Sage-Grouse Lek, April 23rd & 24th

Created from 584 images each image shot with a Canon 5DII and 17-40/4.0L set manually to f/4.0, ISO1600, and 30 seconds. The RAW files were processed in Lightroom 3 then using action scripts they were stacked together in Photoshop CS5 to make this final image.

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

I made the trip down to shoot these star trails and time lapses; but really so that the next morning I could photograph displaying Sage-Grouse on a massive Lek on some remote BLM land.

It was calm with perfectly clear sky. The half moon rose during the night and was straight overhead around sunrise, creating good condition (as far as solar/lunar phases go).

Before this trip I took time to record my answer to this weeks 'Ask Dave' and that blog post and video can be found here.

To the left: A male Sage-Grouse displays on a remote Lek near the MT/WY boarder. Captured with a Canon 7D and 500/4.0L IS + 1.4TC III set in aperture priority mode with an exposure bias of +2/3 at f/7.1, ISO400, and 1/640th of a second. Mounted on a Gitzo 3540XLS and Induro GHB2 with custom long lens support. Photographed from within a ground blind.

My main point for shooting the star trails and time lapses was to test out some software and action scripts. YOU WANT TO CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO


Two male Sage-Grouse fight on a remote Lek near the MT/WY boarder. Captured with a Canon 7D and 500/4.0L IS + 1.4TC III set in aperture priority mode with an exposure bias of +2/3 at f/7.1, ISO400, and 1/320th of a second. Mounted on a Gitzo 3540XLS and Induro GHB2 with custom long lens support. Photographed from within a ground blind.

Yellowstone, August 1st - 2nd

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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

Yellowstone, July 18th - 19th

PHOTOS & VIDEO ONLINE

This was another trip that I made because I was in the area for work. Rocky Mountain College sent me out to Virginia City again to shoot some theatre, those images can be found here.

The Yellowstone leg of the trip ended up with very few images captured. I did have a great two days with a friend of mine. Teaching photography in a great environment gave me a much needed chance to simply relax in Yellowstone. The conversations were well worth all of the miles driven.

I did not even snap one photograph of a mammal. I did see a Grizzly Bear and many Black Bears, Mule Deer, Elk, Bison, Antelope, and much more I just did not take out my camera. Very hot weather and blue sky days (except for the Sunday showers) left the wildlife activity boring and in poor light at best. I think this was also the first trip of the year where I did not see a Wolf, I did not go to areas to see them however.

I have two videos online. I would show it as one; but even after cutting it from 1080P to 720P the files were far larger than SmugMug allows (600MB max or 15 minutes). Simple footage of an Osprey spending time with its chicks. The audio was removed due to the excessive road noise. I was also forced to leave the image stabilization on because I was perched on the edge of the road. The IS makes the footage wonder a bit; but it did kill out the bad vibrations that came in as each car drove by.

Enjoy and I'll try to have more for you to look at next trip. :)

Yellowstone, June 27th - 28th

PHOTOS ONLINE

So I simply had to make a quick trip down to the park for the Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) spawning. And was hoping for a few Otters too.

I was quite happy with how day one went and almost went home after day one; but I am so glad that I stuck it out and shot a second day, as it became an even better day.

The two day list is:
American Dipper
American Kestrel
Badger
Bison
Brewers Blackbird
Brown Headed Cowbird
Cliff Swallow
Common Merganser
Coyote
Cutthroat Trout
Elk
European Starling
Grey Jay
Horned Lark
Magpie
Mallard
Marmot
Mule Deer
Osprey
Otter
Pika
Pronghorn
Raven
Red tailed hawk
Red Winged Blackbird
Robbin
Sandhill crane
Steller's Jay
Tree swallow
Uinta Ground Squirrel
Western Square-dotted Blue Butterfly
Wild turkey
Wolf (dot's)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
(Sorry for spelling errors, this list is kept on my iPod Touch)

Now if normally you don't head over to my full gallery, this is one trip that you will not want to pass by. There are some 400+ images that made the grade from this trip. Take the time to look, even if you just play it as a slideshow.

I met some great folks from all over the US, like I do most every trip, and actually did not mind the sun and warm weather (though clouds would of been nice for the Otters).

The 5DII worked great in YNP and I have some video that I will try to edit over the next few weeks and get online from this trip.

As always, thanks for looking at my photos. Please visit my recent trips gallery to see all of the photos from this trip, while you are there give a thumbs up to your favorites and feel free to leave comments there too, with 5 stars. I ask this not to have folks boost my ego, simply to help my images get more play on SmugMug. And so you can enjoy more images of YNP... Thanks.

Total trip was 429.5 miles and my Outback averaged 27.3 mpg.

Yellowstone, June 20th - 22nd

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

The main round of photos are now online, there will be a few more landscapes to come later (HDRM possibly.)

I figured why not spend the last day of spring and the first days of summer in YNP, with the time of year comes very long days so I had plenty of time to enjoy the park. The addition of clouds and rain kept the weather cool and the crowds down. For the first time in a long time I really did enjoy driving the park and looking not for things to photograph; but for great mental images to save. I told myself that this summer my trips would be focused on filling in holes in the images that I have captured in the park, and this trip was no exception.

I did enjoy the new iPhone 3.0 software on my iPod touch and kept a decent list of everything that I saw from leaving Billings to returning 3 days later.

Here is the trip list, with some bird species that I saw not listed (due to my poor ID skills):

American Robin
American White Pelican
Bald Eagle
Bighorn Sheep
Bison
Black Bear
Blue Grouse (Dusky)
Blue-winged Teal
Canada Goose
Chipmunck
Common Merganser
Coyote
Douglas squirrel
Elk
European starling
Grizzly Bear
Gulls (island full)
Horned lark
Lesser Scaup
Magpie
Mallard
Marmot
Moose
Mountain bluebird
Mourning dove
Mule deer
Osprey
Pheasant
Pika
Pronghorn Antelope
Raven
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Red-tailed hawk
Ruddy Duck
Sandhill Crane
Steller's Jay
Uenta ground squirrel
Western Grebe
Wilson's Snipe
Wolf

As always, thanks for looking at my photos. Please visit my recent trips gallery to see all of the photos from this trip, while you are there give a thumbs up to your favorites and feel free to leave comments there too, with 5 stars. I ask this not to have folks boost my ego, simply to help my images get more play on SmugMug. And so you can enjoy more images of YNP... Thanks.

Total trip was 917.2 miles and my Outback averaged 28.5 mpg (So much better than my Blazer ever did).

Nature Photography Day

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NANPA challenges its members to participate in a Nature Photography Day Member Event.

"This annual event will challenge NANPA members to take a nature photograph on June 15 and upload it for publication in the July/August issue of Ripples, our bi-monthly newsletter. All photos will be published and there is no cost for submission. Photos for submission MUST be taken on June 15, 2009 within walking distance of wherever you are on that day."

With rain and a very full day of work I was only able to do some evening shooting of leaves; but I got out and did some backyard shooting.

Enjoy

Yellowstone, May 30th

PHOTOS ONLINE

Work sent me down to Virginia City to do some shooting. The time in the old town was fun and I was able to produce the images we needed (better than expected). They are online here.

The real joy of the trip for me however was that after a long night on the 29th, followed by a long drive, I got to spend the morning in Yellowstone before heading back to Billings for some prior engagements.

The 29th/30th ended with my head hitting the pillow at 1:30 am. The alarm went off at 4:30 am, time to get into the park. By 5:15 am I had spotted a lone grey Wolf at Blacktail Ponds, he was shortly joined by a collared black Wolf. The two of them proceeded to pull a young Bison out of the pond, I have no clue how long he had been dead for. I sat in my car shooting from a bean bag while they went to worked on breakfast. For the first 15 minuets not a single car stopped :) Then the crowds began to amass as the sun filled the valley. As a bus pulled in I pulled out. Heading to check on the regular Great Grey Owl, who had already given his morning show. Came across a few black Bears, one of which was in a somewhat photogenic scene. I fired off a few bursts and headed on to the top of Dunraven pass to look for the Dusky Blue Grouse. Found two, that after a very short battle became one. Enjoyed some shooting of the victor then it was time to move on toward the East entrance. I gave the Fox den a short wait while I took a much need nap, no luck. Then it was back to Billings via Cody.

I will not complain about the extra driving that accompanied my short day trip to YNP. I went 140 miles more than I would have just doing the drive for work, and I got some nice images as a reward, well worth it in my book.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the images.

Yellowstone, May 21st - 26th

PHOTOS ONLINE
The main round of photos are now online, there will be a few more landscapes to come later (HDRM possibly.)

With the long weekend, lengthened by my need to take some days off work before loosing vacation time, and the long late spring days I had plenty of time to enjoy the park. Unfortunately the sun and lack of clouds made this trip yet another trip about hiking rather than taking photographs; but I believe that I captured some keepers regardless.

I was also playing with a 400/2.8L IS so I had to put in some time simply testing/playing with the lens.

I took over 5k images so as you can image the play by play would fill a dozen post. Just know that I spent a large amount of time hiking, waiting for things to happen (badger den / fox den / coyote den), and shooting birds.

I am sorry for the delay on getting photos online. The day I got home from vacation work sent me down to Virginia City to shoot some theatre. The good news is that I was then allowed to make a morning swing through the park on Saturday (those photos to come soon).

As always, thanks for looking at my photos. Please visit my recent trips gallery to see all of the photos from this trip, while you are there give a thumbs up to your favorites and feel free to leave comment there too, with 5 stars.

Thanks and enjoy.

Yellowstone, April 18th - 19th

PHOTOS ONLINE

With opening weekend I had to make a run at the park.

I had an good start to the trip and then everything by comparison was a downhill slide.

Spring has fully sprung in YNP and with the 60 degree days they are predicting for this week I am sure that things will begin the greening process soon.

Due to life I was only able to make a quick two day trip. (left Billings at 3:30am Saturday and was home at 5:00pm on Sunday)

We all know how I dislike blue sky days, and we had a pair of them. I passed by many things that others would scold me for skipping, sorry. The shooting ended up feeling quite slow after how I started the first day. The warm beautiful spring days were nice to enjoy. And my new car handled great.

Osprey and Eagles are both on nests in some of the usual places.

Most places are loosing snow fast, others already lost it, and a few still have tons.

I still have some landscapes to edit and get online, I'll add them when I get some time.

Thanks for looking, visiting my site, giving your favorites a thumbs up, and leaving 5 star comments here and on my site.

Enjoy

Yellowstone, April 18th - 19th

A quick two day trip.

A very quick version of the two day list is:
Wolf
Fox
Coyote
Pronghorn Antelope
Elk
Mule Deer
Bison
Bighorn Sheep
Bald Eagle
Osprey
Red Tailed Hawk
Canadian Geese
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Common Merganser
Common Goldeneye
Trumpeter Swan
American White Pelican
American Robin
Mountain Bluebird
Sandhill Crane
Great Blue Heron
And many more bird species.

That is right it was a three dog weekend, well day, well actually handfull of hours.

We all know how I dislike blue sky days, and we had a pair of them. The shooting ended up a bit slow after the first few hours; but the warm beautiful spring days were nice. And my new car handled great.

More to come when I get through the photos. Trust me I'll have more to post.

A few more from YNP (Feb/March)

PHOTOS ONLINE

Well it has been a while; but I finally found the time to edit a few more landscapes and get them online. I hope you enjoy, the point of these were simply for me to play with tone mapping, detail enhancing, and general merges (for this spring). The landscapes are OK and the edit job is decent practice.

Enjoy

Yellowstone, February 28th - March 2nd

TRIP NOW ONLINE
The sun ruined much of the three days of shooting it did let up enough for me to make some images to share. And they are now online.

My daily reports sum it all up. It was warm and sunny so I did a lot of hiking/snowshoeing. I had my luck turn on me the last morning and got to spend a few minutes with two wolves from the 472 group.

As always please take a few moments to look through all of the photos, leaving comments and giving a thumbs up to your favorites.

I had a great time in the park, and I hope you enjoy viewing the fruits of my labor.

Yellowstone, March 1st & 2nd...

Well I camped Sunday night so these two days got put together.

Sunday started the day in Gardiner at 26° and I saw 9° - 51°, with lots of sun it was another day to hike.

Monday started the day off in Mammoth a 34° and ranged from 14° - 57° (63° in Gardiner.) The day started partly cloudy providing a pleasant sun rise, about time, and had nice light all the way through my best, be it ever brief, encounter of the trip. Then the sun killed the clouds and it was time for a hike then lunch and then an afternoon nap. I awoke to clouds forming and was quite excited for my possibilities for the remainder of the day. I had usable light to shoot some coyotes and elk, unfortunately the sun and 50° in the morning gave the snow a less than ideal look so Bison were out of the question.

The two day list: (most all were seen both days)

Golden Eye
Bald Eagle
Grey Jay
Mallard
American Dipper
Red Tail Hawk
(lots of other small 'no ID' birds)(4 or 5 different species)
Magpie
Raven
Wolf
Coyote
Elk
Bison
Mule Deer
Pronghorn Antelope
Bighorn Sheep
Snowshoe Hare (still no photo opportunities with them)

All in all the trip was slow due to the poor light. It did give me a chance to do 6 good hikes in three days and I did get one shooting opportunity that could provided some quality images, I'll have to wait to get them developed before I know for sure.

I checked on the Otters at least a dozen times and no fresh signs :(
I also put in a few miles up and down stream to check for sign (twice.)
The only sign (from before Thursday) was just under the bridge and there was nothing new near the confluence (either one :)

Thanks for reading, I think I may be able to make one more short March trip, if things pick up.

Yellowstone, February 28th...

Well I got lazy and am doing the night in the Super 8 so you get a trip report I should be camping the rest of the time so you may not get reports until I get home to Billings.

Well this trip starts with after another day of fun in the sun, I have a decent wildlife list but very very few photos.

The list:
Bald Eagle
Golden Eagle
Osprey (quick glimpse sure looked like one)(they should not be here yet...)
Red Tail Hawk
Canadian Geese
Goldeneye
Mallard
Grey Jay
American Dipper
Magpie
Raven
Mule Deer
Bison
Elk
Bighorn Sheep
Pronghorn Antelope
Snowshoe Hare
Coyotes (tons out this afternoon)
Wolf Dots or so I was told (I did not bother trying to really see)
And a bunch of other small birds that were backlight hard by the sun keeping me from making a successful ID.

It was 11 in Billings this AM and I saw 19-34 in the park. SUN SUN SUN... I pray for some clouds tomorrow so I can do some shooting instead of hiking and snowshoeing :)

Otter report... no new tracks sense the snow (I believe two days). I check well over a mile worth of the river (both directions.)

Also Wraith Falls is flowing and I don't think one would need snowshoes to get back to it. I laid down a decent trail for you :) The last bit you may want atleast gaiters.

It is still paradise even if Feb 28th felt like April 28th :)

Yellowstone, February 6th - 10th

TRIP NOW ONLINE

Well for those of you who saw the daily trip reports and thought I would have no photographs to put online... you were wrong. For 5 days I did have very few images; but 80 or so image are online. I will be adding and subtracting a few in the next few days.

Overall the weather was too nice or too bad the entire time. Temperatures stayed too warm for great shots of frost covered grass/trees/animals. The cloud free harsh sun filled days left much of the day non photogenic. The mornings had heavy hanging cloud cover and snow leaving the sunrises wanting.

I had a great time however and was able to spend time with new and old friends.

I look forward to Kevin getting his photos online soon too.

Yellowstone, February 10th...

Safely back to Billings after the bulk of the day in YNP.

The morning started in Gardiner at 22, worked its way down to 14 and then thanks to the sun got up around 31. Cloudy followed by sunny. I ended the day in Billings, moments ago, at 43 degrees.

Todays list:
Bison
Elk
Mule Deer
Raven
Magpie
Golden Eye
Mallard
Bald Eagle
Bighorn Sheep
Pronghorn Antelope
Coyote
Wolves (Druid dots)

Although it was less than productive shooting for me it was not really a slow day for YNP. I missed a good wolf shooting situation today; but that is life and how Kevin and my luck has been for the past 5 days.

A slow day in YNP is better than a good day in most other places. And now that I am back to work I will be reminded of that until my next trip to paradise.

Thanks to all of the people who I spent time chatting with in the park, the conversations keep us all sane on the slow days.

Sorry if my trip reports have sounded as if the trip was a let down. Slows times do lower the spirits; but time in YNP is never waisted, us regulars call it "paying the dues."

Yellowstone, February 9th...

Read yesterdays post :)

The morning started in Gardiner at 31, quickly worked its way down to 21 and then thanks to the sun got up around 35. Snowy, cloudy, sunny, snowy.

Todays list:
Snowshoe Hare
Bison
Elk
Mule Deer
Raven
Magpie
Golden Eye
Mallard
Golden Eagle
Bald Eagle
Bighorn Sheep
Pronghorn Antelope
Coyote

Although it was slow for me It was not really a dead day for YNP. I missed a few good wolf shooting situations today; but that is life.

A slow day in YNP is better than a good day in most other places.

Yellowstone, February 8th...

Another slow day with not much wildlife to shoot.

The morning started in Gardiner at 18, quickly worked its way down to -8 and then thanks to the sun got up around 35. Sunny, sunny, sunny, which unfortunately does not equal good shooting light; but on a much better note clouds started to come in as the day ended with a hope of snow tomorrow.

Todays list:
Bison
Elk
Mule Deer
Raven
Magpie
Golden Eye
Bighorn Sheep
Pronghorn Antelope
Coyote

Although it was slow for me It was not really a dead day for YNP. My eyes saw the Druids; but at the distance they did not process them as such. A small group of wolves were also spotted mid day very near the road.

A slow day in YNP is better than a good day most other places, and remember tomorrow will be better :)

Yellowstone, February 7th...

Another slow day with not much wildlife to shoot.

The morning started in Gardiner at 21, quickly worked its way down to 5 and then thanks to the sun got up around 35. Sunny, sunny, sunny, which unfortunately does not equal good shooting light.

Todays list:
Bison
Elk
Mule Deer
Raven
Golden Eye
Bighorn Sheep
Pronghorn Antelope
Coyote
and some other small birds.

Although it was slow for me It was really a day of misses including two Wolves and at least one Otter. Also at the days end I ran into a group of students from the Rocky Mountain College, the school I work for, who saw and spent and hour watching a Bobcat. So things are happening I just have not been in the correct place at the correct time. Tomorrow will be better :)

Yellowstone, February 6th... Snow Day

Well the snow put an early end to the day :(

The list is short:
Bald Eagle
Raven
Mule Deer
Pronghorn Antelope
Elk
Bison
Canadian Geese

Left Billings near 50 degrees and got to Gardiner around 41. Then things went from rain to sleet to snow over the corse of a few minutes. Driving into the park the snow was too heavy to shoot; but I kept pushing on in hopes that at some point it would let up... Ran into Kevin heading the other way to a bad news report, "snowing this heavy all the way through." We both decided to call it a day early and head back to the hotel, I needed a evening to relax, work has been keeping me very busy as of late.

The roads are filling with sow and the weathermen are predicting 4-7 inches tonight. Tomorrow more snow; but warm again. am hopeful for some breaks in the snow and maybe a wildlife encounter or two :)