I mentioned previously my lack of success in finding bull elk so far this September and decided to share this older image. I chose this one because I’ve talked about this moment on a couple of occasions during book signings at the Old Faithful Inn this past summer. I tend to be drawn to scenes such as this one where back lighting interacts with mist or fog. Even as a landscape scene, I’ll try to photograph but add an animal and I can’t pass it up. This bull crossed a misty channel of the river and was heading off after a couple of cow elk that thought about sneaking off.

While walking through the woods a few mornings ago, I spotted this guy spotting me. When hiking, I don’t usually carry heavy photography gear as I prefer to enjoy my hiking rather than focus on photography and carry too much stuff. I did purchase a belt system that allows for two lenses to be carried on it via pouches designed for specific sized lenses. So I’m able to carry around a 100-400 lens along with my camera and a smaller wide angle lens as well. For this image, I spot metered off the part of the fox in direct morning light and let the rest of the exposure go dark. Since the face was in nice I light that’s the part of the image that needed to be properly exposed.

This one’s for the kids… mountain goat kids that is. I thought I had an unbeatable mountain goat photography experience back in July but I believe I beat it earlier this week when a nanny and kid showed up at sunrise on a nearby peak that I visit often. They were accompanied by what I think may have been her kid from last year, as it was a goat somewhere in between in size. The three of them provided me with some great opportunities in some incredible light. I liked the implied interaction between momma and baby in this one and cropped it in from the original.

By the calendar, it’s autumn and the leaves are certainly beginning to show some fall color. But green is still the dominant color, at least in most places I’ve been so far with peak autumn color probably still at least a week or more away. The willows, as seen above, are showing nice color, though there’s still a lot green even in the willows. Since the color isn’t there yet, I’ve been searching unsuccessfully for a nice bull elk or moose. I did come across a few cow moose though, including this one with a calf. While I could have used a longer telephoto lens to photograph these two and them them appear much closer (larger in the frame), the scene was just too nice not to include the background mountains as well.

This past Spring was a pretty successful one for me photographically. I was able to photograph more grizzlies and wolves than I have in the past few years. This wolf was photographed in May from my car. The moment was fleeting but I learned a long time ago to always have the telephoto lens ready to go in case a moment like this one happens. I’m patiently waiting right now for the leaves to start turning. I did a quick scouting trip yesterday and the aspens, after a hot, dry summer, seem to be going brown instead of gold. But we’ll see what what the next couple of weeks turns up!

While the view of the actual hot spring at Grand Prismatic, Yellowstone’s largest, is difficult from the boardwalk and better viewed from the nearby trailed overlook, the terraces created by the run off makes for some great photo opportunities. I usually on stop here once or twice a summer as the crowds, even early, can be challenging. But this year the crowds haven’t been as bad as recent summers and I took advantage of that to spend some time looking for interesting compositions as I slowly walked the boardwalk. This image, with the great lines created by the terraced runoff, was looking back towards the east where steam from the flood group of geysers was backlit nicely.

My last post was titled “Soon…” as in a couple of weeks, fall color season will soon be upon us. This one I titled “And All Too Soon…” because before we know it, snow will cover the Yellowstone area for the next five months or so. The title definitely doesn’t apply to seeing and photographing a fox which can never be too soon. This one was photographed back in April during the snowiest month of last winter’s season!

It’s September and in a few short weeks the aspen and cottonwoods will start turning gold. We went from record breaking heat earlier in the week to a near record low yesterday morning. This image of Mount Moran in Grand Teton National Park shows the iconic mountain with aspen in the foreground displaying their brilliant autumn color. This image is from 2019 and currently I’m really not sure what or where I’ll photograph this upcoming leaf season. I guess I better decide soon!

While I haven’t been into Grand Teton National Park for the past couple of years that doesn’t mean I haven’t photographed the Teton Range. While high up in the mountains on the Idaho/Montana state line, sitting at around 9,500 feet above sea level, I had a lone mule deer show up. It was such a unique opportunity to photograph this young buck with the Tetons as a backdrop, that I opted to shoot at about 250mm to include the vast scene. The highest peak in the background is obviously Grand Teton at 13,775 feet above sea level.

Yesterday was my last book signing for this summer at the Old Faithful Inn. I have one more left in the park and it’s been a wonderful season of signings. I’ve met so many wonderful people visiting and enjoying what Yellowstone has to offer. And I have to mention the great staff in the gift shops at both Lake Hotel and the Old Faithful Inn. All these folks were amazing. I’m impressed how every year, they start over with largely new staff and yet these employees come out with enthusiasm each and every day. The image above was taken one morning while driving into the park for a book signing a couple of weeks ago. Admittedly this is one of my favorite spots among many favorite spots but in late summer and autumn, it seems to light up even more magically than at other times of the year.