Buffalo. . .

I took a few shots of these young buffalo (one bull and one cow) this weekend while I was at the Roosevelt National Park in ND! Nothing great, but it was fun watching them. . . With buffalo as with ALL wildlife, it's about the eye, the light and the crop, period. . . The subject does not always have to be a trophy specimen, so long as you have a few of the right elements. . .

BTW, these are IN CAMERA crops, and shot with a N 80-400 vr and d200 jpg, and lost of in camera adjustments to pull out the colors in flat, dull light. . . I think that's why they put all those adjustments on the camera. I know this much, if you dont use them, your likely to miss some great opportunities - experement when you can and and keep a few extra batteries in your pocket. . . LOL

Tony, these shots are great! By the posture I would assume the first is the Bull and the second looks like she is talking to you. Almost cartoon like. I adore that one. Fun - truly a joy to view.

Would you go into the tech stuff a little further for some of us that are challenged in that department?

Hey Tony,

I agree. These are very nice photographs - particularly when you consider that they full frame views. The first of the two is my favorite - though that look on the 2nd buf's face is pretty priceless. Was that 2nd buf sporting a broken horn?

James

Thanks Peggy and James. Yes, that right side horn is broken off, and the left one is way outa-wack! That's why I took the tight shots of her, without those quircks, I'm not sure I would even have given her the time of day. . .

By tech stuff I assume you mean like camera settings.

I always custom set my cameara before EVERY shoot (important note: ALL cameras, even within the same family, act different and produce different results, even with the same settings). I custsom set my camera based on what I see for light and what I want as an end file (remember, I shoot JPG's most so all these setting really make a difference - and, I'm not the greatest in PS nor do I like the computer side of things very much so I almost never shoot RAW for wildlife) therefore, in camera settings can be helpful. If you go monkeying around with settings, and you use on or more of your cameras for different things, you MUST remember to change the settings. The settings are based on the available light, and my needs for an image.

If I were to use those same settings, still shooting jpg, under hot or direct light, they would have been way overdone on the color side, so just remember to check the settings everytime you pick up the camera and make the right adjustments depending on the light youre shooting it. It's like flyfishing, you have to practice and you have to pay attention to the environment in order to know what fly to pick, and how to present it to the fish. . .

Here's what I had set when I took the shots (i think, its from memory).

Adobe Mode III (for enhanced color)
+ tone
+ saturation
+ sharpening
+ +3 hue (enhance the browns)
WB, cant remember, or maybe auto, or cloudy - just dont remember)
Manual exposure. . . , or appature and matrix - cant recall.
ISO 400

Tony , Those are some awesome buffalo shot's ! There's almost some "pesonality" present , and that's not easy to capture .