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Archive: August 31, 2021

Photography

Photo A Day: The Commander Signals the Herd

Aug 31, 2021 by Riverbank Products 0 Comments #Outdoor Photography

This is one of my favorite elk photos. These are not practically tame elk in a tourist area of a national park. These are real, wild, free roaming elk. Although not necessarily the best, clearest, sharpest bull elk photo I have, it tells a story when you look at the details. I love that about photos.  

The Commander Signals the Herd

A herd of approximately 75-100 elk came out into an open meadow we call hidden valley on the Buena Vista ranch in New Mexico. Some of the elk grazed while others drank from a water hole to the right of this photo. These elk were being hunted by another group of hunters several hundred yards away. After a few minutes, sensing the approaching danger, the heard bull seen in the upper left, began to methodically round up his herd into a smaller, tighter circle just like a rancher would with cows from a horse. He was obviously the boss. Not just by the size of his antlers, but his presence demanded the attention of everyone. As you can see most of the other elk’s butts are facing the camera and they are all watching him or looking at the other elk playing in the pond off camera like a mother glaring at her kids for not paying attention during a Sunday church sermon. I saw his head tilt back and snapped this photo mid bugle as his scream echoed through the valley. The three elk to his left were the first to get the message and are already responding to the call. Within 30 seconds of this photo, the entire herd was moving out and up the other side of the mountain valley. Within a couple of minutes, there were no more elk in the valley. The danger was avoided and not only did the herd bull live to see another day, he protected his herd like a leader.  

All this week I’ll be sharing some elk related photos to my photo a day gallery. You can order prints and photos and save 10% on your order with code PAD10.

Also I still have some dates available to video or photo hunts this year. Get on my schedule earlier than later. #elkweek #bullelk #bullelkbugeling #outdoorphotography #elkhunting #september #wildlife #sonywildlife #Arkansasphotographer

Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy Steam Engine
Chris Porter's Personal Blog, Photography

Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy Steam Engine

Aug 26, 2021 by Riverbank Products 0 Comments #Arkansas, #Outdoor Photography, #Photography, #Train

Yesterday, I played Leap Frog with the Union Pacific 4014 train from Atlanta, TX to Prescott, AR.  It was a huge train and a huge turnout of people at every crossing.  I get it Its a really cool train and who doesn’t love trains. I loved hearing the whistle blow and seeing it pulling into towns. A part of me wishes we could go back to the time when this happed every day instead of a special occasion. There really was something magical about it that transported you back in time. As people poured out, I could almost see business men or farmers coming to the depot to head out or ship their products and women coming out in their best dress to meet a sailor coming back from the war.

Challenges of Getting Photos

However for me, that’s not what this occasion was about. I was there to get some really cool steam engine photos and no one was dressed the part to be in them. So, it turned into quite a challenge just to find places to photograph it without people crowded around.  There were so many people on the tracks at each stop and at every road crossing.  Almost saw one photographer get smoked by a log truck.  I’m pretty sure dude never even looked as he ran across the road  in the middle of a bridge in front of a log truck to get a photo as the train ran by underneath.  I’ve done some quasi crazy stuff to get a shot before too, but I hope he got the shot because I missed mine looking out for him.  

With so many people on the tracks. I didn’t even bother with Texarkana. I skipped ahead,  but due to a problem on the track, the train got held up in Texarkana for several hours.  I had already moved closer to Falk, AR and had picked out a great spot.  By the time the track was repaired, the sun had moved and my location was no longer photo worthy.  So, I scouted out another spot further down the track.  

Thankfully I met a landowner who allowed me to come onto his private property to shoot from a soybean field.  It was only he and a couple of what I assumed to be family members there at the time and I thought I’d found my spot with no one else around.  I knew the train was getting close but I got setup and realized that my truck was in the shot.  So I ran back and moved my truck.  A couple more cars with people were pulling up at this point but I quickly made my way back toward my spot.  I could hear the train coming as I ran through the muddy field toward my spot and then looked back to see three yayhoos who had just arrived walking to where my truck had been parked previously.   At this point, I had less than 30 seconds to get a shot as the train approached and no time to move or readjust.  Thankfully, I was able to photoshop them out, but I hate having to do that.  

So what did we learn

  1. I’m a professional social distancer.  People can be so inconsiderate of other people.  I’ve been social distancing since before it was cool but this is why.
  2. It doesn’t matter if you are a hobby photographer or a professional,  Always be aware of your surrounding when taking photos.  It’s easy to get so focused on getting the shot or watching a scene through your camera that you forget what’s around you.  
  3. On top of thousands of dollars worth of camera gear and thousands of hours learning how to use it prior to this, I spent a whole day, a tank of gas, a few hundred miles to get really just four of what I consider Print worthy photos of the train.  So the next time you wonder why photographers charge so much or are protective over a picture, this is why.  

If you’d like to order a photo from the gallery below, Click Here