White Wolf Sunbathing

[paddler]

Minnesotan's don't let a little snow and cold stop us from sunbathing!!!;)
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p190/paddler02/Wolves11CDPF.jpg

Gerry
http://www.pbase.com/paddler

[cyberhounds]

What a superb looking animal. Those eyes really stand out.

Cheers,
Ben

[stlscape]

Well he *is* a bit pale. Probably wanted to get a headstart on his tan before spring break. :)

[R Hardman]

Beautiful photo. Well done!

[paddler]

Thanks Ben and Stlscape for the comments! Stlscape, you are right, he does look a bit pale. The eyes look a little jaundiced too! Must be a heavy drinker. He will fit in very well during spring break!:)

Gerry
http://www.pbase.com/paddler

[superdiver]

Wonderful exposure with all the white going on!

Was this in a zoo?

[paddler]

Thanks Superdiver! These wolves are at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Mn. Their website is: http://www.wolf.org/wolves/index.asp
Gerry
http://www.pbase.com/paddler

[NukeGM]

great shot

[-Pleiades-]

wow, he's gorgeous. You've gotten a great photo og him

[paddler]

Thank you Nuke and Pleiades. All the credit goes to these gorgeous wolves!
Here is another head shot of one of the Arctic wolves
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p190/paddler02/Wolves18-1CDPF-1.jpg
Gerry
http://www.pbase.com/paddler

[dawnrogers]

Oh I'm so jealous...your shots are just stunning...I would just love to get close to these amazing creatures.....you did a fantastic job...

[superdiver]

Did you expose to the right on these and if so, how mcuh?

[paddler]

Thanks for the nice comment, Dawn! Superdiver, I checked the EXIF for you and I had overposed +2/3 on most of my pics that day. I check the histogram and if I feel the white wolves are too close to the middle or to the left, I will overexpose some. Since I'm shooting the gray ones too, the grays were a bit light. I try and get a happy medium so both will turn out. It's too hard to keep switching the dial because there's so much interaction with the gray and arctic wolves.
I've been shooting straight raw for quite awhile now so I can bring the pics back quite a ways if they're off. Personally, I would rather underexpose a bit than overexpose on these animals.
Here's a pic of both colors.
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p190/paddler02/Wolves7CDPF.jpgGerry
http://www.pbase.com/paddler

[paddler]

Here is a pic of Trouble and More Trouble! Actually, their names are Malik and Shadow. They are very good wolves but they love to be "instigators"!
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p190/paddler02/Wolves13CDPF.jpg

Gerry
http://www.pbase.com/paddler

[RuggerJoe]

Absolutely beautiful! I might need to make a trip up that way sometime.

[Richtherookie]

And how do I buy a calander from you. The shots are stunning and need to be hanging in my office.

[paddler]

Thanks Joe and Rich for the nice comments. You got to go up to the Wolf Center sometime, Joe. When you're there, head over to the Schute Wildlife Sanctuary in Orr, Mn. It's about an hour away. Lots of bears with good photo opportunities. They are open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Here's some pictures taken there: http://www.pbase.com/paddler/bears
Their website is: http://www.americanbear.org/
Rich, thank you for the calendar inquiry! I have had an awful lot of people asking me about this on my different photos. I have been selling individual prints but am thinking of doing a calendar. I know several people that do this.
Gerry
http://www.pbase.com/paddler

[Richtherookie]

I took a "quick" look at the sight, do they allow people like me (out of stater's) to just drop by and look? All i found were things like 1 day and 3 day really cool trips. I have 5 people in my family and i would love to stop and see this place when we are close this spring, but to set a date and time would be tough. Keep up the good work and when that calender comes out send me an e-mail. "the check is in the mail"

[paddler]

Rich, you were looking at their front page that has different kinds of workshops. Here is what you were looking for: http://www.wolf.org/wolves/visit/fees.asp
It really is a nice place to bring a family. They have an awesome exhibit of "stuffed" wolves! It is very entertaining and a person learns a lot. There's a lot of things for the kids to do there. I try and bring my 6 year old granddaughter most of the time. She loves the different things to do there, especially the Den that she can crawl in. There are also little interactive type games that are teaching them at the same time. And Ely is a wonderful place to visit. I'm not from there but I really enjoy going there.:) It is the Canoeing Capital of the World. My wife and I have taken well over 200 canoe trips and almost all of them have originated in Ely.
Gerry

[Richtherookie]

Oh ya invite the Michigander to canoe capital EH???? Then laugh when they tip over. I got ya! Thanks for the info. I will be looking into it.

EDIT: i just looked at the map!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Florida might be closer to me than there! Looks like a 14-16 hour drive unless i take the boat across the big lake and head north. Looks like another "Grizwald" family vacation!!!!

[Winterherz]

Gorgeous! Great shots, thank you for sharing. :) ps: I clicked on your pbase gallery and it too is amazing! The black wolf is especially frightening, but they are all equally beautiful. It would be neat if you had a black, grey, and white wolf in one shot!

[paddler]

Thanks, Winterherz. The black wolf had to be euthanized. There is more information here: http://www.wolf.org/wolves/experience/meet/wolflogs/WolfLogPage.asp?Wolfid=7
Nyssa was quite the wolf. She wouldn't take a back seat even when she was a pup during feeding sessions. Here is a pic of her in 2004
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p190/paddler02/Wolves21.jpg

Gerry
http://www.pbase.com/paddler

[calicokat]

Beautiful shot, what an animal

[cylentka]

Awesome! Love those photos, thanks for sharing.

[superdiver]

So I was playing with my 30D yesterday and it had been snowing. I wanted to try shooting to the right a bit cuz of the snow and all the pictures came out blown (at least on my LCD which I know is the real thing, but it is an indicator). I have been trying to figurer out exposure some and figured that was a good place to start. But when I decided to shoot a bird feeder that was darker then the snow I found I had to shoot to the left a little to keep from getting a blown shot even if the rest of the frame was snow and white.

Heck, even the snow shots looked better when I shot to the left a bit...what am I missing?

[Ecks]

oh wow, your exposure is phenominal. looks like it could be quite difficult to find the proper exposure to shoot white on white, especially if the sun was making an impact on the snow. the second headshot was just something else. it was a privelege to look at.

[paddler]

Thank you very much Calicokat, Wanda, Superdiver and Eck for the nice comments!
Superdiver, try bracketing your shots and see what looks best. Also be sure to use your histogram too. I'm not sure how the 30d works but to get to the histogram on my 20d, I tap the second button from the bottom (a little right arrow) and then tap the info button twice. The histogram is shown and also a small copy of the picture that was taken. If you see little "blinkies" on the picture that means those areas are blown out. Just back off a 1/3 of a stop at a time. That's why I shoot only in raw mode now. I can bring back a lot of pictures that would be lost otherwise. Also, if anything underexpose a bit.
Here's one more
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p190/paddler02/Wolves20-1CDPF-1.jpgGerry
http://www.pbase.com/paddler