[BigMackCam]

It's an interesting image. But I definitely prefer my own....
...
There was no photo shoot, no trainers, no bar....just me and a few friends a highway and a wolf.

Nice, Norm... and what meat product were you wearing, may we ask?

[normhead]

Nice, Norm... and what meat product were you wearing, may we ask?

This guy does have a story, he was fed by a construction crew. He's peering at us from the bushes hoping offer a hand out. The construction workers eventually had to stop feeding him. For one thing it's illegal, but he started getting into their trucks stealing their lunches, and then he started stealing their tools. Hammers, tape measures and other small objects started disappearing. Somewhere there's a wolf den with enough tools to do any necessary minor repairs. I guess I should have hung around the trucks long enough to see him taking a hammer or something away. He's been spotted many times walking beside the highway over the last few years, I don't think many have the images we do. One taken by Tess is used in the park wolf lectures. Almost identical to this one.

The park guy who is always telling me how photographers don't know this and that and how many photos he's seen chose Tess' 18-250 with it's obnoxious bokeh over the smoother bokeh I got from the 60-250. He wants to convince me he knows what he's talking about in evaluating images, but he's proved otherwise.

Some people think getting a certain job makes them an expert. For others it's reading articles on the internet.

[BrianR]

I love the impromptu backstory - have trained wolf, have bar, have willing bar owner, have willing patrons, have fading beautiful light, have chicken fillets... photo assemble!

Creating unique and visually interesting photographs that people haven't seen before is always awesome and refreshing for the viewer to look at. For me at least. Bring on the creative staged photos.

[mattb123]

This guy does have a story, he was fed by a construction crew. He's peering at us from the bushes hoping offer a hand out. The construction workers eventually had to stop feeding him. For one thing it's illegal, but he started getting into their trucks stealing their lunches, and then he started stealing their tools. Hammers, tape measures and other small objects started disappearing. Somewhere there's a wolf den with enough tools to do any necessary minor repairs. I guess I should have hung around the trucks long enough to see him taking a hammer or something away. He's been spotted many times walking beside the highway over the last few years, I don't think many have the images we do. One taken by Tess is used in the park wolf lectures. Almost identical to this one.

The park guy who is always telling me how photographers don't know this and that and how many photos he's seen chose Tess' 18-250 with it's obnoxious bokeh over the smoother bokeh I got from the 60-250. He wants to convince me he knows what he's talking about in evaluating images, but he's proved otherwise.

Some people think getting a certain job makes them an expert. For others it's reading articles on the internet.

I hope he stays out of trouble or it could mean the end for him! Beautiful animal.

I knew a guy who had a wolf hybrid pet. We were going to do a shoot and then he got charged with skimming money from the kennel business he worked at to the point of destroying the business. I lost my enthusiasm to work with him after that. I don't think it's gone to trial yet but the mountain of evidence looks pretty damning. I want nothing to do with that scene.

[normhead]

I hope he stays out of trouble or it could mean the end for him! Beautiful animal.

I knew a guy who had a wolf hybrid pet. We were going to do a shoot and then he got charged with skimming money from the kennel business he worked at to the point of destroying the business. I lost my enthusiasm to work with him after that. I don't think it's gone to trial yet but the mountain of evidence looks pretty damning. I want nothing to do with that scene.

That was the concern of the park staff. Rick who is the park biologist said they don't worry much about bears and foxes, but pack animals like wolves will try and drive you away from the food if in their mind they are you ahead of you in the pack order, and will defend their perceived place in the pack as viciously as necessary. That makes them unpredictable. And one wolf attack would put back the park's fight to protect their wolves 50 years. Fortunately this guy continues to thrill photographers from time to time, and seems to have survived along the corridor without ever having been observed with a pack. My buddy Jerry, who was beside me shooting, is part owner of Algonquin Outfitters, and has sold the image he took shoulder to shoulder with us many times, from the store in the park. Sigh, if I only owned my own store.

In this area a wolf without a pack can survive on rabbits and grouse. I'm pretty sure this guy defines his territory bu staying closer to the road than the more completely untamed packs will come.

This image was taken in 2014, he was photographed from a distance last summer. He seems to be doing well.

[WPRESTO]

BTW: I once made contact with a wolf that had been hand-raised since a cub. NOT like a big German shepherd or any other dog I've encountered. It was constantly restless pulling this way, pulling that way, and utterly indifferent or oblivious to being spoken to, or petted, or scratched. I had the impression that if it were not on a chain, and not been so restrained all its life, it would be gone in a flash. It cared not at all for or about humans. Zero indication that it had "bonded" with its owner/handler. It merely tolerated him and accepted him grudgingly as dominant.

[clickclick]

BTW: I once made contact with a wolf that had been hand-raised since a cub. NOT like a big German shepherd or any other dog I've encountered. It was constantly restless pulling this way, pulling that way, and utterly indifferent or oblivious to being spoken to, or petted, or scratched. I had the impression that if it were not on a chain, and not been so restrained all its life, it would be gone in a flash. It cared not at all for or about humans. Zero indication that it had "bonded" with its owner/handler. It merely tolerated him and accepted him grudgingly as dominant.

Agree. I knew someone who had wolves. Animals you could not trust. Not like a domesticated dog at all.

Still really like the picture.

Didn't Rodney Dangerfield do a bit about growing up as a kid and his mother had to hang liver around his neck to get the dog to play with him?

[WPRESTO]

as a kid and his mother had to hang liver around his neck to get the dog to play with him?

I thought the kicker line would be "She hoped the dog had a really big appetite."

And I really like that picture. I would have liked it if the photographer had used a standi-n German shepherd.