Timber Wolf

DaveFeeder

DaveFeeder

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Dave
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Click for larger image.

I'm back off my holidays now, with a large array of photos to process. Given my current rate of success, the 476 Raw files I've got should whittle down to about 5 or 6 decent ones.
Near the hotel we stayed at for the first couple of nights was the Cotswold Wildlife Park, which was fantastic. The main reason we wanted to go, is that both Clare and myself are big wolf fans (the Canis Lupis, not the Midlands football club). Up until a year ago, we sponsored some wolves at Wolf Pack Management, based in Coombe Martin, but we haven't had the chance to see them for a while. They are such amazing creatures, with quite complex social structures. I have learned so much about pack structure and wolf behaviour, that it's made training our dog Sheba so much easier.
The wolves at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, like most wolves, are very timid, especially around people, so I was really pleased that the visitors stayed quiet enough for the female wolf to have the confidence to get near enough to take this shot.
To me, the wolf is a fantastic creature, much misunderstood and mis-represented by years of fairy tales and fables. It's a subject on which I am very passionate, and so I'll wind this post up before I get to either a rant or a waffle. I'll leave you with a quote from one of the finest modern literary minds:

"The timber wolves will be our friends
We'll stay up late and howl,
At the moon, till nighttime ends,
Before going on the prowl
-Calvin, "Calvin and Hobbes"
 
Lovely shot of a much maligned animal. Beautiful, highly intelligent creatures.l
 
CT said:
Lovely shot of a much maligned animal. Beautiful, highly intelligent creatures.l
Click to expand...

I think that's why I like them so much. They are one of the most timid creatures around, and yet are portrayed as vicious killers, which couldn't be further from the truth.
 
DaveFeeder said:
I think that's why I like them so much. They are one of the most timid creatures around, and yet are portrayed as vicious killers, which couldn't be further from the truth.
Click to expand...
He he yeah quite tame behind those big fences, bit different to living out in the woods and hearing them howl and prowl round your house at night back when they were common in Britain.

Beautiful creatures.
Mike.
 
IanC_UK said:
Would have to agree, only gripe i have is the crop is a little tight, would have liked to see a little more room to the right for it to look into, but thats probably just me :)
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Trust me, I would as well, that's pretty much as shot, just a couple of tweaks in Lightroom, exposure and contrast, as it was so dark. Quite tough conditions for someone of my skill, I'm still not that good with low light and my Tamron zoom!!!

I'm just really chuffed to have got a half way decent shot of one of my favourite subjects.

Thank all for the comments, much appreciated.

:)
 
Wolves are my favourite animals too (& Rhinos) - amazing creatures.
Excellent photo, very striking, great composition too - I have "shopped in" a bit of extra space to the right of the frame to look into as well as a bit of a levels tweak & a bit of dodging & burning (needs a lot more contrast though as I went a bit mad lightening it but I'm too tired right now :LOL:) - hope that's ok by you Dave but as you don't have your edit box ticked I shall remove it straight away if you'd like me to, just PM me (y)

20070730221750_wolf.jpg


Edit: Some great images on your site Dave :clap:
 
Nice edit!
You can tell by the time I posted the shot to my blog that I may well have been tired too, hehe.
I think I'll have a little go at playing with this shot a bit more this week, and re-post it. Cheers for the ideas!
 
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