A trip to Yellowstone seems to have become a Mother’s Day tradition for Fran and me. This May was sunny and mild with considerably more activity than we’ve seen in the past. Most of our trip was spent on the east side of the park rather to the north end where we usually go. This may account for the extra traffic we experienced. Still we were fortunate enough to see a lot of wildlife.

I’ve been subjecting myself to a mentor, Arthur Morris, a renowned bird photographer. If you haven’t seen his work you need to visit his site at www.birdsasart.com . The upshot of this is that I’ve been learning to be more patient with my work and to take more time planning the shot. I mention this because it has completely changed what and how many pictures I take. Normally in the first day of shooting I fill up three 4GB memory sticks with images. This time I was lucky to get into the third stick for the whole trip. I have to admit that I wondered if I was going to come back with anything at all. What I found is that, although I shot less, I got better images and more that were keepers. This is a valuable lesson and one I’m glad to pass along. Some key ideas are:

1. Look for the sun and shoot accordingly. Always try to put the sun at your back and your shadow directly in front of you.

2. Pay attention to your background. Try to set up so that your background will not be busy and try to avoid horizon lines or trees that cut through your subject.

3. Finally, be patient. Wait for the best shot. You don’t need five or twenty shots of the head at the wrong angle or the animal looking away from you.

It is easy to get sucked into the heat of the moment as I like to call it. I know I have little time to work with and I may not see a shot like what I have ever again so I instinctively want to start clicking the shutter like a mad man. As I found on this trip, the best thing to do is fight the urge and slow down. I also learned to pass a lot of photo opportunities that just wouldn’t work out due to sun position or no sun at all. On those occasions I did the only thing left to me and that was just enjoy the moment.

Before moving on to the pictures I want to take a moment to mention our photo site. I have been working hard on it for the last few weeks and there are several improvements and added features.

For those who may want to stay more up to date on my latest work or travels you will want to know about the News section of the site. I often post the latest work on the site before it appears in the newsletter. I also post updates as I work through my backlog of images from 2005 and 2006.

Also, note that subscriptions are available. Several of you have expressed interest in desktop backgrounds for your computers. All images are available in various desktop-friendly sizes. While you can purchase a single backdrop we’re offering a far better deal. By purchasing a subscription to the site for $24.95 a month, you are allowed to download any and all desktop compatible images. This is an affordable way to enjoy your favorite images all the time on your own PC.

Back to the trip. Our main focus this trip was for Grizzly bears so we’ll start with the bears and cycle through.

Grizzly sow with cubs – Mary Bay

Canon EOS-1D Mark II - EF 70-200 w/1.4 extender at 280 MM
Color Space - Adobe RGB - 16 bit

Manual Metering

Digital UV Filter

Exposure Compensation 0

ISO 200 - 1/100 Sec @ F8.0

This grizzly boar spent over an hour sunning and grazing. He provided us with no end of comic relief. This and the next image were taken with a very crisp and flat lens allowing them to be enlarged considerably over their original size. I mention this because often people see images like this and think they can get close to a grizzly bear with a small quick shot camera. Remember, these are wild animals and very dangerous even as cute as this guy makes them look.

Grizzly boar – Mary Bay

Canon EOS-1D Mark II - EF 70-200 w/1.4 extender at 280 MM
Color Space - Adobe RGB - 16 bit

Manual Metering

Digital UV Filter

Exposure Compensation 0

ISO 200 - 1/500 Sec @ F7.1

The same boar grazing; notice the light is just a bit off, this is a situation where I got as wide to the left as I could. Ideally we would like to see the light straight on in the face of the bear for this image.

Grizzly boar – Mary Bay

Canon EOS-1D Mark II - EF 70-200 w/1.4 extender at 280 MM
Color Space - Adobe RGB - 16 bit

Manual Metering

Digital UV Filter

Exposure Compensation 0

ISO 200 - 1/500 Sec @ F6.3

We were taking a quick jaunt to the west side to see if anything was happening when we noticed this pelican along the Firehole River. I pulled over and went upstream where he appeared to be headed and setup near a tree to wait. Sure enough, he came upstream, landing right in front of me. The rest was just a matter or waiting for him to take off and fly again.

American White Pelican – Firehole River

Canon EOS-1D Mark II - EF 70-200 w/1.4 extender at 280 MM
Color Space - Adobe RGB - 16 bit

Manual Metering

Digital UV Filter

Exposure Compensation 0

ISO 200 - 1/640 Sec @ F7.1

Still on the west side we saw an obstinacy of Bison with these calves. They stayed still long enough for a panorama.

Bison Obstinacy – Norris Geyser Basin

Canon EOS-1D Mark II - EF 70-200 w/1.4 extender at 280 MM
Color Space - Adobe RGB - 16 bit

Manual Metering

Digital UV Filter

Exposure Compensation 0

ISO 200 - 1/400 Sec @ F7.1

We noticed this sunrise over Yellowstone Lake as we headed in to the east side from our room at the Old Faithful Inn.

Sunrise – Yellowstone Lake

Canon EOS-1D Mark II - EF 12-24 at 24 MM
Color Space - Adobe RGB - 16 bit

Manual Metering

Digital UV Filter

Exposure Compensation 0

ISO 320 - 1/125 Sec @ F11

Saying hello to the Tetons before heading up Signal Mountain; this is from Schwabacher landing.

Teton Range – Schwabacher Landing

Canon EOS-1D Mark II - EF 12-24 at 24 MM
Color Space - Adobe RGB - 16 bit

Manual Metering

Digital UV Filter

Exposure Compensation 0

ISO 200 - 1/6 Sec @ F11

This is the right time of year for the Blue Grouse on Signal Mountain and we always try to make it up the mountain to watch them. They have never let us down since we discovered them and this year was no different. A friend said, this was an easy shot. My comment is, “Until you try to get them with a camera.” I spent over an hour working with this guy to get the right sun and the right background.

Blue Grouse – Signal Mountain

Canon EOS-1D Mark II - EF 70-200 w/1.4 extender at 280 MM
Color Space - Adobe RGB - 16 bit

Manual Metering

Digital UV Filter

Exposure Compensation 0

ISO 200 - 1/250 Sec @ F9.0

This little guy loved this post for sunning on and after half an hour of waiting he finally quit playing coy long enough to snap this picture.

Yellow-Bellied Marmot – Signal Mountain

Canon EOS-1D Mark II - EF 70-200 w/1.4 extender at 280 MM
Color Space - Adobe RGB - 16 bit

Manual Metering

Digital UV Filter

Exposure Compensation 0

ISO 200 - 1/400 Sec @ F5.6

I always love the colors of the hot springs and thermal fountains but I never seem to come back with images that do them justice. This time I captured the late afternoon sun on SIlex Spring in the Fountain Paint Pots area.

Silex – Fountain Paint Pots

Canon EOS-1D Mark II - EF 50 at 50 MM
Color Space - Adobe RGB - 16 bit

Manual Metering

Digital UV Filter

Exposure Compensation 0

ISO 200 - 1/160 Sec @ F10.0

This year we decided to drive back the long way through Bear Lake since there is a national wildlife refuge surrounding part of the lake. We had never been there before and we had never seen a lake as turquoise as this one. The picture still doesn’t quite do it justice but you can get a sense of just how jewel-like it is.