YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

Seems that so often in life we are looking for the big things that are right out there in front of our face.  And, indeed, in photography so many want the closeup eyeball shot of the animal.  Don’t get me wrong, I like those too.  But, I also like showing the animal in its environment and finding the secrets that nature hides off of the roads and behind the trees, willows or a great distance – dwarfed by a high mountain peak.

Yesterday, I was watching a general carcass location.  We could see the birds but not the kill.  After waiting and watching for more than two hours I began to walk away and noticed this bald eagle hidden in the woods, and barely above snow covered ground.  The eagle sat on a tall stump in a deep gully, staring at the food below.  Some filtered light was hitting him and I thought, probably too far away, buy why not.  Why not see if the shuttle sees what my mind and eye have created.  I think that when I am able to photograph an animal that is completely unaware of my presence, I have created a special moment.

A few days before that, during a journey to find the microscopic Yellowstone, I saw a raven dive towards the ground, behind some trees.  And, so I pulled over, hoping to find a carcass.  And, then thought to myself, maybe a cat.  It was definitely cat country.  I got excited.  And then I saw a tan creature way up on the snow covered rocks and got even more excited.  Until I looked a little closer and saw that nose was pointed.  And then it stood up, shattering my delusional moment completely.  Still a pretty good find and I love the environment of the shot.

During the winter the big horns cover the area around the Confluence of the Lamar and Soda Butte Creek.  Many people photograph them on the hillside.  I have done so many times but the images are unimaginative.  And so, last week, when I found the rams up high on the snow covered rocks with frosty grasses, I got excited.  A day I had been waiting for. Instead of trying to get close, in the face shots of the animals, I used a short lens and went for the environmental wildlife shots.  The blue sky, the white snow, the framing of the trees and perfect light, gave me a pretty shot.

While driving through Lamar Valley, I often look over and find a 4 legged creature running through the snow.  Most of the time they are far away and I don’t bother with them.  But, this day I wanted to show the scale of the coyote to the landscape.  Yellowstone doesn’t have the gorgeous landscapes with the Tetons and the Oxbow and so I am always t trying to figure out how to make them work.

Quite often the bulls will stand in the tall willows and will be right before our face but we can not see them.  Other times we get lucky.

This coyote was right out in the open but beneath the magnificent Druid Peak.

The bottom line is that we are all so small and so insignificant but we make up a part of the whole, which is very important.

Deby