Before the wolves disappeared from sight, other tourists started to stop to watch their passing. This concerned me for a moment until I heard a voice over my left shoulder say, “Be respectful of the photographers.” That blew me away almost as much as what I was seeing in the viewfinder. I don’t know who you are, but thank you ever so much for that courtesy. And with that, we continued to stand next to our truck, basically all alone with the wolves. We were standing in the pullout giving the wolves plenty of room to go where they wanted to as they looped east. This was the last we saw of them for the moment prior to taking the lower route under the bank of the river and out of sight. What was so cool to watch and made me wish there were two of me, one for shooting stills and one for shooting video, is how they followed in the tracks of the wolf in front of them. It makes perfect sense when wanting to conserve calories. Man, what an experience! mtc

Before the “pack” got really close to us (a couple of hundred yards, I was shooting at 560mm at this point), they pulled up and stop. I think they were sizing up the situation as they caught their breath. You look at this black wolf, you can see the frozen breath on its lower mandible, it was -19 after all. The Bison were up the Madison by the bridge at this point. Looking at a snow coach coming up the road, it watched it approach, looked at other members of the pack, and just stared. I have no doubt they knew we were there but it would seem as we weren’t moving, trying to catch our own breathes, we were a non-issue. Then with a nod of the head by a few members, they made their move that took me by surprise. mtc

By 07:20 we were at the turnout just wet of Madison Junction. The night before, we had last seen the Wapiti Pack at Seven Mile Bridge on their way up to Harlequin Lake. My senses told me they were up to something and that turnout would be the best place to sit, wait, and watch. There was a small group of Bison to the east of us and I watched them as they would know before us if the wolves were coming. Fifteen minutes later, Justin saw a group of Bison exploding in our direction from the west. They were going full speed and made the mile plus distance in just over a minute, went past us and grouped up with the Bison to the east. We knew the wolves were coming. We got out of the truck and stood next to it. A minute later, there were nine looping up the river bank in our direction.

There are days in the field when adventure is around every corner, light shines on the diamond dust and the critters just wanna play. Today was one of those days. After a day chock full of lifelong experiences, fun photography, and good friends, the late light found us cruising Hayden Valley for the second time. The first round was quiet critter wise but plenty of other photography to fill a card. We were passing Otter Creek when we spotted a far off Coyote working the shoreline. We watched as it slowly explored and trotted along. It was paralleling us, not getting closer, just following the river. We got out and walked up the road where, if it continued on its path (and no reason to think it wouldn’t), it would come closer. At the same time, we would have a dark background to make the reflection pop. Well, going with the theme of the day, it just kept getting better and better. It just goes to show letting a critter come to you on its own terms always wins the day permitting you to reflect on marvelous!

Batteries are charged, tests made, gear prepacked, permit in hand, it’s time to head into Yellowstone’s backcountry in winter. My last three times I’ve been soooo fortunate to photograph either Red Fox or Coyote multiple times “pouncing” on prey under the snow. I truly love them walking up, head cocking as they listen, the coil spring winding up and then …. strike! Last winter I relied on the 14fps D6 to make the image but this year, I’m so excited to have the 20fps Z 9 in the kit. Even better is its amazing 3D Animal eye detection in my back pocket. To have the magic happen again, we first need to have snow, which Yellowstone has this year. Next, the cold temps so the critters walk the plowed roads so we can see them. Got that this year too. Then the luck has to kick in. Need the critter, need the light, need that poor prey giving its life and finally , being in the right place at the right time. The gear is the only thing in this equation one can count on. I’ve stacked the deck, I’m going for four leaps in a row!

It’s a photograph I so want so bad that has eluded me, the Bison shaking off winter, the dust off. For the photograph I want, I seek particular elements. First is that warm light that brings warmth to the coldness of the situation. I want a darkish background for the snow being shaken off to pop out against. It has to be cold enough that snow is sticking to the fur and for the new snow to not stick to and will fly off. And I want to be shooting up on the Bison and not down on it. In other words, basically everything this photograph is not. But here’s the rub, until I have taken a whole bunch of photos like that did I know what I want and more importantly, what I want to look for to get it. That happens a lot in my photography, I have to fail, figure out how I failed to then figure out how to succeed. It’s a process I love, especially when I see it completed in the viewfinder.