Yellowstone May 25th - 30th

A mother Grizzly Bear enjoys a vole while her "Cub of the Year" sits safely on her back near Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone National Park. Captured with a Canon 7D with 500/4.0L IS in aperture priority mode with an exposure bias of + 1 2/3 at ISO400, f/5.0, and 1/160th of a second. The camera was mounted on a Gitzo 3540XLS and Induro GHB2 gimbal head with custom long lens support.

PHOTOS ONLINE HERE

All of you who follow along with my trips on Facebook and Twitter know how great of a trip I had in Yellowstone. For those who are not following along, and are the kind of person who would enjoy the play by play during my trips... well it is simple to follow me on one of those social networks.

IT WAS A GREAT TRIP!

This was one of the trips that spoils me and makes most of my other trips seem a little slow. I spent a large amount of time near Grizzly Bears each day of the trip. If you count cubs I had nine or ten Grizzly Bears near me (and in my cameras viewfinder) over the course of the six day trip.

The activity was great; but the weather was not equally great (for most people). I personally LOVE snow, so I found the cool temperatures and ample snowfall to be pleasant, especially as it kept the tourists down over what could have been an insanely busy weekend. The snow did wreak havoc on the roads, and I found myself clearing trees, helping folks back onto the road, and even leading a caravan of scarred tourists out of the park. A few mornings I found myself making first tracks on the road from Norris to Canyon, and that was a bit scary on the 8% grade climb; but my Subaru did a good job, and I had no problems, other than needing to clear a tree out of the road to make a path for travel.

I arrived later on Wednesday than I wanted to; but I still managed some nice birding in Swan Lake Flats and that lead to the creation of this image of a Cinnamon Teal Drake.

I camped in Mammoth and was out very early on Thursday morning. Racing down to Yellowstone Lake with hopes of finding a bear or two, and I was in luck. I got to Mary Bay and found a Grizzly Bear to my left and a North American River Otter to my right; but snow filled the sky everywhere in between. The Grizzly was a bit too far (with all of the snow), so I photographed the Otter and waited for the snow to let up before photographing the second Grizzly Bear of the day at Sedge Bay. The Grizzly made his was across Sedge Creek on some logs and made a nice leap for a snow bank. Those of us in the area raced down the road with hopes that the Grizzly would emerge in the trees; but he turned around and actually ended up back where he had started. By that time I was preoccupied with birds and ignored the frantic waiving of my friends to alert me to the Grizzly's reappearance. I had an even rarer treat, a Short-tailed Weasel had poked its head out with a large vole in its mouth. I kept waiting, with the hope of another Weasel show; but all I got was some birds including this nice Dark-eyed Junco. I went back and photographed the Grizzly a bit more; but the light and scene were far from spectacular, and I had my Weasel shots (I was set for the trip ;) Little did I know that when I turned and drove back towards Fishing Bridge I was making the right choice. The Bear Jam was already underway, and I had heard that there was a spring cub in the area, so I found a place to park and watch this beautiful sow and cub Grizzly Bear. I found a spot that allowed me to shoot from the comfort of my car, and with the snow falling and blowing hard I was happy to be in the car. The pair started to leave, and so did the crowds; but that just gave me a chance to move my car into an even better spot in time for the pair to come near once again. I shot plenty of video, and really assumed that the best was over; but they were moving up the road and there was no parking, so I got out the tripod and walked down the road with a few others in the heavy snow. As we did this more followed, and others simply parked on the road near where we were heading. The sow and cub proceeded to come very near us (and the road) and start digging through the deep snow to find a vole. To our surprise the cub climbed onto mom's back as the snow quit, the clouds began to break and the late afternoon light began to pour in. Then the magical moment happened. Sow and cub looking up (and at us) with nice light, and a vole hanging out of mom's mouth. Those of us in the area had out camera's shutter banging off frames as quickly as we could. I'll admit that by this time my fingers were frozen and when I told them to adjust my exposure they failed to do so, leaving my shots over exposed more than I wanted; but because I shoot RAW I was able to turn out a pleasing image. The cub begged for the vole, and let out a little yell when mom ate the vole; but I think the cub just wanted a toy :) That basically ended the day, how could anything top that.

I drove back to Mammoth in heavy snow, I stopped to help a ranger clear a small tree limb from the road, helped get a couple of cars back onto the road, and then was asked to lead a caravan of tourists out of the park, as they were "too afraid to drive out." The next morning with visions of the bad road from Mammoth to Norris still in my mind I dedided to sleep in 25 minutes and head to Lamar. I took my time, hoping/waiting for some nice light to illuminate the clean snow covered scenes; but the light did not cooperate. I kept taking my time all the way to the Lamar confluence where I found out I was just a little late to experience the Lamar Canyon Wolves take down a Mule Deer Doe near the road. Oh well... I stuck around because I had seen a Grizzly Bear in the area and I had hopes that it would rush in and challange the Wolves for the carcass (and it did). The Grizzly won and the alpha male of the pack was left to just teasing and howling; but when no other Wolves came to his aid he gave up and let the bear eat in peace (except for the pesky Ravens that the Bear had to keep chasing off). The storm clouds caused a late sunrise in the valley; but they treated me to a nice landscape. The Bear eventually left and had a brief staring contest with a Coyote before crossing the creek and heading off. I spent over 14 hours on the carcass and only photographed for the first 3-4 hours; but I filled the day with great conversations and I only used 3 gallons of gas.

Back to Mammoth for the night and out early the following morning, so early that I was making first tracks from Norris to Canyon (and that is a scary drive in deep snow). I turned toward Hayden and thought that the it would be smooth sailing the rest of the way, because there was less snow on the ground. As I began to enter Hayden Valley I was greeted by a tree in the road. I cleared the snow out from around my tiers and inspected the tree, an off duty park employee shortly approached from the other direction and when we called in the tree we were told it could be a while before they could get out to clear it, so I decided to take action. The tree had started to crack when it hit the ground, so I figured a tow strap and my Subaru Outback might be able to get the job done. I was successful, all I had left to do was use my hatchet to clear a few limbs and I had a lane open for traffic, by that time I had an audience watching me work. I went through and found the driving easy through the Hayden Valley, especially after a plow came through going the other way. Unfortunately the road was closed at Pelican Creek, so I made a nice breakfast (instant oatmeal), and took the time to photograph the pair of Bald Eagles that were flying around. The day seemed uneventful after the hectic start and the great shooting from the day before; but I did make some nice images of a Grizzly at Marry Bay, some birds along Sedge Bay, the Hayden Sow with two, second year, cubs put on a nice show in bad light, an Eagle gave folks a nice look on a near perch, then the sunset looked great on a Morning Dove along Sedge Bay; but I had no idea how great the sunset would look over the snow and ice along Mary Bay. I had a friend get me a camping spot down by the lake, so I would have a shorter drive. (I still owe them money, as they disappeared the next day not to be seen the rest of my trip)

The next day was snowy, yet again; but those of us who braved the weather were treated with a tense meeting of two Grizzly Bears near Steamboat Point. The two Bears put on a show, whispered sweet nothings, and even played around. That was about it for the day, I went back to Mammoth to look around and try to get a message to a friend who was trapped in the Tower Campground thanks to the rock slide near Blacktail Drive.

I headed South early the next morning and the new coating of snow was lovely on the trees that burnt two years before. None of the Bears were out, and the Otter was way out on the lake, so I raced back at the report of a Black Wolf at Mary Bay. The Wolf was way out and it was snowing hard; but I had nothing better to do, so I waited. Everyone left, and I kept waiting... I decided to make a quick drive down along the trees, and was rewarded with this classic view of a black Wolf staring at me from the trees in heavy snowfall. "WOW! What luck," everyone said; but I was frustrated with that darn collar ruining what could have been a nice shot; but my editing ethic is against cloning things like that out, so it stays (I battled that one long and hard). I continued down Steamboat Point where I came across another Grizzly Bear; but the snow/fog/steam rolled in and made the bear almost invisible. As we had cell coverage I stayed in place and some friends headed back to Mary Bay to keep watch for the bear to reappear or the Wolf to show up. After and hour I decided I should make a lap to check and see if the Bear had dropped down in between; but it had not. When I returned to my post the Bear came down in front of me, so I made the call and they raced back to Steamboat Point; but now we had two bears in the heavy snow. The one Bear moved towards the thermal features as the weather broke, so we all positioned to photograph it, then unbeknownst to us the second Bear came very, very, near, so we needed to move to a more safe place. The Bear in the thermal feature kept posing, so we kept shooting until the ranger decided it was time to scare him back across the road (that was fun). The Bears played hide and seek (I don't think they were even trying). The weather closed in again, this time with corn snow then hail, so I decided to head north. The Ewes and Lambs were out in Gardiner Canyon, so I did a little shooting before driving back home to Billings.

It really was a great trip.

I took 4530 images, plus lots of video and a few time lapse sequences, and I was able to cut the images down to about 400 shots, they are online in the gallery. Make the jump to go through the online gallery, I ask that you leave comments/criticism or at least give your favorites a thumbs up... THANKS!

I made it easy on those of you who don't want to see all 400 images... the first 55 images or so are the "selects," looking through those will give you a great sense of how great the trip was.

If you have questions, ask... I published the camera information with each image and have added full keywords to share just about anything you would want to know about the images.

Happy shooting

p.s. I have some video footage and time lapse sequences that still needs editing, it will take me a while to find time to edit it.

Yellowstone, April 16th - 18th

A boar grizzly bear eats at a winter kill carcass near Old Faithful on a cloudy April morning. With staggering amounts of winter snow fall there were over five winter kills within 50 yards of that carcass. Shot with a Canon 7D with a 500/4.0L IS set in manual mode set at f/5.0, 1/500th of a second, and ISO400. Shot from a Gitzo 3540XLS with an Induro GHB2 gimbal head and custom long lens support.

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

For those of you who follow along with my trips on Facebook and Twitter you know all of this, and even got to see some of it live (thanks to my Verizon iPhone).

Typically I do not expect to come home with great images from my April trip to Yellowstone, I often choose to focus on calving bison; but with all of the snow they are doing all they can to delay the inevitable. The benefactors from all of the snow are the wolves, bears, and coyotes; with all of the snow they are still having a hay day. Saturday I spent a few hours with a grizzly bear, named "Bison Killer," near Old Faithful as I enjoyed my first 2011 trip to the park's interior. Then on Sunday I had the privilege of seeing the Lamar Canyon, Agate, and Canyon wolf packs all before 9:10am, and then I got to watch the alpha male of the Canyon Pack chase down a small group of elk, and make a kill behind some trees, around the same time the pack's alpha female made another kill a few hundred yards above, it became time to feast for the pack. Many of you know that the alpha female of the pack is a beautiful "white" wolf, and she is very pregnant right now. The distance proved too great to shoot images without seeing the ill effect of atmospheric distortion; but I was able to pull one image of her out.

Today I spent the morning trying to hunt down some wolves; but I ended up only shooting Killdeer. It was snowing hard this morning; but it let off around sunrise, as I drove home I was greeted by heavy snow, and now the snow is piling up in Billings 2'-4' by tomorrow morning.

The weather was cloudy with a some snow and/or rain falling throughout much of each day. High temperatures are getting near 50° and lows are still falling below freezing at night (around 28° or so). I camped both nights, and thought that it was lovely.

The birds are back to Yellowstone (or still there): Osprey, Great Blue Heron, Merlin, Lincoln's Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Killdeer, Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Sandhill Crane, Trumpeter Swan, Canada Goose, American Mallard, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, American Dipper, American Robin, Northern Flicker, Mountain Bluebird, Clarks Nutcracker, Magpie, Turkey Vulture, Crow, Raven, Grey-crowned Rosy Finch, and I think I spotted some Brown Headed Cowbirds. (I am sure I am forgetting some of my sightings)

Make the jump to go through the online gallery, I ask that you leave comments/criticism or at least give your favorites a thumbs up... THANKS!

If you have questions, ask... I published the camera information with each image and have added full keywords to share just about anything you would want to know about the images.

Happy shooting, and remember May is just around the corner.

p.s. I have some video footage that still needs editing, it might take me a while to find time to edit it though :(

Yellowstone, March 3rd - 7th

A member of the Lamar Canyon Pack of wolves looks out over a vast expanse of snow on a cold winters morning in Yellowstone National Park. Created with a Canon 7D and a 500/4.0L IS + 1.4TC III set in aperture priority mode with an exposure bias of +1 1/3 to f/7.1, ISO 400, and 1/400th of a second. Shot from an Induro GHB2 and Gitzo 3540XLS tripod with a custom long lens support.

PHOTOS & VIDEO NOW ONLINE

What a great little five day getaway!
I always have a good time in Yellowstone; but there is something about winter camping that I love. It has been four years sense I took my first wolf photograph inside of Yellowstone National Park (8:32am on the six of March, 2007), and that trip really cemented a desire to visit the park each month of the year. It started with the goal of one year, then two, then three, and currently I am working on year number five. For me March feels like the start of the new year, add to it the fact that I have yet to make an early March trip and not come home with pleasing wolf images.

Camping: Rocky Mountain College was on spring break so it was possible for me to get away for an extended period of time. I had planned on a 4 day trip, with one or two nights of camping. In the end I got five days in the park and four nights of camping, and I loved every minute of it. During my January trip I cleared my favorite tent site of snow (about three feet at the time). Each trip I try to camp in the same place, so I keep the snow relatively clear and I am able to find my spot with ease. This years snow pack was very dry and did not tolerate "dead men" well, the ground is frozen, so stakes do not worked well either. A little ingenuity has been needed to pitch a tent and have it hold up to the high winds that often accompany a Yellowstone winter (stakes/dead men/rocks/sagebrush in unison). My tent (Marmot Swallow) withstood 30+ mph winds and plenty of falling snow during this trip, so I guess the combination worked well enough; but it did take some real work to take it all down (check out a time lapse of the process). Why do I camp? I was asked that question dozens of time this trip, and countless times over the last four years; my answer is normally simply that I enjoy it, and that it lets me photograph my tent in use. To be honest it is not that cold, it leaves me feeling more connected to the park, the photos often turn out great, I get to start my day 15-20 minutes closer to where I want to be, and it does save some money on hotels (saved $200+ this trip). I have been called "hard core;" but I do not believe I deserve that title, the folks who are "hard core" are out winter camping in the backcountry, and that is something I have never done (but I want to, just not alone).

iPhone: On its second trip to Yellowstone was my iPhone, and it was used extensively to keep the outside world informed to what was happening in Yellowstone. I shot a dozen time lapse videos, streamed live from inside the park (three times successfully, and two times unsuccessfully), posted sightings and happening to Twitter and Facebook, and was also able to keep myself informed of the weather and other happenings. If you are not following/friends with me, and you love Yellowstone you really should jump over to Twitter and Facebook and get on board.

Weather: I think it was nice all five days, if anything it got a bit too sunny a few times (my sunburned face is proof of that). We did have some nights with high winds, and cold that really did have a bite. We also had a few periods of near white out conditions; by now only every third or forth road marker is still in place, and the snow banks are very high, so... Spring is coming, and though I am sure we will have more snow and cold to come, the general trend is to start warming up and melting off the snow. We have lots of snow this year, and I think that the rivers will be running fast and high this spring/summer.

March 3: I left billings just after sunrise; but took my time on the 2h30m drive to the park, as I was in the mood to watch the birds. Arriving at the North entrance before noon it was that time of year to buy my season parks pass once again (best $80 I spend each year). In past the usual deer/elk/bison/bighorn sheep and to Mammoth campground to get my tent pitched before the calm blue sky gave way to snow and wind, just as I placed some gear inside the erect tent the snow and wind arrived (perfect timing). With half of the day still to photograph I was off to see what I could see in the park. It turned out that there was not much going on. I made it in to Pebble Creek and spent the rest of the day sitting and chatting with folks as we waited/hoped that the Lamar Pack would come back in to the winter kill bison carcass that was about 150 yards away. Telemetry promised that the wolves were just inside of the trees behind the carcass; but they never did come back in while there was light. I have no images from that first day, well some time lapse footage; but no real images. Back to camp, some freeze dried chicken and mashed potatoes, a Ustream report and it was time for bed, 5:30am comes early.

March 4: Up at 5:30 just below freezing in my tent, around 15 outside, and 4-5 inches of new snow cover the world (my tent included). Don't feel too bad for me, my thermometer read 90 degrees inside of my sleeping bag near my skin. I was up and moving fast, I wanted to make it to the Lamar Valley before sunrise (6:57). The roads were covered with snow, and I was only the third set of tracks heading in, I must have been doing something right. A few distant coyotes were on the move early; but I had wolves on my mind. I got into the valley and near the old picnic area a film crew was stopped and scoping around, I found them... the Lamar Canyon Pack was skyline and heading back to the West. The film crew was shortly joined by a few of the wolf watchers and I made my way to the next pull out West, alone. Shortly after parking and getting a time lapse set up, the wolves came into view, just as I predicted. With a 1.4 TC on my 500mm lens I was able to capture some nice video footage as all seven of the wolves made their way through the snow. Three coyotes near me did not like the approaching wolves; but seemed intent on staying in the area. Alpha female '06' made here way down the hill/mountain side towards me, as the rest of the pack followed. I was getting nice video and starting to think that I might get some photos too. A filmmaker and a photographer joined me, and things kept looking better and better, next a couple of tourist pulled in. The pack was almost an acceptable distance for photography, and the coyotes were still holding their ground. Video recording and all of the sudden five of the wolves started to race downhill, straight towards us, and the coyotes fled, also straight towards us. The chase was on, and I transitioned to shooting stills. Coyotes have a much easier time in the deep snow than the wolves do, so the chase was never really about catching the coyotes, as much as it was about getting them to move on; but the chase brought the wolves in close enough for me to create the image at the top of this post. All in all not a bad way to start the day. The wolves moved back up the hill, '06' disappears and the pack went back to just playing, out of range for photographs. The solunar predictions, predicted good activity at sunrise (check) and between 11-2. Not visible from my location '06' and others killed a cow elk around 1pm. The location of the carcass was too far, and really not even visible from the road. I started to hunt for coyotes/otters/fox with little luck. The day passes and the weather kept transitioning from sun to snow, and back again. I shoot a few more time lapse videos and even practiced capturing iPhone panoramas at sunset. Back to camp where it was time for freeze dried chicken and noodle soup. Another Ustream from my tent while the clouds and snow keep me from shooting star trails over my tent.

March 5: With to solunar predictions calling for another good sunrise phase and a strong mid day phase I was up early again and heading in to find the Lamar Canyon Pack before sunrise, if I could. I assumed they would still be near yesterdays kill and they were. Getting there early I was able to set up and shoot some video of them howling before too many other folks got into the park. A snow storm quickly moved into the valley and made the wolves disappear. I decided to drive on to see what I could see, and on my return I noticed a lone wolf on the other side of the road. The few folks who were still with the Lamar Canyon Pack had not seen this wolf, nor had they seen any wolves from the pack leave their place of rest. My hope was that I could catch the pack joining or chasing this lone wolf, as the road was between them I figured I would be able to get a decent position to capture some nice images. After a few hours and some howling the Lamar Canyon Pack convinced the lone wolf that she should leave the area. The Agate Pack was to the West and they let here know not to head their way either. She was off to the East and then South. Speculation is that she is a three year old surviver of the Silver Pack. A break between snow storms made some magical light at sunset, that I had to take advantage of. Back to camp for some freeze dried beef stroganoff. The break from the storm also gave me a window to shoot star trails over my tent, I attempted a Ustream from outside as I was setting my camera; but somehow it failed, and left me talking to myself as I got everything set. I am happy with the first shot; but the clouds killed the star trails on the second shot, it had a nice mood nonetheless.

March 6: My plan was to leave at the end of the day, so I needed to empty my tent and pack up the car a bit before heading in; but as the sunrise phase was still relatively promising, so I decided to just wake up a bit earlier to get into the Lamar Valley at first light (6:30ish) again. During the night the Lamar Canyon Pack made there way to the road, crossed and headed to the South. I could tell all of that from the tracks and not from seeing them, as the entire valley was socked in. I had seen a red fox on my way past the Buffalo Ranch and decided I should go back and see if it had come near enough for photographs, it had not. I made a full loop to Cooke City and back with nothing to cause me to stop, so I kept driving back to Mammoth to take down my tent. On my drive back to Mammoth I did a live Ustream and let folks tag along for the ride, they all claim to have enjoyed the ride. I headed out to check the very northern part of the park for pronghorn antelope and hares, only to find the road a mess. I did get a few shots of a cottontail rabbit though. Back in and the Blacktail Pack had been spotted in the distance, the Agate Pack was also spotted way off, and the Lamar Canyon Pack had been spotted too, all of them were 'dots' to me, so I kept driving. Five otters made an appearance at confluence in the morning, so I decided that it would be worth a look at the old picnic area to see if they had been through. There was no sign; but as I turned to leave all five came out of the den to play/fish. I spent the next 2h30m with them all to myself (a coyote too; but I'll share with him). Another photographer came to join and we spent the next two hours with the otters as they put on a show. I captured lots of video and even more photographs. The decided it was time to go, and they were gone. Assumably they went off to another den; but after 4h30m I had no desire to follow after them. I'll admit my feet were starting to get a little chilly. Back to the car and off to shoot sunset. I found a great little place with very interesting wind swept snow formations that I photographed with the colors of the setting sun behind, and that kept me busy until well after sunset. I was supposed to head home; but the forecast called for high winds and snow on my route home. I have a great boss who ordered me to stay in the park, so that I would be safe. You don't have to twist my arm to stay an extra day in paradise. With my tent down and packed up I decided to car camp, as my Subaru is long enough for me to sleep comfortably inside. I was in the mood for something sweat, so I had oatmeal with strawberries for dinner.

March 7: I was camped a ways from the park, so I was driving in about ten minuets later than the previous day; but it turned out okay. As I drove out of Mammoth a wolf ran across the road, and there were 4 others already across. I quickly turned around and did my best to predict their path. I really wanted some images for ID purposes. I had suggested a few days before that someone would see the Canyon Pack back in Mammoth sometime in the next three weeks, and I hoped that these wolves would be them. As I reached the Terraces the wolves did too, they crossed the road and slowly made their way up the face of the thermal features. Two grays, two blacks, and a white... it was the Canyon Pack and they looked great. They were missing one gray, so I was snapping away images, at high ISOs and slow shutter speeds; but snapping nonetheless with the hope that I could later determine if it was the Beta male who was missing or if they had lost one of the gray pups. They all made their way up to the top of the terraces then disappeared to the West following the upper terrace drive. Around 45 minutes had gone by, and I was now about one hour behind my desired schedule; but who cares I already had my wolves for the day. I drove through Lamar Valley the Lamar Canyon Pack was disappearing behind a hill, and there was nothing else going on. All of the other wolf packs were far enough out that even with binoculars they were simply black dots. The sun was out and left little hope of decent light for shooting anytime soon. I shot a few more time lapses and headed home. I stopped near the boiling river for an American Bald Eagle, and a stop in the Gardiner Canyon for an immature Golden Eagle, and I was on my way home.

Make the jump to go through the online gallery, I ask that you leave comments/criticism or at least give your favorites a thumbs up... THANKS!

If you have questions, ask... I published the camera information with each image and have added full keywords to share just about anything you would want to know about the images.

I hope you enjoy the photos, happy shooting.

Yellowstone, February 11th & 12th

A lone tree battles high winds on a snow covered hillside in Yellowstone National Park. Created with a Canon 7D and a 500/4.0L IS set in aperture priority mode with an exposure bias of +2/3 to f/9, ISO 200, and 1/800th of a second. Shot from a beanbag.

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

A trip where if things could go wrong they did. I had planned a full 4 day trip to Yellowstone, and heading into Friday morning everything looked great. When I went to leave, in time to arrive at the park before sunrise, I noticed that neither my car's iPod connector not my old iPod charger would charge my new iPhone 4, so I went back to bed to wait for Best Buy to open at 10am, telling myself "it is no big deal, I have 4 full days, a half day lost is not a problem." I found a charger that worked and was off and started to record my journey in the form of a time-lapse with my iPhone. I arrived at the park before 1pm and even had time to stop, hike to, and dig out my favorite winter camping place. Unfortunately my previous stake holes has thawed, filled in, and re-frozen and the ground was too frozen to drive in new stakes at that time; but I had no worries I would enjoy a hotel tonight (I had plenty of work to do and power/high speed internet make it easier) with the plan that with my tent site cleared of snow, sunny and 40° temps forecasted would help me stake down tomorrow. (a note: snow anchors would typically be my solution; but the snow was very dry and not deep enough to trust anchors, also the high winds forecasted would have made me fearful to leave the tent set with only weak snow anchors for the next three days). After all of that it was time to make a full park lap to see what I could see. Not much was going on, I ran into Bill, Peggy, Rene, Helene, and Max checking on the otters; but no luck. I continued on and stopped only to check empty fields of snow for signs of life. On my return I was fortunate to have the sun/clouds work to present an oportunity for the image above. As I left I ran into Bill, Peggy, Rene, Helene, and Max again this time they were trying, without luck, to photograph some Bohemian Waxwings. We, as usual did some chatting and I was surprised that none of them had heard about Canon's forthcoming 200-400/4.0L IS with 1.4 Extender, a new lens of envy for all of us. The sun set with little splendor; though my iPhone and a panorama app were able to make something of it. Off to the Super 8 for some work and a good nights rest.

I awoke early, grabbed a quick shower as it would be my last for a few days, and was on my way to breakfast and an early checkout. I found myself out well before sunrise (and most others), just as planned, because I wanted to shoot a time-lapse of my drive during sunrise. The app I was using for time-lapses has some issues and it delayed the start of my shooting because I could not turn off the flash, the app is also severely limiting on its exporting options of the high resolution video files; but fixes are promised. A fairly common morning ensued; bison in the road, large snow drifts blocking half of the road, a respectable elk resting roadside in the Lamar Canyon, a red fox using the road as the path of least resistance near Buffalo Ranch, coyotes working their way through the snow in pairs, and a relatively dull sunrise. As this was my first morning with two more to follow, and the promise of better lunar phases with them, I did not have much urge to force shots "I am going to let it happen naturally" I told myself. I did shoot a few of the fox (while rolling), and later a few of an injured coyote near Roosevelt Junction; but that was about it, and I was in no hurry. I then stopped for a quick bathroom break and while kicking the snow and ice out of my wheel wells I heard what sounded to be air seeping, no I must be crazy... I got in and drove a bit further when my tire pressure warning came on, I stopped and started to inspect more carefully at this point, that is when I noticed two "somethings" in my driver side rear tire "gosh darn it." I had only lost about a pound of pressure, so I decided I should keep an eye on it; but drive out to Gardiner to really inspect the situation. I got to town and had not lost any more measurable pressure; but the seeping continued, so it was time to weight my options and make a decision. I could put on my spare, not a real snow tire. I could try to plug the tire; but the objects were broken off and presented no real opportunity to remove them to attempt a plug. I could slime the tire and keep at my trip; but LORD only knows how that would go. Lastly I could pump the tire up a bit past full, and drive home slowly with slime and a spare ready to go if the situation worsened. I am not a car guy; but I did know that the objects were in the meat of the tire and did not pose a threat to tearing the tire apart, I also knew that my warrantee on these less than 9 month old tiers would take care of "roadside hazards." I took my time driving to Livingstone, and upon arrival checked everything... no loss of pressure, relative to my other tires, and the objects had not moved. I took my time driving home, and felt a little silly getting passed by every single vehicle on the road, "eyes forward and ignore them" I kept reminding myself. I got back to Billings, as there is no Sam's Club in Bozeman, and upon inspection they decided that the near 20k miles I have put on the tires in the last 8 months required that I replace all 4 tires "crud" I said. Lucky for me the warrantee covered such situations, to some extent, and my $600 tires only cost me $250 to get all 4 replaced with the same "top of the line" tires (for my Subaru), I hope this set lasts me at least a year ;)

It was then Saturday at 4pm, I was home in Billings, my YNP trip was basically over, and I was not really in the mood to drive back down to the park, so I call the trip officially finished.

During the trip I shot time-lapse footage of my drive to the park and of Saturday morning's drive in during sunrise, this is that video with the addition of music from Alexander Blu (via CC):


I only captured 60-70 images in total, and only 10 ended up online, so I hope to make it back to the park this month for a "makeup" trip, if I do, I will camp and be able to give camping each month of 2011 in Yellowstone a college try.

Enjoy, and happy shooting.

Yellowstone, January 15th & 16th

A red fox runs down a hill during a January snow storm in Yellowstone National Park. Created with a Canon 7D and a 500/4.0L IS set in aperture priority mode to f/5.6, ISO 200, and 1/400th of a second. Mounted on a Gitzo 3540XLS with an Induro GHB2 gimbal head.
PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

I made a trip to Yellowstone with the promise of mild temperatures and lots of snow, and the weathermen got it right. Saturday was a very normal day in the park, it was a two dog day with a few coyotes and a nice red fox encounter. The fox encounter produced the above image, thanks to a Livingston based professional photographer who was leading a group trip in the park. I was out photographing the fox when the group approached, the fox moved to the top of the hill and bedded down. The photographer and most of his group pursued the fox, and in doing so scared it down the hill, rapidly, in front of my lens. Thanks T Murphy... wait that was to obvious... Tom M ;)

Saturday midday also presented a chance for me to test out my new 70-200/2.8L IS II with my new 2.0 TC III on a Ruffed Grouse, here is my report of the test results.

I camped Saturday night, after moving a few feet of snow to set up my tent, that made for some cool images, I think.

Day two, Sunday, was a three dog day before ten a.m. That made for a fun start, even though I took very few photos. The heavy snow came in strong and pushed most folks out of the park. I had some pleasant shooting with a coyote in the snow, and then I decided to make another run through Lamar; but that was close to being a mistake. The snow was heavy and the flat light made visibility very poor in the valley, I wear sunglasses even when the snow is falling so that my vision stays sharp and true. Unfortunately there was gentleman driving what looked like a rental SUV who was not wearing sunglasses and seemed to not be able to see the road. I pulled to the far edge of the road, tires actually off of the pavement, my mirror hit the orange road marker. I slowed to a roll, flashed my brights as he approached, and he still kept coming right down the middle of the road. I honked and he swerved over at the last moment. My Subaru with headlights, floodlights, and big black box on top is not hard to see; but snow blindness and near white out conditions can be a sun-of-a-gun. After that I decided that I should leave the valley, not for fear of myself (I could see just fine); but of others. I know that sounds elitist; but I take precautions that many others don't, I also have a little more experience driving in "bad" conditions than some of the parks visitors. Knock on wood. Oddly the visibility around the time of that incident was not the worst of the afternoon, as there were other times when only one road marker out was visible. I pulled into the next pull out to calm my nerves, and at that time I took off my glasses to see what he must have seen, and it was very little. I left the valley and headed towards Gardiner to check weather forecasts for Monday. The forecast called for about a foot of snow in Cooke City with afternoon and night accumulation combined, snow all day Monday, and freezing rain for a Monday night drive back to Billings, so I headed home a day early. From initial park reports all that I missed was the Lamar pack out on a fresh kill, beyond good photo distance.

I hope you enjoy the photos, and wish you happy shooting.

p.s. For those who like wolf dot viewing I shot video of the 7 Lamars on "Dead Puppy." That footage will be online soon.

Yellowstone March 13th - 15th

PHOTOS ONLINE NOW

Time lapse, long exposure, and days of sitting and watching.

The trip started with shooting over 5,000 images to create a time lapse video of my drive to the park. I spent the early mornings and late evening scouting with no luck. I spent my mid days sitting and waiting for Ermine to come out and grant me a few images. I put many miles on my hiking boots and on my snow shoes during the trip while taking very few photos, other than the time lapse.

The temps ranged from about 10° to over 50°.

I experienced snow, rain, and lots of sun (even with sun screen I got a bit too much).

The bugs are begging to hatch along the Yellowstone river, bird activity is picking up (slowly), Bears are out and on the move (sorry no bear photos), Wolf activity is a bit slow; but still more than easy to view daily with scopes.

If you follow my postings on:
https://twitter.com/FragilePlaces
http://www.facebook.com/ShumwayPhotography
then you have had the play by play of this trip.

I hope you enjoyed being able to follow along during the trip.

Feel free to ask questions and leave comments/criticism, and also give your favorite photos a thumbs up on my site.

Enjoy

Winter Star Trails Over a Marmot

I took a few hours to shoot star trails over my tent this weekend. The exposure is some 728 seconds, f/5.6, @ ISO100 shot from the 5DII with the 17-40/4.0L lens at 21mm. I used a tripod and cable release.

I awoke to a frost covered camera/tripod/release; but it was worth it.

More photos from the trip to come soon.

Enjoy

Yellowstone February 26th - March 2nd

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

I took the day off from skiing so that I could get these photos edited and online.

If you follow my postings on:
https://twitter.com/FragilePlaces
http://www.facebook.com/ShumwayPhotography
then chances are you have had the play by play of this trip, and have had a chance to see the video footage.

I hope you enjoyed being able to follow along during the trip and I really hope you enjoy the photos and video that I have put online.

Feel free to ask questions and leave comments/criticism, and also give your favorite photos a thumbs up on my site.

Enjoy

Yellowstone January 16th - 18th

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

I am finally up to date on all of my personal editing. To all who have been waiting I am sorry for the delay.

My January trip to Yellowstone was much like December and November... very slow. Day one I took 4 photographs, day two was under one hundred, day three was going to stay under one hundred until, on my exit drive, I decided to give a bachelor group of Bull Elk some of my time so I could come home with a few more images.

The temps were oddly warm, for Winter in Yellowstone. I actually camped both nights as I could not see spending money on a hotel when it was nice out and I was not making many images.

The Northern Range of Yellowstone has been short on snow, so the Elk have not been forced down to the valleys, that has kept the Wolves up with their prey. The lack of snow has left the Bison that are in the area valleys less than ideally photogenic too. I hope my February trip will provide more to photograph; but if not... oh well I am sure to find great folks in the park to keep me company.

Enjoy

Yellowstone December 17th - 19th

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

After my great New Mexico adventure I still needed to make a December trip to Yellowstone. As many of you know I like to make my trips when the lunar phases predict strong activity, however, I had only three possible days to make my December trip so I went against the odds (predicted scores of 27/18/10 out of 100). The park has relatively little snow in the Northern range, this is putting the better activity far from the road. With the exception of a bachelor group of Mule Deer bucks, Elk bulls, and many, many, Coyotes there is not much to be seen and photographed near the roads in the North. Even some hiking did not help provide more opportunities to photograph exciting wildlife (I am not including lots of cow Elk in and near Mammoth as exciting wildlife to photograph). The hiking was nice and I did not even need to use gaiters, let alone my snow shoes.

I took only a few hundred images and narrowed it dow to less than 50 to put online. I hope you enjoy.

Yellowstone, October 11th - 12th

PHOTOS ONLINE

A quick two day trip to the park was planned to be spent in the Madison area; but with the lack of "big" bull Elk and lots of falling snow sent me over the pass and toward the Canyon area.

I am glad I made my move over the pass when I did because it closed shortly after getting through.

The 11th was a bust as far as photos were concerned; but the 12th made up for it. A few hours with a mature Great Grey Owl and then an hour with a pair of Coyotes made up for just about all of the photos that I have online from this trip.

It was cold and snowy, our early winters last stand before the fall warm up. I know that sounds odd; but that is what it was.

Take a look, I hope you 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.