The amazing moose photography morning continued thanks to the backup plan. This post is a continuation of Part 1, covering the part of the morning when the sun rose above the treetops and painted the landscape golden yellow.
The backup plan for this morning was to move to the other side of the field, in front of the moose, where I might get a chance to shoot into the light. At this location, the road runs slightly higher than the field, and the angle for backlight photography isn’t ideal from an SUV, which is already slightly taller than a regular car.
READ MORE: PRIVAT MOOSE GUIDING HELSINKI / SOUTHERN FINLAND
The moment was approaching…
Five moose were approaching through the misty field in golden light. The sun was already high, and even with a mirrorless camera, focusing was difficult. In these situations, it’s good to have a zoom lens for versatility. This morning, my setup was a fixed 400mm f/2.8 and a 100–400mm II L. With this kit, I usually get really good results. Sometimes I swap the 100–400 for a 70–200, but that lens isn’t great for backlight shots due to lens flares.
Into the ditch!
At this point, the best move was to ditch the car and dive into the roadside ditch, giving me a chance to shoot from a hidden position at road level. On the other side of the road, I could’ve gone even lower, but I didn’t want to find out what was at the bottom of that ditch—and I didn’t want to risk disturbing the moose.
As I was photographing the moose passing by, I saw a car coming down the road. I recognized the car enough to know it belonged to other photographers—they stayed back and didn’t drive into the scene or ahead of the moose, instead “giving” me the photo opportunity, since I was already there. They didn’t take the risk of disturbing the animals, which were close to the road and ready to cross it.
WOW!
I usually try to shoot from the car, because moose are used to them, but sometimes I get out if I feel I can do so without being seen or disturbing the animals—and without affecting traffic.
This morning gave me the best of the Finnish summer! After the moose shoot, I was already heading home when I spotted a crane. It was in a perfect spot, and I managed to capture a versatile set of images with the zoom lens. One of the crops really stuck with me, and hopefully it will gain some recognition in competitions in the coming years.
