washed out and it was easy to bring it to the correct exposure in Adobe CC Camera Raw.  The shadows slider was used to bring out detail in the dark areas, and other tweaks were used as well such as dodging and burning, etc. The end result has somewhat of an HDR look to it. At any rate it is a photo that will always stand out in my mind because of the unusual circumstances under which it was taken and because it was published by Bugle Magazine.

I wish to thank the faithful readers of this blog  that have supported me on the issues through the years and to the many who have purchased "The Truth About Pennsylvania's Elk Herd" and "Running Wild In Pennsylvania Elk Country".  Also a special thanks to those who helped me in the making of the films.  Your assistance is deeply appreciated.  A Happy and Prosperous New Year to all.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Pennsylvania Elk Rut 2014 With The Panasonic GH4

I arrived in Pennsylvania Elk Country on Sunday, September 21st to find the rut going full-bore and there were several days of intense activity, but then the rut abruptly crashed on Wednesday night and Thursday was very slow.  Things were a bit better on Friday, but the rut never really took off again during the next week and good filming opportunities were difficult to find.  I went home after the morning shoot on Friday October 3rd and have not heard if there was an upswing after that.

Starting in 2012 I have made a short video each year featuring the most dramatic  video footage from that year's elk rut and today's post features the 2014 video which I just completed yesterday. All of the dramatic footage of the bulls running about and fighting was taken on the first four days of the trip.

Today I have posted the same video on both Vimeo and You Tube to show help analyze the difference between them.

Vimeo Version

You Tube Version

The video was filmed with the Panasonic GH4, with the exception of the sunset scene used in closing which was shot with a Panasonic GH3. I used the14-140mm Lumix for the scenic clips and some of the close encounters with elk, but most of the material was taken with the Canon 100-400mm L lens. The 70-200mm f 2.8 L IS II was used in some cases, most notably the shot of the bulls in velvet in the fog. The  100-300mm Lumix  was used to film the bull following cows and calves into the woods near the end of the video.  Use of the Canon lenses was made possible by the Metabones Canon EF MFT Speed Booster, which enables the GH4 to control the aperture of the Canon lenses and permits image stabilization to be used. An added benefit is that it increases the maximum aperture of the lens making the 70-200mm f2.8 a f2.0 and the 100-400 f4.5-5.6 becomes f 3.2-f4.0, which is a big help in low light. The bad news is that it does not support auto-focus with the Canon lenses.

GH4   fitted with external mike, video cage external monitor.and Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II Lens Note Metabones Adapter at rear of lens

This video is the first I have made that was shot in what is commonly referred to as 4K, although it is actually Ultra-HD (UHD)which has a frame size of 3840x2160 versus the 4096x2160 of true 4K and the 1920X1080 of full HD.  As few, including me, have 4K TVs to view this on some might ask what the benefit is of using this technology at present? There are several valid reasons,

4K edited on a 1080P time line supposedly yields a better 1080P finished product than using 1080P original footage.  Another advantage and the one perhaps most important to me is the ability to crop the footage substantially in post production and still maintain a 1080P or more resolution.  Of almost equal importance is that 4K is the immediate future of video and it is likely that the trend will continue through 6K and eventually 8K, etc.  Shooting 4K now means that one's footage will hopefully retain commercial value for a longer period of time.

Unfortunately the advantage is not visible on Vimeo.  I rendered the file to 1080P, but when the upload was complete a message came up that it was advisable to allow Vimeo to convert the clip to 720P so that it would play better for those that have a slow internet connection and I permitted it to do so. The clip was uploaded at full 1080P to You Tube.  Be sure to selected that playback setting for best quality.  If it gives problems with playing back smoothly, allow it to play through once while you are doing something else and then play it again and it should go better. This is a major reason that I hesitate to post a lot of video.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Fawns, Woodchucks, and an Equipment Upgrade

Fawn Sightings Are More Common: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 L IS-ISO 1000 1/320 sec. f3.5

Photography has been very low key lately with a lot of days being overcast and dreary--not exactly the best light for capturing outstanding photos, but occasionally one is lucky as was the case on June 11th when the fawn above followed its' mother to the meadow for the first time and for once the lighting had that special quality.  I have not been traveling, but rather concentrating on the local wildlife, which mostly means whitetail deer, wild turkey, woodchucks, and miscellaneous birds. With that being said I really don't like to be away from this area for long at this time of year as I like to document the young fawns when they put in their first appearances and I don't tire of photographing them all summer, but my main focus will shift to bucks, once the racks are large enough to be impressive.

On one of the rare sunny mornings I did succeed in catching the young woodchucks playing around their den and this time I had the 5D MK III and the 300mm f2.8 and 1.4x extender.There are at least four of the young chucks, but two was the most I could capture  in one photograph.  They are very social animals and the young love to play.

Young Woodchucks Playing: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 L+ 1.4x Extender- IS-ISO 400 1/400 sec. f 11

At this point I will explain a bit about why I chose the settings I did in these photos.  In the photo of the fawn, I used ISO 1000 because it was early and the fawns are very frisky and it is easy to get unwanted motion blur when photographing them.  I stopped the lens down a bit to give a bit of a boost to the depth of field in hopes of getting the fawns entire face sharp.  This still gave me a reasonably comfortable 1/320 sec. shutter speed to work with.  The MK III is so good at handling nose at ISO 1000 and the sharpness is so good that there is really no reason not to use it when occasion warrants.  I selected ISO 400 for the photo of the chucks so that I could use a fairly small f stop and still have a decent shutter speed to stop motion.  I selected f 11 because it gave enough depth of field to get the heads and shoulders of both animals in acceptable focus.

In the next two photo it looks like the chuck was snarling, but in actuality it was yawning.  I am always looking to capture those unusual moments and this was one of them.  In this case I used ISO 200 with the lens set at f 5.0.  The 300mm f2.8 has a maximum f4.0 aperture when the 1.4 extender is attached so I stopped down to f5.0 to give a bit more depth of field and help insure that the eyes and nose were both in focus.

Woodchuck Yawning: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 L+ 1.4x Extender- IS-ISO 200 1/800 sec. f 5.0

Woodchuck Yawning: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 L+ 1.4x Extender- IS-ISO 400 1/400 sec. f 11

On another front my Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens developed problems during a winter trip to elk country in early 2012.  Instead of snapping into instant focus as it usually did, the green focus confirmation light flashed continuously and the image was visibly unsharp in the finder.  If one repeatedly jogged the shutter button it would eventually focus.  I intended to get it repaired soon, but what with using a lot of others lenses plus concentrating on video more than still where one must manual focus the Canons, it was very easy to keep putting off having the lens serviced.  Another major factor was that I have heard and read that the II version of this lens is much sharper and more contrasty so there was a strong temptation to upgrade, but there was always something more pressing to pay for. The bottom line was that I never did send it back to Canon for repairs and finally I decided to bite the bullet and get the II lens.

The new lens arrived last Thursday. I have not used it enough yet to get a clear picture of its' potential, but at this point it looks promising.  Yesterday was a rainy morning and the deer were out in force. When a doe brought her twin fawns to the meadow I used this lens and the 5D MK III to take several hand-held photographs of them.  The one below shows the doe and one of the fawns.

Whitetail Doe and Twins: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 L IS-ISO 640 1/160 sec. f  4.5

The lens seemed to do quite well, but I had the 300mm f2.8  mounted when both fawns posed with the doe to give me a "family portrait".

Whitetail Doe and Twins: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 L IS-ISO 1000 1/250 sec. f  5.0

Hopefully this lens will become an indispensable favorite, but only time will tell.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.