Copyright ©2018 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The smokey morning air from the Northern California Camp Fire diffused the morning sun giving the look of Golden Hour on the Tule Elk in the field.
The largest male with that beautiful rack is the Alpha Male with part of his herd and a couple of young bachelors in Central Valley at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge.
Nikon D810| Nikkor 200-500mm @500mm| Hoodman STEEL Digital Film| PS CC 2019
more to come…
Circadianreflections Blog 
Beautiful Deborah! If I hadn’t read your text (and I wouldn’t have known you) I would have guessed, somewhere in Alaska or Siberia! Terrific mood in your image.
Thank you so much Jesh!
You captured them spectacularly in your photo! 💗 Such beauty in a haze of smoke… such devastation in the fires.
Thank you so much Jill!
Wonderful creatures and capture! We have a lot of elk here and spotting them is always exciting … especially when there are bulls or calves in the group. I often hear them bugling when out in the field … and feel fortunate to be able to share the wild with them. We had a herd camp in our yard on a snowy, full moon night … a couple of years ago … that was especially exciting!
Thank you so much Denise! Isn’t it neat to hear their bugling? Oh my! That would be the neatest thing to have a herd visit on a snowy full moon night! What a special gift of the season you had that year! Exciting and magical!
Lovely to see.
Thank you so much!
What beautiful animals! They almost look they are posing for you. Interesting about the lighting, but so sad about the fires. Beautiful photo, Deborah!
Thank you so much Antonia!
Wow stunning!
That is SOME rack! Gorgeous photo, Deborah.
Isn’t it! Thank you so much Jennie!
You’re welcome, Deborah!
What magnificent animals you are lucky to see them. So sad about the fires. They are predicting a bad fire season over here too
Thank you so much Pauline! It was a lucky day all around.
Oh, I hope you don’t have lots of fires again this next too!
Wonderful photo, Deborah! It almost looks like they posed for you, for a large family portrait. I’ve never seen an elk, but hopefully some day. They’re so beautiful. 🙂
Thank you so much Myriam! They are beautiful and majestic. I hope you do see them someday.
BTW- I am lovely your bird art!! It’s nice to see you posting. The comment box isn’t there when I view your posts so I’m hitting the “like” button so you know I am enjoying the work.
Thanks for liking my recent posts, Deborah. Much appreciated! I turned off my comments for a while because I wasn’t sure if I would have time to answer them. But I now think I have time, so I turned them back on. Have a great weekend! 🙂
Beautiful photo, Deborah. The wildfires are a sad thing.
Thank you so much, John. It’s tragic these fires.
A beautiful photo Deborah!Awful that the wonderful light is due in part to the devastating wildfires.
Thank you so much, Belinda! I agree with you about the unintended good light.
That fire is awful, Deborah. I feel so bad for the people directly effected. The photo is great. I love that Alpha Male just being himself out there.
Thank you so much Dan! He’s real beauty isn’t he.
It’s so sad hearing about all the lost lives, and property. The stories of those who rose up to help some neighbors, or others, and the firefighters are uplifting though. They’re heroes.
They truly are.
This is beautiful capture Deborah! Those wildfires are so awful.
Thank you so much Amy! They are.
Beauty from disaster~the golden glow is haunting and the animals do look a bit anxious. Beautifully captured, Deborah. I’ve had the same experience here. We now have bison at 3 different reserves, but you very often can’t see them.
Thank you so much Melissa! They blend in so well with the grass don’t they. I’ve been disappointed several times by not seeing them. The birding is usually pretty good which helps makes up for it though. Having had both a good look at these and good birding on Saturday was really neat.
So sad about all the wildfires still going on there. I love your photo.
I know it’s tragic! The Tule Elk look great don’t they. Thank you so much Camie for the comment.
Stunning capture, Deborah! Please stay safe!
Thank you so much Donna!
The fires are horrible, but your photo is wonderful. Very difficult to see elk in the wild, as I well know from all my years in Wyoming, so I enjoyed this greatly.
janet
Thank you so much Janet! They’re not always around to see when on the refuge either. This is the first time in a while I’ve had luck and seen them out in the open. Usually they’re deep into the refuge behind a fence where people can’t go, and you never see them as they blend in so well.
It’s a breathtaking image, Deborah. Great shot. Hugs.
Thank you so much Teagan!
Those terrible wild fires are leaving an impact far and wide. It must be frightening even from a distance. I’m sure these animals know that something is terribly wrong.
I’m sure they do too. You could smell the smoke from time to time on the wind Saturday as we birded two refuges in Central Valley. The air quality is very poor right now probably state wide.
😕😕