Photographer's Journal

Have you ever gone somewhere the day before and had such an amazing experience you simply had to go back the next day?  That is exactly what happened when I ventured out to Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to witness the Eastern Elk Rut.  

The previous day I had captured several shots of a bull elk searching for a willing lady as he wandered up and down the valley.  However, the next day God blessed me with the shots and video I had been dreaming about as a large bull elk stood solitarily against the Smoky Mountains morning mist.  

I loved how the mist singled him out from the forest and rolling fields behind him.  He stood proud, powerful, and magnificent, just like God had designed him.  His rack reaching out behind him broadcasting his age, wisdom, and strength against the stark contrast of the mist left me in awe for a moment before I clicked the shutter.

The original capture was shot in color, but I believed removing all the pigment and sharing it in black and white truly told his story.  I pray you enjoy this image as much as I did witnessing it in mid-September 2021.