The Elk Rut

September and October in Rocky Mountain National Park, when the bulls stop being careful. Most of these were made in the first hour of light, while the meadows still held fog and sound carried a long way.

First Light in the Meadow 9 photographs
First light on a high peak above a valley floor filled with fog, elk scattered small in the meadow below A lone bull elk in a golden meadow as the sun breaks over a forested ridge A bull elk standing in silhouette beside two spruces on a ridge above a fog bank at first light Two bull elk with antlers locked together in a misty open meadow Two bull elk backlit in a frosted meadow with low fog drifting behind them Two bull elk sparring in frosted grass below a bank of ground fog and a lone spruce A bull elk crossing a frosted meadow at sunrise, spruces and mist-shrouded cabins behind Two bull elk pushing against each other in a fog-filled meadow, a spruce standing ghosted behind them Two bull elk meeting antler to antler in the middle of an open golden meadow
Close In 12 photographs
A young bull elk in profile among pines with his mouth open, calling A young bull elk standing in a forest clearing among deadfall and dry grass A bull elk seen past a weathered fallen log, antlers above the grass A bull elk resting behind a granite boulder with backlit pines and peaks beyond A bull elk walking a dry meadow framed by the curve of a fallen log A heavy-antlered bull elk standing square to the camera in open sage A bull elk moving through boulders and scrub pine on a rocky slope A bull elk throwing his head back to bugle beside a pine trunk on an autumn slope A bull elk in profile against yellow autumn scrub and grey boulders A bull elk's head and antlers seen through the branches of a young pine A bull elk grazing shoulder to shoulder among cows in dry autumn sage A bull elk in a dry meadow below a hillside of turning aspen