I, for one, am guilty of always trying to get that nice full-frame portrait image. You know the one with a nice blown-out background and the subject filling the frame in perfect light?
Those are great shots, and I love the challenge of trying to create them. But I think an image like the one included in this post, shots of an animal in a beautiful scene, is often more difficult to create. Because not only do you have to find the animal, but it also needs to be in a beautiful, photogenic landscape.
Images like this Bull Elk, photographed in Yellowstone, have a sense of place and help to tell a story.
Also,, visual clues like the lighting and the mist tell us it was most likely created in the morning. The light and mist also give it a nice quiet, serene mood. You can almost hear his bugling echoing through the valley.
If our viewer has ever been to Yellowstone during the elk rut, seeing a shot like this will almost immediately take them right back there. They will be able to close their eyes and feel the cool mist on their skin, hear the elk, and smell the fresh air.
Be on the lookout for the environmental portrait. They can be a real challenge. But when you can pull it off, I think they are often more interesting and tell a much more complete story.
Good Luck and Good Light!
Steve & Nicole
Image: Bull Elk Bugling, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming