LOOKING WAY BACK 3

Moose in velvet, Denali National Park, Alaska July 1973

While looking back through some old slides, I came across the moose I photographed (I almost used the term "shot" and then realized that I've never, ever shot a moose in my life) while in what was then called McKinley National Park, Alaska. I had just come off Igloo Mt. where I had been photographing Dall sheep with my 600mm Nikkor. I was making my way through the high brush and nearly suffered a heart attack when I startled this bull moose nestled down taking an afternoon nap. We both jumped backway at the same time, stopped turned to look at each other, and I still marvel that I had wits enough about me to swing the big lens into use for this one image before he turned his rear towards me and ambled away. In scanning this 35mm Kodachrome 25 slide I was reminded just how contrasty that film really was. Sharp brilliant color, but very limited tonal scale, and absolutely no toe. The trick was to expose it for detail in the brightest areas of the image and just left everything else fall where it may which alway meant no shadow detail. My first driving trip to Alaska, I took only 35mm camera -- Nikon's with lenses from 20mm through 600mm -- and mostly Kodachrome 25. Gasoline for the trip in 1973 was an average price of around $.60/gal, or adjusted to today's dollars about $1.60/gal. Those were the good ol' days. I made the trip again in 1976, and would make it again tomorrow if not for the high gas prices.