Giving the Lady Moose Some Love

[NorthernFocus]

This has been a crazy few days of weather. Thursday I just snuck in a bit of moose photography before the torrential rain. Which then turned to a near blizzard of snow. Yesterday shot them with the white stuff ankle deep. And now this morning had the loveliest morning sunshine.

I was out with one of the same photographers that was on the bear shoot a few weeks back. We found a nice bull moose with a harem of four cows around him. They were all beautiful ladies and one virtually demanded attention and modeled nicely for us. So we gave her some love. If there's ever any doubt the photography is all about light, the doubt goes away on days like this.

All shot with D4/80-400G, handheld. Uploaded at 700px on the long side to avoid resizing.(hopefully lightbox will be back soon)

1) Sticking her head into the sunshine.



2) Too curious.



3) Too close.



4) She is so slick she looks like a well brushed horse.



5) Zoomed in.



6) This guy liked her too. He's displaying the flehmen behavior explained in a prior post.



7) And a repeat performance with a closer view.

[rachel]

The gleam of her coat is beautiful, I hadn't noticed this on previous photos.

[NorthernFocus]

The gleam of her coat is beautiful, I hadn't noticed this on previous photos.

It's all about the light. And her being dry. I think this is the first time this year that both have occurred simultaneously.

[Donald]

Again, a pleasure to be able to view these images. It is indeed all about the light ... with a little bit of knowledge and skill on the part of the photographer thrown in for good measure!

By the way, Dave as been in touch with Sean and he is working on the Lightbox problem (and the various other little glitches that have shown up) at the moment.

[wilgk]

Absolute crackers all of them, the close up & zoomed in pair, show the texture of their coats so well, I feel I can reach out & pat them!
The others are fantastic as well, an absolute joy to view these animals in their natural environment that we don't get in this part of the world.

[IzzieK]

Another great series of your beloved moose/s, Dan...there is always something to learn from your shots, wild life or not...

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[Mike Buckley]

Fascinating!

You mentioned that the look of the coat has to do with the light and that the coat is dry. Does the look of the coat otherwise change during certain times of the year?

[Nat]

Beautiful images. Wow! In the third photo, she is every bit the lady with the long eyelashes! Great captures. Wish I could see them in person, or is that in mooson? Thank you for sharing these! That last one of Mr. Moose, amazing!

[NorthernFocus]

Glad everyone enjoyed the post. Wish I could share the experience of spending time with them in person. For the most part they are gentle giants. Though capable of extreme violence if/when necessary.

...You mentioned that the look of the coat has to do with the light and that the coat is dry. Does the look of the coat otherwise change during certain times of the year?

It's mostly the lighting, Mike. The appearance of their coats does change but not dramatically like for instance whitetail deer. In winter they definitely get shaggier with more/longer greyish guard hair. But when they shed they don't typically molt in big patches like many animals. The only ones that change dramatically are the calves. At the end of their first summer they shed their red baby fur. Following are a couple more examples.

A very similar shot, same time of year but flat light.



A two or three month old calf in our front yard.



Unfortunately I only have a couple of winter shots taken when they come to visit us. So this is the best I can do to show a bit of the shagginess.

[Barbara Ponder]

Excellent captures! I never realized how bulbous their noses are! It is especially evident on the bull in the shot showing the flehmen behavior.

[bnnrcn]

Another great set, thanks for sharing

[John 2]

That's just a great set Dan. Love all of them but no. 7 beats the rest just because he's looking you in the eye and talking to you (so it seems).

[NorthernFocus]

Glad you guys enjoyed them.

Barbara, they definitely have a shnozz on them.