We’d past it some time back on the road, a bunch of vehicles had gone by the coyote, it just kept on trotting down the road. Along the Firehole River in Yellowstone, the groomed road the NPS maintains is a highway for critters as much as folks because it’s easy walking for them. This individual seemed very much on a mission so we went passed it and up towards Fountain Pots and began photographing the steam on the landscape. We shot with the wide lenses (24-70VR) and pulled out the really long lenses (800mm) and even drank some coffee. We spent some time just taking in the gorgeous view! Then we saw the coyotes make the bend in the road still walking on the road and coming our direction. Then the wait began.
Where we were parked in a pullout that was alongside a massive meadow so figured the Coyote would leave the road and start across it to go hunting. It did for a short moment and then came back on to the road and continued walking towards us. It was kinda mousing, stopping and listening for little critters under the snow it can make a meal out of but still seemed to be on a mission. But it kept coming down the road. I switched to the 300PF with the TC-14eIII on the D4s and laid down on the road next to the giant tires of our vehicle. And there I waited. Just when it about filled the frame (still a ways away) it stopped, listened and a moment later went off into the meadow and started to hunt. Shooting from the snow, shooting long (420mm) wide open (f/5.6) is what creates the intimate view of this distant critter. But the real key was to let the Coyote do what it was going to do and as it turned out, its hunting path was on the road we were shooting from (where I shot this pano). All of this combined along with time is what made the final click. It was just an half an hour later.