Gesture is a very important element in wildlife photography. It can come from many, many things and in this case, it is the human traits we apply to our reaction to the stare of the Bison. It’s placement in the frame is based on its stare down the lens barrel. The lighting is not very dramatic, the grass is not a solid carpet of green, but making the most of what’s presented is what we want to do with whatever Mother Nature presents us. At the same time, we should know that being a Bison, it has one more thing it can add to its gesture we should be prepared for.
Yeap, that tongue! I’m shooting from the vehicle with my finger on the shutter release of the D4s so when I see looking through the 800mm, that tongue come out, the shutter flies. Because of their world and what they eat, they have their tongue up their nose alot. In this case, the shutter burst caught the tongue going over, up and in and this is the frame from that burst I like the best. The kid in all of us sees that tongue going up the nose and we just gotta smile. It’s those little gestures that when you know they are coming and you have your finger on the shutter release and you’re ready to rip, you can make those images that at the very least, make you smile. That’s a good day!