MY RUN IN WITH A BULL MOOSE AND THE FORTUNATE OUTCOME!
I heard rumors of a bull moose visiting this spot for days, but I didn’t believe them. I was more interested in waiting for some good light in this iconic spot (Schwabacher Landing) in the GTNP and wanted to capture a nice reflection of the mountain at sunrise to add to my portfolio. The light had turned perfect and while I was in the middle of several panoramic shots that I couldn’t stop, there was a commotion of hikers scrambling to see a moose coming into the area. I hurried to finish my work (not yet realizing that I still had my wide-angle lens attached) and yanked the camera off the tripod hoping to get a good hand-held shot in the low light. I thought he might vanish into the tree line and he was still quite a way out, but he kept coming… right into the shot I had been taking so I had my settings and when he paused… it was just luck to be in the right place at the right time and very lucky I didn’t have a chance to swap out for a telephoto lens. I was so excited, I was sure I was shaking the camera and after he left, I just prayed he was in focus… just be in focus was all I asked. I was very lucky… very, very lucky. The back drop was so majestic that I named this image “Majestic Moose.” Thank God I didn’t plan to try for a closeup Moose photo as I would have missed the complete image.
