Caribou in the Alaska Range

Caribou traverse a mountain ridge in the Alaska range, Denali National park, Alaska.
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L IS, 1/1000 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400

Canon's 500mm f4L IS lens vies for the position of my favorite lens. It is always loaded with a camera in wildlife country and its tremendous image stabilization capability enables me to shoot it hand held in many otherwise difficult situations. In this case, there was no time to set up a tripod. I saw the caribou beginning to run across the ridge and I grabbed the camera, quickly set an exposure and fired away. I have a bunch of frames in this series and none of them are perfect (in the sense that the animals are all lined up running), but this one was close. The drama of the mountain landscape adds a true wilderness feel to this image, which I find fitting for this amazing animal. Next time, I'll wish for large adult bull caribou to show for a repeat session. Click the image to see it larger.