Hi everyone-

So If you have been checking in I am sure your pretty surprised that there is a new post today. Well, I have actually had a bit of time along with a reliable internet connection so I thought I better get some new images up.

I have arrived in Choteau, Montana and am spending a few days here visiting with my mom and family. It's been a bit nicer here weather wise than it was in Yellowstone but I think thats about to change. Sounds like very cold temps and snow will be arriving shortly.

So onto the images....

The first two are f the Arnica Fire in Yellowstone National Park. During my first week in the park this fore was the dominate park feature. It was putting off a huge amount of smoke, closing roads and generally screwing up travel and sleeping arrangements. As well the wild life viewing wasn't that great because it was warm and most of the animals hadn't gotten the memo that it was fall.

So I shot a lot of images of the fire. The first one was shot at night from the West Thumb area. This was the last time I was able to travel the road before it was closed for the rest of the week. This image shows the width of the fire in this area.



The next image was shot at the Fishing Bridge junction. I thought it was interesting/funny because of the message on the sign.



I have a ton of images of the fire, some of which I will post here late and also in a gallery that I will post a link to here.

So I also shot some other subjects in the park between figuring out how to get around detours and smoke. Because the road was closed between Norris and Madison I stayed on the east side of the park for the most part. One of the places I spent a lot of time was on Mount Washburn. There was a lot of Elk activity in the high mountain meadows. The bull in the image below was on the move and lookin' for love on the this morning.



Another area that I spent a lot of time was Canyon. Many hours were spent walking and waiting in the meadows in this area looking for the Great Gray Owls. Well it paid off as I was able to photograph one of three that I saw. I also recorded some of the calls the owl was making. I will post that audio later once I get home and figure out the best way to do that. The other two owls I saw within second of each other. One flew away and the other gave us every opportunity to shoot it but a comedy of errors commenced once the ranger asked us to move our vehicles 3 more inches off the road. Till the logs were run over, the tripods hit, the vehicles moved and cameras found the bird said these guys are idiots I'm out of here and off he flew into the night.

This owl was shot within minutes of the first and only time I saw him at this particular location. He was very skittish and kept his distance. I think it had a lot to do with the large amount of photographers looking through the woods over the previous few days.



Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Today is day two for us in Yellowstone. The weather is perfect. Today it is only to be about 70. But it is very sunny and very comfortable. Yesterday we made our way into the park from Cody via the east entrance. Along the way we saw a fox, some bighorn sheep, two moose, elk and lots of bison.

Today's image was shot just east of the Blacktail Ponds area, very near the Lava Creek picnic area. I had seen three bulls in this general area a few weeks ago but a bit further east. As we traveled west I didn't think we were going to see them. But they were in their normal position, very near the road about 1/2 mile west of the ponds.

This big guy, one of the bigger ones I have seen this year in the park is tagged #10. I think that if I remember correct # 10 spent some time in Mammoth last fall.

Don't forget to check out the Skywatch blog today and tomorrow by clicking here: SKYWATCH

I know there is not a lot of sky in this image however it is pretty representative of the conditions we have had, severely clear. I am hoping to catch some great sunrises and sunsets on this trip to help with future Skywatch posts. Hopefully we'll get some weather moving in and some interesting clouds along the way.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

As many of you know I was recently in Yellowstone for a few days. It was a quick trip but proved to be one of the better ones lately for action.

The images that I am posting today are a bit graphic so if your not down with that then you should probably move on. That being said, the images also depict the life and death struggle that goes on in Yellowstone every day.

One of the coolest parts of the park is that you really never know what is going to happen, when or where. You can increase your chances of getting good shots by learning about the animals and their habits, spending time in the park and by talking to other photographers, park visitors and guests. But sometimes you just need a little luck.

On the day that these images were shot I had a little of both going for me but mostly luck. I was in the right place at the right time and it payed off.

I had headed out to the Lamar Valley shortly before sunrise after getting up at 0400. There were plenty of other people around and I figured this was probably a better place than most to potentially see something play out.

Now my thoughts were with two animals, wolves and grizzlies. They usually seem to be the ones who can create drama where ever they go.

After driving around for a while I came upon a group of people pulled over, just by their actions I knew something was happening. They were rushing around, setting up cameras, and pointing.

Then I saw it. A large female elk (cow) was on her back and kicking wildly into the air. That could mean only one thing, she was fighting for her life. I quickly ditched the truck and made my way over to where the people where. I looked down and there was the former Slough pack alpha male wolf with the elk. He had single handily taken her down and was now finishing off the job. And he wasn't 75 yards from us.

I quickly shot a series of images and looked around for other wolves. But it was just him. Several bystanders mentioned up to two other wolves that might not have crossed the road earlier in the take down. But they were no where to be seen.

The wolf was now dragging the elk down over the hill. This took both out of everyone's view. Bystanders started to file away, either to continue their travels through the park or to look for a better vantage point.







At this moment I realized I could not find my wallet and set out retracing my steps to locate it. After looking for about 5 min thought it may have come out in my sleeping bag while I was changing. Sure enough in the back of my truck I found it in the bag.

So while I was kneeling on the tailgate of my truck I though now would be a good time to change out the batteries in my camera. As I was doing this I noticed something moving to my right. By this time I was completely alone along the road. Everyone else had moved on.

When I looked up there was the the black wolf heading in my direction and in its mouth was the fetus of the elk it had just taken down. I quickly re assembled the camera and began shooting hand held kneeling on my tailgate. Not the best shooting conditions but I had no time to do anything but that.

My heart was racing and I was really hoping that I was catching the images and that they would be good enough to share. Luckily the light had not changed to much and the settings were pretty close to what was needed and it all worked out.

The following images were shot with in the 30 second it took for the wolf to pass by. It was one of those amazing Yellowstone moments that could happen anywhere in the park at any time.

I hope you enjoy them, have a great day!