Ken Papaleo: X Marks the Shot: Rocky Mountain Goats, Mount Evans, Colorado.

"X Shot" information.

Camera - Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III

ISO - 400

Shutter - 1/8000 sec.

F/stop - 4.5

Lens - 500 mm

NOTE - a monopod was used for this shoot.

LOCATION.

1. The entrence to Mount Evans is about a hour from Denver.

2. Take the Mount Evans exit off I-70, in Idaho Springs.

3. Highest paved road in North America.

4. These goats were between Summit Lake and the top.

CHALLENGE.

This was my third trip to Mount Evans, but it was the first attempt to photograph wildlife. The other two were in late May, when snow was still on the ground. My goal was to get a nice clean shot of some

kind of wildlife.

SOLUTION.

I started my drive up at 5 pm, better light, with two cameras ready to go. One had a 70-200 zoom on it and the other had a 500 mm lens, on a monopod. When photographing animals, it's best to be ready to shot. I spotted this group in the switch-backs, near the top. They were making their way up to the summit. This would give me a number of chances, as I could take some pics as they passed me and then drive up to the next switch-back and wait for them to pass again. To the east, the sky was almost black, due to storm clouds. This would make a nice clean background. I waited, with my 500 ready, hoping that a goat would get up on the top of the rocks. The correct light reading, off the goats fur, was already set. A short time passed and then a mom and baby made their way to my desired location. They had nice evening light on them, causing them to stand out from the dark background. This was the shot I was looking for but I had many other images that I could have picked for my "X Shot"