After attending Photoshop World in Atlanta, I drove up to the Smoky Mountains National Park. I had hiked through the Smokies years ago while hiking on the Appalachian Trail. At that time I didn’t get to see anything more than a few feet off the trail. This time I was looking to explore the park in greater detail. It was late afternoon and had been raining when I arrived at Cataloochee. I was searching for a herd of elk which had been reintroduced into the park several years ago.

Soon after arriving, I found some of the elk. I was using a 600 mm lens with a 1.4x extender to get these shots. While watching the above elk, another group came across the field directly towards me…

The elk were getting pretty close and didn’t seem to mind me being there at all. To be on the safe side, I removed my camera from the lens and moved away from the approaching herd.

I can only imagine what this elk was thinking when it moved over to the lens and …

got ready for her close up. As gentle as can be she nuzzled the lens for a few seconds. It wasn’t until later that I realized I had forgotten to put a cap on the lens. Turns out I didn’t have to worry.