Episode 17: Shooting the Moose Rut in Denali and Conquering Noise in the Field

On this episode, Jared and Annalise talk about photographing the moose rut inside Denali National Park. Come September, once the national park bus system shuts down, wildlife photographers can drive the first 30 miles of the park. This gives us access to the prime moose rut area as well as caribou, lynx, wolves, ptarmigan, spruce grouse, and so much more. The only catch is, you have to camp. 

99% of the moose rut takes place at night. When we find and photograph moose this time of the year during the day, these situations are truly the very end of the bell curve of activity. It's sort of like "last man standing" at a bar. Let the sun hit the valley or forest floor and the moose begin bedding down or wander off to cooler climes for the day. And this means that for those photographers who are comfortable with working in low light with extremely high ISO settings, we are going to find our best opportunities just before and just after sunrise. 

Jared and Annalise discuss both the biology of the moose rut and exactly how they are able to create sellable photographs of the moose rut in Denali despite having to concentrate so much of their efforts to extremely low light situations. If you're someone who struggles with noise in their wildlife photographs, you don't want to miss this episode.