Crafting personal visual experiences since 2008

Posts tagged “pacific coast

Point Reyes: Tule Elk

This is a short science documentary that I created in 2009 while interning for the Pacific Coast Science and Learning Center which is located within Point Reyes National Seashore.

Tule Elk: California’s Legacy of Wildness from Mahalo Video on Vimeo.

I shot it using an old Canon GL2 which was owned by the park.  Remember taped-based cameras and mini-DV tape?  Did I just date myself?  Well, it was a good camera none-the-less.  It had a 20x zoom which is pretty long.  But you need long lenses for nature photography because often times the animal is very far from you (and it won’t let you get any closer).

Yes, shooting this was a lot of fun.  I had to hike in over hills and across streams to where the elk herds were roaming. I had to keep down-wind of them so that they wouldn’t smell me coming.  Then I’d hide behind a bush or rock and try to get footage while remaining unseen.  If just one elk happened to see me then in less than a minute the whole herd would be staring at me with tense nervousness.  Then they would slowly walk away from me, and keep away from me.  That’d be a wrap for the day.  But boy, what fun days they were.

FYI, hiking “off trail” to photograph the Tule Elk is illegal unless you are a Park Employee, and the Park Service takes that rule very seriously.  I don’t want anyone to get into trouble.