Yellowstone, August 1st - 2nd

PHOTOS ONLINE

The flowers are still going strong, thinner this year than last.
The bears are into summer patterns.
The Elk and Mule Deer are getting nice racks and are still easy to find in their bachelor groups.

The short two day trip was a nice break from Billings. I wanted to give the flowers one last try; but because they were a bit thin I did not shoot flowers as a primary subject, however they make a great addition to photographing other animals. Oh well... next year

I had a 50D break on top of the Beartooth Pass. Under a year and the lens mount quit locking down. Back to Canon tomorrow and it should be back up and running soon enough to get another trip or two before the 60D comes. That is why I always bring a trusty 20D along when I head out shooting. I wish I had just brought one of my other 40/50D's

There was a bachelor group of about a dozen Mule Deer bucks three of them were quite nice all hanging out in the Elk creek area.

Everything else seemed fairly on par to last year.

I can not wait for fall to come.


As for the Cougar, it was shot in the northern part of the park between Mammoth and Tower. I saw it while driving, stopped in a pullout as quickly as possible, and snapped a few photographs before it disappeared into the trees. I was so glad that I had the the 5DII with 300/2.8L IS + 1.4TC II ready to go at ISO800 and set to f/4.0 the shutter speed was only 1/125th. The entire thing happened in a matter of seconds. I will say that those who do not drive with a camera handy will miss their chance at those brief glimpses of rare YNP specials.

Enjoy