Posts Tagged ‘yellowstone’

Yellowstone: Coyote Headshot

Friday, May 28th, 2010

This really is a case of saving the best for last. In February I went to Yellowstone on a photography mission where I followed coyotes, river otters, bison, elk, bighorn sheep and wolves for a week in the snow. I saved my best shot as a present for one of my very best friends. So here is the grand unveiling of my best shot: the coyote headshot.

I got this close up headshot of a coyote when we were driving along the road and happened upon a coyote trotting down the middle of the road.

We slowed down as he weaved in and out of the road. It almost seemed like he was trying to make sure we didn’t pass him. During this time I had whipped out the four hundred lens and was hanging out the window trying to get a good shot of him. It was painful and pretty ridiculous looking as we stopped and went; me being jerked around the whole time yelling at the driver to stop the car. Just in time, I got my shot.

He was beautiful but I could tell he had been in some sort of fight recently because his ear was bloody and gnarled. He had some mean scars on his muzzle as well. So that’s it, that raps up my Yellowstone trip finally, with my best shot of the trip.

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Oregon Elk

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

While driving through Oregon my mom and I happened upon many signs claiming there were elk in the area. For three days we drove through Oregon and guess what we didn’t see? ELK. So we decided the people who made those signs were liars. LIARS! We didn’t believe there were elk in Oregon at all. And you know what? We didn’t see any elk in Oregon. But we did see elk as soon as we crossed over into California in the Redwood National Park. There was a pile of elk just sitting on the side of the road. We decided Oregon sign makers are liars and California ones are not. Yeah for California.

Surprisingly, elk are very different depending on were you see them. It makes sense but I never really thought about it before. I am an expert on elk though since going to Yellowstone. The elk in California were so much smaller and skinnier than the Yellowstone elk. It was kind of weird. Thats not the point, it was just plain weird seeing elk in California, especially so near the coast. It just doesn’t really make sense in my mind. Oh well, I enjoyed poking out of the sun roof to get these shots.

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Seagull

Friday, April 9th, 2010

The best thing about my trip to Yellowstone is that it taught me how to understand animal body movement so I can predict what an animal is going to do and henceforth get an awesome shot of exactly what I want. Right place and the right time.

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Yellowstone: Antelope

Friday, March 26th, 2010

Antelopes are one of the strangest looking creatures I have encountered. They appear so alien, but at times like this, so funny. I like his blue tongue…

Anyways, I love the way they look because they just have such huge eyes and amazing color patterns.

I was afraid I wasn’t going to get to see any on my trip out to Yellowstone, but on the last day we spotted some out in a field and they wound up coming right up next to the road. We got to watch them for some time jut grazing. They really are majestic and wonderful. Even though they are so simple compared to coyotes or wolves and even buffalo I still enjoy watching them.

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Yellowstone: Roadside Friend

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

While I was in Yellowstone, I met a new friend along the roadside. There was a coyote trotting in the middle of the road when we drove by. He would not get out of the road to let us pass. So we spent a good ten minutes with him. Every time he would move to the side of the road we would make to pass him, but he would dart out in front of us as if he was trying to keep us there. It was very strange.

He was a beautiful creature but had clearly been in a fight, his ear was mangled and bloody and had scars on his muzzle. I of course was hanging out of the window trying to get a photo of him as I always do. My training on the road trips to Michigan really paid off with my camera ninja skills.

We finally departed from our new roadside friend to go seek out more adventures in the majestic Yellowstone.

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Yellowstone: Coyote Rock

Friday, March 19th, 2010

We found a coyote laying down on top of a snow hatted rock that just looked really amazing. We decided that we would wait for him to stand up on top of the rock because the composition of the shot would be perfect. He seemed pretty content just laying there though, trying to take a nap.

He really was beautiful and I almost missed him. I hadn’t even noticed him at the time because I was watching another coyote out in the fields when another person pointed him out to me. It is funny how easy it is to miss things. It makes me wonder what else did I miss, what other wonderous creatures did I pass by as I was consumed by some other thing?

He was watching us, it was amazing because you could almost see what he was thinking as he eyed us warily.

His nice little nesting place did give me an opportunity to try out and practice my newly learned photography skills.

He unfortunately did not work with us quiet as well as we had wanted. Instead of standing up as we had hoped he would, he sort of non-chalantly slide off the backside of the rock. We missed a possible great shot but still we did get to watch him for a while. I wish he would have stood up though so I could be showing you much better pictures. Oh well. Thanks Mr. Coyote for posing.

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Yellowstone: Big Horned Sheep

Monday, March 15th, 2010

While in Yellowstone I was searching for Big Horned Sheep. We didn’t have much luck because they always sat in the same place up on top of a mountain where we couldn’t get good pictures of them. Finally on our last day though we spotted a herd of big horned sheep grazing on a hill.

They were so interesting to look at, they really are unique creatures. It was really fun to watch them chomping on grass.

I got to experiment with using the 600 lens some more while taking pictures of these guys. I guess I owe it to them my learning more about using my camera to its full potential. So thank you big horned sheep for your lovely composition.

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Yellowstone: Color

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Yellowstone is a beautiful place, it can be both a snowy wonderland and a snowy wasteland. While I was there I got to see both sides of the coin in numerous occasions. At many times it would just be huge stretches of white nothingness, empty and solitary. However at some moments you would see bright fields of red brush or a flower poking through the snow. You never know which side you will get, just cross your fingers for a wonderland where the color splashes across the snow. You will find me there waiting, as always for those who seek out the third path. Not black or white, but the colors that lie between.

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Yellowstone: Elk

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

The first real wildlife we happened upon in Yellowstone was the majestic elk. We spotted a group of bucks off on the side of the road in a snowy valley and decided to follow them for a bit. They had huge antlers because they hadn’t dropped them yet. It was quite the sight to see.

They were just roaming around eating grass. The funny part about going on wildlife hunts is that at first every little thing you see is amazing and you stop for an hour to watch it, but as time goes on it becomes normal. At the beginning of the trip we stopped a good hour and a half to watch these elk go around a valley and across the road, which was amazing. But my point is that by the end of the week we would drive right past them without a thought.

You would just say, hey look elk… okay moving on. It become normal so easily. This beautiful animal that I don’t see often, in a weeks time became something entirely ordinary in my mind. There seems to be something twisted in this idea. Maybe just how easily things can be taken for granted in life. Learn what you want from it, but appreciate it now because nothing is ever as ordinary as it seems.

As usual we got to watch how an elk finds food in this snowy terrain. It is actually very interesting but not as amusing as watch a buffalo find food.

Buffalo’s strategy: If I roll around in the snow enough, or grind my face deep enough into the snow, eventually I will find some sort of tiny shrub to munch on until I move on to the next snow pile in which to shove my face.

The elk just paw at the snow and push it aside with their noses to try to find some brush to chew on for some time.

I actually really enjoy this shot with the tourists in the background and the elk on the road. It has a corky quality to it. It is like a creeper photo and wildlife shot combined. The elk one by one would cross over the road. It was cool to watch because they would come right up close to us as we stood there with out tripods and huge cameras. It really was an experience to be so close to these huge creatures, and I will never take for granted this experience ever again.


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Yellowstone: Feeding Time 2

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

This time around we watched an otter hunting in a river. It was at the same place where we had spotted the otter trio except at the first otter lodge. The otter was bobbing up and down in the water trying to get some food.

There was a whole line of photographers trying to get good pictures of it,I was just one of about ten trying to score a shot. I got to talk with a man who took photography trips to Africa. He had photographed, lions, elephants and much more. It was amazing to listen to his adventures while we waited for the otter to catch something.

The funniest part is that whenever the otter would pop up there would be a storm of camera clicks. All you could hear was people frantically pushing the button to take a photo, desperately trying to catch something interesting.

He was teasing us with his presence. He would go under and swim to one end of the river. Wait there until we all picked up our gear and walked over. As soon as we got there he would swim back upstream. We chased him around for quite some time.

We finally got our wish when the little guy popped out of the water with a Cutthroat Trout in his mouth. The whole energy fo the area was abuzz as people tried to get good pictures of it.

He was just chomping away on this fish. He was really enjoying it, for most of the time he had his eyes closed as he was eating. He, unlike the coyote, didn’t play with it, he chewed on it for a tiny bit, then swallowed it.

He almost swallowed the fish whole. It was pretty amazing. As soon as he was done, he went back to his fishing and swimming. He just slinked away in search for his next meal.

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