Marking the Territory (The Bucket List Continues)
A gray wolf marks his territory while his partner waits in line. This was a tough shot to take and the focus ended up subpar. Not only were the wolves a long ways away but I was shooting across the aisle of the bus, over the shoulders of two people, and out a small window. I was using my 70-200mm lens with a 2X extender. The size of this contraption is only slightly smaller than the barrel on a Sherman Tank. Trying to hold the lens steady at maximum extension without moving was a feat that could only be accomplished by a mannequin. I really only post this shot for bragging rights. I mean how often do you see a wolf in the wild? To me it's akin to a Blackfoot Indian brave stealing his enemy's horse. He gets to count major coup which gives him big time bragging rights and immediately promotes him to big man on campus status. The only fly in the ointment is the electronic collar that the naturalists use to gather a multitude of statistics about wolf behavior. They monitor things like urination frequency versus phase of the moon, or liquid quantity vs. spots on the sun. But I digress. I just know that someone is going to look at that electronic collar and accuse me of posting a picture of my neighbor's dog Buddy.
I've included a closer crop version in the comments if you wish to click on it and get a closer look but you'll also notice the artifacts starting to showcase themselves.
Denali National Park, Alaska
Marking the Territory (The Bucket List Continues)
A gray wolf marks his territory while his partner waits in line. This was a tough shot to take and the focus ended up subpar. Not only were the wolves a long ways away but I was shooting across the aisle of the bus, over the shoulders of two people, and out a small window. I was using my 70-200mm lens with a 2X extender. The size of this contraption is only slightly smaller than the barrel on a Sherman Tank. Trying to hold the lens steady at maximum extension without moving was a feat that could only be accomplished by a mannequin. I really only post this shot for bragging rights. I mean how often do you see a wolf in the wild? To me it's akin to a Blackfoot Indian brave stealing his enemy's horse. He gets to count major coup which gives him big time bragging rights and immediately promotes him to big man on campus status. The only fly in the ointment is the electronic collar that the naturalists use to gather a multitude of statistics about wolf behavior. They monitor things like urination frequency versus phase of the moon, or liquid quantity vs. spots on the sun. But I digress. I just know that someone is going to look at that electronic collar and accuse me of posting a picture of my neighbor's dog Buddy.
I've included a closer crop version in the comments if you wish to click on it and get a closer look but you'll also notice the artifacts starting to showcase themselves.
Denali National Park, Alaska