Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC/TN USA

Two bull elk come together beneath a lone tree in the Great Smoky Mountains. I’ve been photographing Elk in the Smokies nearly every Fall since they were reintroduced to the region, and this is by far my favorite exposure from those two decades of effort. This image contains so many of my favorite compositional elements –– a silhouetted subject, backlit autumn colors, deep shadows, frost, fog, and a “too perfect” moment that typically only comes after near-delusional persistence. When I consider the fact that the Elk stand as one of the most triumphant conservation success milestones in the USA, this might be my all-time favorite Appalachian image. It may sound like a small thing, but I’m also particularly proud of the crop options for this image, which are a result of years of trial and error in the field and working to bring our client’s walls to life with the art of nature.