A faint wind was already beginning to whisper softly through the dry fall grasses. From my perch atop the roof of my car, I could seemingly see everything around me except for what I was looking for. Seemingly from everywhere, the haunting bugle of bull elk was resonating across the prairie but for the life of me, I could not spot any of the massive animals.

What I was waiting for, and what I had put a large dent in the roof of my car in pursuit of, was for the rising sun to clear a stand of live oak to the east and thus illuminate the craggy peaks in front of me. I envisioned the expansive scene as a panorama, to better capture the vast scale of the topography. While having seen it done in videos, this was my first attempt to create a panorama outside of my iPhone. Essentially, you just need multiple photos (I used three) that are in alignment with one another and most importantly are level. This proved a little bit of a hassle, being perched atop my car, however I was able to get everything dialed in while I awaited the sunrise.

Finally, the sun rose above the oaks, bathing the prairie grasses in the foreground in rich, warm light and the peak in the background began to faintly glow. With the elks still serenading me with their odd calls, I quickly captured three images in quick succession, triple checked my focus, and packed away my camera for the day.

An unexpected surprise awaited me when I got back to the motel. I was excitedly showing my girlfriend the photos from that morning, when after zooming in to show her the detail, I realized something. While they escaped my naked eye, the herd of elk was captured by my 80-200mm lens. Not only was there one, but an entire herd of ten!

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ISO 100, f11, 1/5, 6:37am CT