It Was Calling

Jun 1, 2023 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography

Uganik South Arm captured by Z 8 / Z24-120

I spent most of my time between sessions with the Kodiak Brown Bears just sitting on the deck literally watching the clouds float by. Most of the Z 8 was attached to the Z600f4 as I worked the sparrows flitting around. I always though had the Z24-120 handy for moments like this. As the clouds floats by they would pant the hillside with light bringing to life this or that section of the slope. I thought about doing a time lapse but that required me getting up and working. I was in chill mode and the mountain seemed to know that. Every so often it would light up like you see here, that’s when I switch lenses and make a click. It was real simple, just required switching the Picture Control to Monochrome, making the click and then goin back to the birds. It was my kinda of afternoon, landscape photography and way to pass the time chillin. It was calling me!

“What Does Mom See?”

May 25, 2023 | Wildlife Photography

Kodiak Brown Bear family captured by Z 8 / Z600f4 @840mm

The cubs for their first three years depend on mom for everything. They are in many ways, little mirrors of their mom during the day doing nearly exactly what she does when she does it. Oh yeah, there is always that one cub that has to be curious. There is that one cub that is more reserved than the other two. But mom is everything to them so when she stops grazing and comes to attention, so do they. They depend on their noses to tell them what’s happening in their world. It does an amazing job of keeping them informed of who all is on the flats for miles around. When they get scent of something that alarms them, like a big male Kodiak Brown, they stop to look and check things out. With the tall foliage, standing on their hand legs provides them extra elevation to see further. Standing over nine foot tall, there isn’t anything they miss!

What about the old “don’t get between a mom and her cubs” thing? There are lots of really bad myths about bears that I think were started with one simple thought in mind, be respectful of them! Obviously after spending a week in the field with these giants, I’m safe and sharing their story with you (with more to come). The one thing I want to impress on you right now is this very simple thought which will keep the bears and you safe and bringing back the stories. When in their world, all critters for that matter, remember you are a guest in their home so act like a great guest. You’d be surprised how welcomed they will make you feel, over and over again!

Backlight for Color & B&W

May 19, 2023 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography

Mammoth Hot Springs captured by Z 9 / Fisheye

I love Mammoth Hot Springs! It never ceases to amaze me what Mother Nature has created and shared with us when I walk its boardwalks. The majority of the time I do it in the afternoon, the hours the critters are typically taking a siesta. When in Yellowstone my priority is the critters so landscapes are taken only when there is nothing else the majority of the time. This early morning though as we passed the terraces, the light and sky just screamed for our cameras so we hit the boardwalk. The backlighting is what made them jump out at us. As they are all white, the light is bouncing everywhere so then it’s just a matter of arranging the elements to move the eye through the frame. In the black & white, I closed the aperture down to create the starbursts to move the eye around. In the color version, it was the algae I used as an anchor for the eye. And in both the backlit steam set the stage and brought the romance of the landscape to the image. We so enjoyed our time on the boardwalk even after we learned we missed a bear. It was a gorgeous morning for backlight color & B&W!

Mammoth Hot Springs captured by Z 9 / Fisheye

The Background is the Stage

May 17, 2023 | Wildlife Photography

Rocky Mtn Bighorn Sheep ewe captured by Z 9 / Z600f4 @840mm

Bighorn sheep are one of my favorite critters to spend time with and photographing having spent decades with them. I know their world really well but most think of them as living in one place. High up on a cliff. And while that is where they feel safest, that’s not the only place they live. We found them last week on a knoll in Yellowstone amongst the bison and pronghorn. It was as far from a cliff as you can imagine. They weren’t up high but rather, out in the open on the flats. The photo below is how most saw (it was your basic Yellowstone car jam) them at that time and while there is nothing wrong with that click below, the stage wasn’t really set for this regal critter.

Above you can see the photo I desired and one I couldn’t get until the last moment. I saw the stage but had no star! The entire herd had moved through, none going up to the edge of the knoll where there was an opening in the pines with the distant mountains in view. I was hoping for an animal in that aperture to give a sense of space, height, wilderness. Finally, literally, the last ewe ventured to that spot I wanted for the star, it was the perfect stage. No, it doesn’t show it living on its vertical world but it does show them to be at the top of it. Being picky about the background can make an impact in your photograph. Because the background is the stage.

Rocky Mtn Bighorn Sheep ewe captured by Z 9 / Z600f4 @840mm

The Cycle Continues

May 9, 2023 | Wildlife Photography

Bison mom & newborn captured by Z 9 / Z600f4 @1176mm

I’ve seen it a hundred times but it never gets old. All wet and shivering, its up and going and following mom right after birth. Probably the onl times its cute, there is nothing like a baby Bison. They have just started to drop and this week I’m hopng to get a whole bunch more time with them. Will be a challenge with all the magic that is Yellowstone but it will be great fun in the process!

They Run Me Ragged

May 2, 2023 | Wildlife Photography

Brown Creeper captured by Z 9 / Z400f4.5 w/Z1.4x & Profoto A10

I’m sitting here at my desk right this moment watching a Brown Creeper scale the pine outside my window as I write this! More than once I have grabbed my camera and raced out to photograph them only to come back with no clicks. So last week while at Magee Marsh (such a wonderful place) when the first Brown Creeper appeared, I was excited but had little hope of making a click. This little bird some call bark mouse, is about the size of your thumb. It forages by scaling up and down tree trunks looking for minute bugs. With the massive wind storm that hit Magee two years back, the trunks the creepers scale are no longer tall putting them within range. Schweet!

With the biggest challenges being overcome it left just one, the light. The creepers were keeping to the dark recesses of the forest, not ideal for photographs at all. Luckily I had my own light with me, the Profoto A10 attached to the Z 9 / Z400f4.5 rig. I just kissed the Brown Creeper with light, just enough to bring out its color, not enough to even create a shadow and that’s all it took to bring it out of the shadows. As it turned out there were a pair of Brown Creepers. I thought chasing the one at The Ranch was a challenge, I never tried photographing a mating pair. I was greedy and wanted that frame with two creepers in it. I never got it but I had a ton of fun as they ran me ragged!

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