Feb 5, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
I’m exploring a new region of the US I’ve wanted to check out for a couple of decades. The Windy’s in WY in my world are legendary and the first morning lived up to was I was told. The breakfast was tasty and the folks, delightful so with that start, no surprise we were instantly into big game. This small group of Pronghorn greeted us as we came up the road. With the temp saying 17 degrees, with the light just coming over the ridge, the herd was perfectly arranged on the hillside. Hand-holding the Z6 / 180-400VR, I watched and as the symmetry of the herd came together, I got what I saw as “You talkin to me” and went click. Things are happening from the get go, can’t wait to see what the rest of the week brings!
Feb 4, 2019 | Landscape Photography
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is such a gorgeous place! It’s a really photographer friendly place as you can’t take a bad picture there. Shooting from Artist’s Point, the draw up the Canyon to the falls is breathtaking. Then you add in the snow, the wind, the cold, the sound and the color, well that’s a sensory overload that the camera can’t even imagine. How do you smack the viewer between the eyes with all of that when they are looking at your photo from the warmth of their home?
Lower Yellowstone Falls
captured by Z7 / https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1383763-REG/nikon_180_400mm_f_4e_tc_1_4.html/BI/8449/KBID/9350/DFF/d10-v21-t1-x870603/SID/DFF
I quick and simple way is putting it all in their face! Shooting with a telephoto does a great job doing that. In this case, shooting with the Z7 / 180-400VR, the top photo was taken at 180mm and the bottom at 560mm. But coming right in on the ice (making sure it stays blue cause it’s cold!), you bring it to life. The imagination “hears” the roar of the water on the left and the mind because of the warm tone of the rock sees the “cold” in the ice. It’s quick, simple and effective but the nits are in the details.
Feb 1, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
I simply love watching Coyotes! It’s said they eat up to five times their body weight each day in the winter. You gotta figure that’s one heck of a lot of mice! How do they find the mice, voles and the rest under that blanket of snow? It’s the ears that pick up the faintest of sounds. Some of their prey are in hibernation, one heartbeat a minute and yet, they can detect them. Amazing! So it’s not surprising they are sensitive to sound and sight in the pursuit of a meal.
In Yellowstone, we came upon a Coyote jam and after a while, because of all the noise, the coyote finally moved on. After he went up a draw out of sight, I gave him five minutes after everyone else had left to see if he’d come back. I should have waited seven minutes because no sooner then the last tripod was packed, there he came looping back. Once I got all the other tripods up, the Coyote was moving past them to across the road. With the lack of time, I just hand-held the Z6 / 180-400VR until his last glance over the shoulder and off to hunting another clearing. Yes, we saw him score a couple of “meals” which he popped down like M&Ms. Wow, what a marvelous moment with our wild heritage!
Jan 30, 2019 | Landscape Photography
Uncle Tom / Upper Falls
captured by Z7 / Z24-70
There’s a “new” view in Yellowstone and it’s gorgeous! The Park Service for the last eighteen months worked on the Uncle Tom vista of Upper Yellowstone Falls and it’s really spectacular. This is the first winter it’s open and it was quite a treat to be one of the first to see it. This is a simple click taken with the Z7 / Z24-70. Not knowing the splendor of this vastly “improved” vista, I walked to the vista with no tripod. I wanted though to have some movement to the water. With the built-in stablizer in the Z7, I was able to shoot at 1/8 hand-held and capture some movement. If you head to the park, make sure to take in this new view of your wild heritage!
Jan 29, 2019 | Wildlife Photography
I have a thing for Ravens. In part, because Sharon has a “pet” Raven, Edgar, that I’ve written about many times in the past (and why I call all Ravens, Edgar). The other part is because they are so darn intelligent and do a marvelous job of making us humans look silly. This particular one was at Norris parking lot just waiting for the next stupid human. They are so smart, they watch the snowcoaches and snow machines for an open window or zipper (some can open zippers) and they can easily snatch a meal. Coming back from the Geyser Basin and not knowing Steamboat is about to erupt, I saw Edgar on-duty watch. I went into our coach (with its windows closed) and grabbed the Z6 / 180-400VR and literally walked right up to him and shot. The key was moving so I had as little sky coming through the trees and at the same time have darkness to show the falling snow. Edgar the entire time just kept looking out, totally ignoring me. Such a smart bird, just chillin!
Jan 25, 2019 | Landscape Photography
Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone Nat’l Park up until eight months ago had a frequency of eruption of 50 years. In the past eight months, it’s erupted thirty-five times, the thirty-fifth time was 12:35MT today! At 10:18 this morning, we were standing in front of Steamboat Geyser, you can see a “minor” eruption in the photo above. It erupted last on the 16th so the odds where it would go off but as we stood there and shot, we said, “place your bets” because we didn’t think we would see the 300′ World’s Tallest Geyser go. Wouldn’t you know it, two hours after we left that platform, minutes after we left the parking lot, that she blows! Who knew?
