It was a cool morning. The humidity had condensed into a thick fog which had crept into the small valleys. The conditions for finding the moose were ideal: it was the start of the rut, the weather was cool and there was no wind. Knowledge of animal behavior is just as important as handling camera equipment. Without it, it's much more difficult to be in the right place at the right time to capture a beautiful photograph.

When I photograph wildlife, I seek to create strong images that will touch the people who look at them. I do not wish to show the animal in a documentary manner. I want to create an emotion and reproduce the moment I experience there.

As in all my wildlife photography, I use continuous autofocus mode. Even if the animal is static, you never know when it will move, as evidenced by this image. I decided to photograph against the light to create more mystery in the photograph. A low ISO allowed me to find detail in the shadows, the aperture of 2.8 to isolate the subject well and the speed to freeze my subject well.

• Hardware: Nikon D4s   Nikkor 400mm f2.8 FL
• Exif: ISO 400 – f2.8 – 1/800s