February

Week of February 6, 2011

I've gone out into the Upper Geyser Basin at Old Faithful a few times over the past week hoping to photograph something new or unique but instead, I find myself unable to do so.  So Old Faithful Geyser itself has become more and more a subject of my photographs.  With temperatures colder than minus 30, I hoped for a lot of steam and mist in the geyser basin and wanted to have a shot of Old Faithful erupting up through it, but by the time this eruption occurred, it was mostly blue skies.  I named this image because there's been some talk again about the hot spot under Yellowstone and about the caldera in general.  The geysers are hot springs are reminders that Yellowstone sits on a powerful volcano, even if the surface of it is covered in snow and ice.

When photographing geysers, I will try to determine which way the steam column will go, then choose the angle of light.  I prefer that the steam go away from me whenever possible, as that reveals more of the water and I give that precedence when shooting geysers.  Of course, when it gets as cold as it was on this morning, the steam column eventually dominates and it can often look like a large nuclear explosion.  This image was made at the start of the eruption before the steam covered the water column completely.  This image was shot with a 24-105 lens at f-11.

From Ice Comes Fire

PW1106

Week of February 13, 2011

Just in time for Valentines Day, I photographed my first ever snowshoe hare.  You'd think being in Yellowstone that would have been easy.  I was photographing at the Upper Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs last night when I heard something rustling in the snow.  I turned around and was surprised to see this snowshoe hare come out from under the boardwalk and start nibbling grasses in the snow.  I didn't have a tripod but did have my 50-500.  It was getting rather late, so I bumped the ISO up to 1600 on my 5D mk 2 and braced my lens against the boardwalk, which in turn gave me this nice low angle.  I was pleased that the image was not only sharp, but the 5D mk 2 handled the noise at such a high ISO extremely well.  I overexposed by about one stop.  Because we were in shadow, I had to adjust the white balance to compensate so that the whites would be white and not blue.

With Valentines Day being tomorrow, I thought the title "Love Bunny" might work well for this image.  Seeing and photographing this hare made a trip worthwhile that otherwise was uneventful.  Wildlife sightings continue to be meager this winter.

And with tomorrow being Valentines, I'd like to wish my Valentine a great day and dedicate this image to her!  So Edyta, this bunny's for you!

Love Bunny

PW1107

Week of February 20, 2011

Photographing a sunset from the Upper Terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs has been on my agenda for a while.  Of course, the photo I envisioned taking away was of the actual terraces themselves in the foreground but when the opportunity finally presented itself, it wasn't the terraces that drew my attention the most, but these ridges in the snow caused by recent high winds.

I noticed these small ridges before sunset and thought they might make a good foreground with a colorful sunset.  But I also had the pre-envisioned image in my mind, so I kept trying to find the best composition for that shot as well.  However, while my pre-envisioned image wasn't coming together very well, this shot came naturally and in the end, was the shot I preferred the most of all the different compositions I tried.  Well, I preferred this and a vertical of the same area but had some help in deciding finally on this one.

Fire and Ice

PW1108

Week of February 27, 2011

Several winter storms came though the Yellowstone region over the last week dumping more snow.  Saturday morning started clear with lows around minus 20 but another storm moved in by mid morning.

For many animals, the increasingly deeper snow pack has forced them to migrate out of the park in search of forage.  For bison, this leads to other dangers.  While the "winter management" of bison is an evolving process, the current plan still sends to slaughter any animal which tests positive for brucellosis.  Elk also carry this disease though none are slaughtered by any government agencies. 

Bison that stay in the park face deep snow and most plow down through it to get to whatever vegetation they can find beneath.  This cow bison looks healthy now, but she still has over two months before the green grass of May of will appear.

Snow Plow

PW1109

March

Week of March 6, 2011

Today marks the day that most of the services at Old Faithful close for the winter season.  Services close at Mammoth tomorrow.  Roads in the park start shutting down tomorrow and all roads will be shut down by March 15th (except Mammoth to Cooke City which is open year round) marking the end of the winter season.  A month later, on April 15th, roads will start opening for the summer, but winter still has Yellowstone in its icy grasp for now.

When I took this image, there was so much promise.  Old Faithful had a sunset eruption predicted and the light was beautiful.  But even Old Faithful has a variance in eruption times, with Old Faithful's being plus or minus ten minutes.  Well, on this day, the eruption occurred towards the end of the "minus ten" which put it just late enough for the great light to have faded.  I decided to wait it out as I knew everything would have a shade of blue and I felt that might make an interesting image.  The foreground is what drew me to this spot.  The windswept snowdrifts made interesting patterns and even in the soft light, these patterns were evident.  I overexposed the image by about half a stop, shot at f11 on a 24-105 lens with a full frame camera.  The wind was from my right, pushing the steam away and exposing the water column.

I leave for Europe on Wednesday, so while I am there, all my Photos of the Week will be posted to my blog, which can be found by clicking here.  I hope to have one more Yellowstone Photo of the Week and then hopefully, Europe will be good to me to!

Winter Blues

PW1110

Week of March 13, 2011

Since I'm flying to Europe this afternoon, I thought I'd post this week's Photo of the Week a few days early.  Here's a parting winter shot of Yellowstone.  This image was taken in Lamar Valley on a quiet morning.  The soft light brought out the textures in the foreground snow, which had been carved by the wind into interesting formations.  I liked the light on the distant hills as well.

This image was over-exposed by about 1/3 of a stop and shot at f 11.  The ISO was 400.  I would have liked to include a bit more of the foreground, but a deep crest of snow blocked the rest of the view.

As I am headed to Europe, all my Photos of the week for the rest of the month will be posted on my blog, which can be found by clicking here.  I will update my regular website when I return to the US.

Snowy Hills

PW1111

Week of March 20, 2011

This week's Photo of the Week comes from the forests of Poland.  We took a road trip this week that took us to places like Bialystok (pronounced biawaystock), Ostroleka (pronounced ostrowenka), and the Masurian lake region.  Saturday ended up being my best wildlife viewing day ever in Europe.  We saw wild red and fallow deer, cranes, and my first European red fox.  Our day ended with two of Poland's famous white storks flying over us as we drove home for the night.  The only photos I was able to get were of the fallow deer.

It is believed fallow deer were introduced into northern Europe by the Romans and today they are common throughout.  The foreground deer is white while the deer in the background show the more typical coloration.  The white coat caught our attention, so we stopped and I moved through the foliage.  The deer watched as I approached and then moved on, so I left them alone.  I'd like to say I framed this image purposely showing half forest background and half meadow, but it was the only composition I could get without totally startling the deer.  The image was shot with my Canon 5D mk 2 and a Sigma 50-500mm lens.  Because I shot handheld, I used an ISO of 1600 to get a fast shutter speed with the low light.

Ghost of the Forest

PW1112

Week of March 27, 2011

One of my goals for Poland has been to photograph Europe's red squirrels.  When I first saw a photo of one, I loved their tufted ears and was totally fascinated by them, even if it is just a squirrel.  As the weather has warmed, they have become more active and we finally found one in a local park.  Edyta saw the squirrel first, at a distance, so we caught up with it and then I photographed the squirrel as it climbed around some low limbs in a tree, stopping to drink some water it found on a branch.

Besides the wonderful ear tufts, the other striking feature about these squirrels is the color.  In the US, we have red squirrels which have a wonderful brownish-red coat, but the European red squirrels are a very bright orange-red that is quite striking.  They do have color variations in their coats, ranging form a whitish brown to near black.  In Britain, the introduction of Eastern grey squirrels from the US have caused the red squirrels to decline.  This image was shot with a Canon 5D mk2 and a Sigma 50-500mm lens, handheld.  I cropped the tail purposely in order to show the body, face, and ears closer.

I'm All Ears

PW1113

April

Week of April 3, 2011

This week I was able to continue my streak of Polish wildlife photos.  A few days ago, we took a drive to a 17th century palace that is in the process of being restored.  On the way back, we saw our first stork on a nest.  A few days later, closer to sunset, we went back and found two storks on the nest in some beautiful light.  These birds stand about four feet tall.  The one in flight was leaving to fly to the meadow below the nest to begin feeding.  Shortly after, the second joined.  We photographed them in the meadow feeding as well, but this was the best shot of the bunch.

White storks spend the winter in Africa and migrate in the spring to Europe for the warm months.  Once common throughout Europe, now 25% of the world's white stork population can be found in Poland.  White storks have featured prominently in legend as the bringers of babies, usually carrying them in the beaks.  This legend was popularized in the 19th century in a story by Hans Christen Anderson.  Storks are still revered in Poland and treated with great respect.

Two at the Nest

PW1114

Week of April 10, 2011

Warsaw, Poland has been referred to as the "City of the Phoenix"  because it was totally razed by the Germans in World War II. But through determination, the city was rebuilt, in many cases, using the same bricks from the buildings that lay in ruins.  Over 80 percent of Warsaw was destroyed, much of it during the Warsaw Uprising, when the Polish Resistance rose up and tried to fight off the occupying German army.

After the war, the Poles immediately began the process of rebuilding, often using photos and sketches to rebuild exactly what had once been, especially for historically important buildings.  The photo here shows Plac Zamkowy, or Royal Square" in Old Town Warsaw.  These buildings were rebuilt exactly as they had once been.  To the right, out of this image, is the Royal Castle of Warsaw.  Two large cathedrals can be seen rising behind the buildings and the red brick wall near the green building is part of the old castle walls.  A display near here shows this area before World War II and it looks the same today.  The display also shows General Eisenhower walking through the destroyed city here after the war.  This image was taken early in the morning before the square was crowded.  Warsaw is one of the most incredible cities I've seen and to know the history of this city makes a visit here even more amazing.  Warsaw's Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and more can be read by clicking here.

From the Ashes

PW1115

Week of April 17, 2011

I am back in Yellowstone for a week, before flying back to Poland for two more weeks, and spent some time driving around the park on Opening Day 2011 (April 15).  I saw plenty of bear tracks but only one grizzly at long distance, no wolves, and one coyote.  And I saw plenty of devoured carcasses, so I knew the predators had to be out.  I checked one carcass that I saw earlier in the day and was pleasantly surprised to find a little red fox eating.  The distance was too great for the equipment I had, so I shot more with the landscape in mind.

As the fox finished its meal, it started sliding in the snow to clean up.  I've seen wolves and coyotes do this before too.  Once the fox finished cleaning up, it approached the road and stood on the piled snow to take a look around.  Once sure all was clear, it moved on to sleep off its meal.  The image was shot from my car using a 50-500mm lens on a Canon 5D 2.

Double Check

PW1116

Week of April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!  In staying with the whole Easter/Spring theme, I am posting a photo from Edyta's backyard here in Poland.  This small tree is the same tree that held the feeders during the winter where several of my Polish bird photos were taken.  This photo was pretty simple... I opened the window, used a telephoto lens to frame, and fired away.  I used an F-stop around F11 as I wanted to get some blooms in focus but not all, plus I wanted the background to blur nicely.  This image was taken about a half hour before sunset and it was the wonderfully warm light on the blossoms that inspired me to photograph them.

Later this week, we are visiting Warsaw again before taking my first trip to the Teutonic fortress at Malbork.  Hopefully the nice weather will continue for these two trips.  Then I head back to Yellowstone where I will be posting updates here and on my blog for the rest of the Spring and Summer.  So one more Photo of the Week from Poland and then hopefully another successful summer in Yellowstone!

Blossoms

PW1117

May

Week of May 1, 2011

This week, my photo of the week comes from Malbork, Poland. Malbork Castle is considered the largest medieval castle in Europe with its outer walls covering over 52 hectares of land, making it more than four times larger than the enclosed space of Windsor Castle in England. Malbork Castle was constructed by the Knights of the Teutonic Order in 1274 and it was continually expanded until around 1406. By that time, it was the capital of the Teutonic Order and housed over 3,000 "brothers in arms". After the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, when the combined Polish and Lithuanian armies defeated the Teutonic Order and many other knights of Western Europe, Malbork would be turned over to Poland, though this didn't happen for another 47 years. At the time of the Knights, the castle, and the village around it, were called Marienburg, but the named was changed to Malbork by the Polish. More about Malbork Castle can be found by clicking here.

Near sunset, I made my across the bridge to the other side of the river to take the "classic" image of the castle at sunset with the river in the foreground. I really liked the result but as I headed back to find Edyta, this scene was really appealing, especially the backlight on the trees. I used a 17-40 L lens to frame this scene and stopped down so as to create the sunstar effect. I metered the scene as a whole and bracketed exposures to get the best results. This ended up being my favorite photo from my time spent at Malbork.

Malbork Castle

PW1118

Week of May 8, 2011

I'm back in Yellowstone for the summer season...  if it's the summer season, what's all this white stuff on the ground!?!  Well, by the calendar, it's May 8 in Yellowstone, but a deep snow pack still covers much of the interior of the Yellowstone.  Bison that have stayed in the interior are skin and bones, struggling to survive, bears are few so far, and Sandhill cranes, returned to breed, are finding few snow free areas for nests.  But I've had the opportunity to photograph a couple of pine martens recently.  These are the first pine martens I've photographed in about 4 years, so I was excited at the chance.

This pine marten was photographed, where else, in a pine tree.  It had been on the ground eating snow to quench its thirst.  I photographed it for about 45 minutes as it moved from tree to ground and then to another tree before it finally found a comfy spot in one of the trees to take a nap.  Pine martens are a member of the weasel family and are about the size of a small cat.  They are fierce hunters and very inquisitive.  This image was taken with a tripod mounted Canon 50D and a 500 mm lens.

A Moment to Ponder

PW1119

Week of May 15, 2011

About the time the road through Hayden Valley opened, I found myself at Alum Creek early one morning.  Large numbers of Sandhill Cranes had been congregating here before dispersing during the day.  These three cranes were on the west side of the road so some nice early morning light was on the scene.  They slowly began walking up stream away from me.  The smallest bird to the right while the tallest was to the left.  This helped create the illusion of the diminishing birds.  I also like how all three are in different positions but all will eventually lead them to follow the first.

This image was shot with a Canon 50D and 500L lens braced against my car window.  Warmer temperatures have started to melt the snow quickly now and the tall bank in the background will be completely melted in a few days while the island the cranes are on is now submerged.  Summer, finally, is on it's way!

Fade

PW1120

Week of May 22, 2011

This image is my first grizzly bear photo of the week, it's the first cub of the year I've seen and, by all accounts I can find, it's the first cub of the year photographed by anyone this season.  It was photographed a week ago yesterday near the NPS Corrals by Fishing Bridge.  I was one of the first cars to stop when the sow came out of the woods and I was the only one ready to take a photo.  She quickly moved on out of range and, despite a large gathering of photographers, few other photographs were taken of these two on that day.

I do know definitely that this was the first grizzly cub of the year sighting for 2011 and I can't find anyone who was able to get photos of a cub before this one, so the name First fits.  The image was taken with a 500mm lens and using a bean bag window brace from my car window.  These two bears have remained visible, though not everyday, in the Lake/Fishing Bridge area, though the sow does like to stay away from the roads and crowds, which is a good thing.

First

PW1121

Week of May 29, 2011

The grizzly sow and cub of the year continue to be see regularly from the Lake area to Pelican Creek.  They have been seen in front of Lake Lodge, where they were hazed away by rangers.  They also put on a show at Pelican Creek.  And they have been seen near Fishing Bridge junction a few different times, including this past Thursday, when this photo was taken.  The sow was digging through the snow trying to catch rodents while the cub entertained itself.  This cub, however, seems to enjoy riding on its mother's back.  I saw it do this when in front of Lake Lodge and it did it again Thursday.  As mom dug, the cub climbed up and took in the scene of crazy humans staring in its direction.  At about this moment, mom popped up her head and showed off the rodent she had just caught.  The cub watched as mom ate it, but the cub never tried to sample rodent.  Shortly after, the snow began falling and later that night, all the roads in the park would be closed due to the snowfall.

This image was taken with a 500mm lens.  I chose a low angle so the bears would standout against the background.  I metered for the bears and let the snow overexpose.  I also stopped down to f8 so that the cub and mother would be in focus and was happy that both are.  Despite the weather, it's been a good week for photography, so I may try to post a couple of other photos to my blog later in the week.

Baby on Board

PW1122

June

Week of June 5, 2011

I usually don't do this, but the photo I decided to use this week is very similar to last week's Photo of the Week and taken just a few moments before.  But this photo, "Peek-a-boo Cub", has been taunting me all week, so, despite some other good photos this week, I decided to post it now as the Photo of the Week.

I won't go into the story as to what is happening or what equipment I used, as I discussed that above, last week.  But why I chose this photo is important.  The body position of the cub is different from last week and the eye contact is excellent.  In the above image, both bears are looking up, with the sow looking slightly off to my right.  In this image, it is only the gaze of the cub looking directly at me that draws the viewer's attention while in the above image, the sow demands as much attention as the cub.  Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy last week's photo and it is also one of my favorites, but I wanted to recognize this image as well and highlight the reasons why it's among my favorites.

Peekaboo Cub

PW1123

Week of June 12, 2011

A slow week for me photographically, at least for the diversity of subjects.  I did spend a lot of time photographing grizzlies again, including the sow and cub from the past two Photos of the Week.  I could have posted another photo of that duo, but thought I'd mix it up, at least slightly.

This bear was photographed at Steamboat Point.  It spent a lot time grazing there earlier this week.  The green grass is a welcome sight and is slowly becoming more common though temperatures remain cool.  The bear found time to nap near here too before walking over to a wet, muddy area where it decided to roll around.  I liked this image because, with the facial expression and the body position, to me, it really looks like the bear is practicing karate moves!  I shot this image with a 500 mm lens and a 1.4 teleconvertor, tripod mounted.  I did photograph some baby bison this week, along with a beaver at Fishing Bridge, and some other bears.  So I guess if it didn't begin with a "b", I didn't photograph it...

Kung Fu Grizzly

PW1124

Week of June 19, 2011

Another slow week for me and I don't recall if this image was taken in the past week or perhaps two weeks.  But anyway... I thought I'd mix it up and post something besides a grizzly for this week's Photo of the Week.  Usually otter images taken this time of year would be from a flower lined Trout Lake in Lamar Valley, where the cutthroat would be spawning.  But this image is from the shores of Yellowstone Lake in Mary Bay where otters have been seen most of May and June.  The ice "officially" came off the lake on June 8th this year, the latest I've seen but Mary and Sedge Bay's held ice for almost another week.  This otter was fishing along the remnants of the lake ice and had just finished a meal when it slipped into the water for another hunt.

This image was taken with a 500mm lens mounted on a tripod.  I cropped off the tail on purpose because the otter moved too close to my position and I didn't have time to change lenses.  I was able to keep the otter's reflection in frame however.

Slip Slidin' Away

PW1125

Week of June 26, 2011

A few days ago, I went for a drive along the East Entrance Road around sunset.  The result was seeing a couple of grizzlies and an otter.  Those sightings resulted in yet another grizzly bear "Photo of the Week".  Up to now, bears have been the only thing I've had any success with in photographing.  I've seen a few elk calves now, lots of bison calves, otters, etc, but my best shots continue to be of grizzlies.

This bear, photographed from my car with a 500mm lens and 1.4 converter, was at Steamboat Point one evening right around sunset.  It grazed on the lake side of the road before finally crossing and grazing on the hill above the road.  I liked this image for the intimate look obtained through the close up as well as the nice warm colors.  Again, this image was taken with a very long telephoto lens and a teleconverter from my vehicle.  One should never try to get such a close up in any other kind of circumstance.

Sunset Stroll

PW1126

July

Week of July 3, 2011

Sometimes, getting the shot of the week is just a matter of being in the right place at the right time while doing something else.  This week's photo is a perfect example of that.  We headed out early one morning to go to Bozeman.  As we can through Swan Lake Flats, a small herd of elk crossed the road in front of us.  I was able to pull over and catch the last couple of elk as they moved past Electric Peak.  Beautiful early morning light touched the landscape while Electric Peak was hidden.

The image was taken with a 50-500 lens on a Canon 5D mk 2.  I stopped down to about f-16 in order to maximize depth of field.  Photo opportunities have been fairly slim as of late.  Warm temperatures have finally arrived, which has melted most the remaining snow in the valleys while snow in the mountains is also melting, filling the rivers and streams to flood levels.  But wildlife also is moving up to higher elevations now, so summer is officially here...  I hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth tomorrow!

Summer in the Mountains

PW1127

Week of July 10, 2011

Summer's warm days and cool nights are now here.  The throngs of photographers lining the roads with their long lenses and tripods are gone and now replaced with throngs of tourists lining the roads with their point and shoot cameras.  Wildlife, in general, have moved away from the roads, further into the back country and higher into the mountains, where the snow is finally releasing it's grip.

But some wildlife still remains visible.  I saw a grizzly sleeping under a tree along the road near Sedge Bay a few days ago.  This bear was photographed near sunset,  The bear was in the shade and the background was warmly lit by the setting sun.  A few rays of light touched the bear.  I photographed this bear from vehicle, bracing my 500mm lens with a beanbag in the window.  The bear didn't stay around long, moving into the trees and out of sight. 

Golden Days of Summer

PW1128

Week of July 17, 2011

Well, since I've used the word "summer" in title of my last three photos, I guess you can tell I'm excited that it's summer.  Warm temperatures are the norm now, wildflowers are coming up everywhere, and the wildlife is moving higher into the mountains.  So this week is my first landscape Photo of the Week since I arrived back from Poland.  And what better subject for a landscape than some nice wildflowers.  And on of my favorite places to find wildflowers is along the East Entrance Road. 

These lupine were blooming along side a seasonal pond near Mary Bay.  This pond is right alongside the road and is subject to breezes off the lake.  Fortunately, the breeze stopped long enough for me to shoot a few frames at sunset.  This image was taken with a 17-40 L lens.  I did push the ISO because of the breeze, as I needed a shutterspeed to stop any movement in the flowers.  I also needed to stop down to create enough depth of field for the distance hills.  Lupine is one of my favorite wildflowers, so I always look to photograph them when I can.

Lupine Summer

PW1129

Week of July 24, 2011

Wildflowers are making some amazing displays this year and during a weekend trip to Grand Teton National Park, I was pleased to find some incredible flower displays there too.

On Saturday morning, I woke up at 5 am in order to photograph early morning light on the Tetons.  Grand Teton National Park is a sunrise location, as the mountains face to the east.  The only trick is to find a nice foreground.  I scouted out this location the previous evening and wanted to come back in early morning light.  I wasn't disappointed.  I tried a number of compositions, but really like this one, taking a low angle which features this group of flowers.  I focused on the flowers and stopped down to f22 to get maximum depth of field.  The mountains are slightly out of focus and I suppose I could have shot a second image with the Tetons in focus and combined the two, but I prefer not to do so.  This was ultimately my favorite image of the weekend.  I used a 24-105 L lens, camera mounted on a tripod, set low to the ground.

Teton Sunflowers

PW1130

Week of July 31, 2011

A second trip to the Tetons yielded another batch of interesting summer photos for me last week.  I woke at 4 am in order to drive down and capture the sunrise at Oxbow Bend and then hit a few other areas with some nice wildflowers.  The flowers were starting to fade out some, but I was still able to find a nice patch of flowers at the Oxbow.  It was odd to be the only photographer at Oxbow Bend to photograph a sunrise.  I'm use to being there in the autumn when it can be shoulder to shoulder.

This image was shot from a tripod with a 24-105 mm lens and was taken a little before sunrise.  The soft light illuminated the scene nicely.  Once the sun rose, the mist burned off.  The mist is another element I prefer in this image compared to those taken shortly after.

I did see five bears this day too and I've read that Grand Teton National Park is enforcing some pretty strict rules including that cars as well as people must be 100 yards away.  Rules and closures have become much more strict in Yellowstone as well since the fatal mauling a few weeks ago.  Only time will reveal what the future management policies will bring.  Until then, I'll stick with wildflowers!

Dawn on the Oxbow

PW1131

August

Week of August 7, 2011

This past week, we had to change our plans for the weekend and ended up taking an impromptu trip to the Beartooth Highway.  This turned out to be a good thing because I was able to not only see up close but also to photograph my first mountain goats.  I've seen mountain goats in Glacier National Park, but they were at long viewing distances.  So I was pretty excited when we saw a small group of goats at Beartooth Pass.

I set up at a respectable distance from some small pools of water which seemed to be in the direction of where the goats were grazing towards.  Sure enough, they grazed up to the ponds and then grazed back towards the cliff edge.  Not knowing these animals and not wanting to stress them, I stayed back near the road and photographed with my 500mm lens with a 1.4 converter attached.  The goats in Glacier and Mount Evans, Colorado seem pretty easy to approach, from what I've read, but I didn't want to stress these guys.  This ended up being my favorite shot.

Beartooth Billy

PW1132

Week of August 14, 2011

This last week saw one of my best friend's leave Yellowstone to pursue his future, so Ricky, good luck with all you do!  With that, Edyta and I headed up to Red Lodge, Montana, for the weekend.  I have to confess, in seven years of living in this area, I've never been to Red Lodge before, so it was a nice escape.  But if I expected a vacation, I guess I was confused, unless being out photographing on the Beartooth Highway until after dark and then getting up at 5:30 am to photograph sunrise can be considered a vacation!

One of my goals was to photograph pika, so I headed up into the Beartooths and was lucky enough to find several.  There is an effort to list the pika on the endangered species list.  Pikas are very sensitive to climate change and warming temperatures are believed to be threatening this small rodent.  To photograph this one, as it perched on a rock to survey its surroundings, I use a 500mm lens, mounted on a tripod.  Once I found some pikas, I would just sit and wait, letting them come out and do their thing.  I got as low as possible in order to provide a "pika eye-level" image. 

Miniature Mountaineer

PW1133

Week of August 21, 2011

One week ago, we were in the Beartooth Mountains where I had some good luck with wildlife.  This young red fox, probably just out of the den and on his own for the first time, was hunting along side the road near West Summit.  I posted an image of the same fox but a more wide view, showing the habitat and mountainous terrain of the Beartooths, on my blog.

This image was taken with a 500mm lens, braced against my car window using a window beanbag.  The face of the fox being in light while the rest of the image was in shadow is what, in my opinion, made this shot appealing.  I am on the fence about the out of focus flowers at the bottom, but to get rid of them would require a larger crop than I would be comfortable using.

With August near an end, I still don't have any shots from the bison rut, though September brings golden aspens, rutting elk, and other great photo opportunities.

Little Hunter

PW1134

Week of August 28, 2011

This week we did something we've never done before and took a trip to the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area and Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Reserve.  We went in hopes in seeing the wild horses of Pryor Mountain and we were not disappointed.  These horses are descendants of horses brought over by the Spanish.

A young colt was curious with my presence and wanted to take a closer look but this palomino stallion would not let him.  The stallion trotted over to the colt and herded him up with the rest of the horses.  The horses were in some nice late day light while the mountains in the background were under stormy clouds, which really helped to make the horses pop from the background.  Pryor Mountain holds one of the largest herds of wild horses in the US, though the BLM, which manages the reserve, is in the process of culling the herd.  It was really a cool experience to see wild horses.

Pryor Mountain Gold

PW1135

September

Week of September 4, 2011

This week, we stayed in the park and, as expected, didn't find a whole lot going on.  However, at Mud Volcano one evening, a fairly large grizzly found one of the thermal features across the river pretty interesting.  I suspect there may have been a carcass in the mud pots, as the bear kept approaching before jumping back and moving away every time the mud would fly up into the air.  Finally the bear gave up and moved away.

Of course, this image comes at a time where a second hiker was killed by a grizzly this summer.  These two deaths are the first fatalities by grizzlies since the 1980's but does stress that these animals are large and powerful creatures that can easily kill a human.  It is very unfortunate that neither hiker was carrying bear spray in either encounter.  There was a very good article in the Bozeman Chronicle on Saturday about how a hiker was charged by a grizzly and saved by the bear spray used.  I will link to this article later in the week.  This image was taken with a 500mm lens while standing with a large crowd.  No photo is ever worth risking a life over, whether human or bear.

Bear, Meet Mudpot

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Week of September 11, 2011

Some weeks, finding anything interesting for the Photo of the Week, can be an extreme challenge.  Other weeks, the challenge is trying to decide what photo to use!  This week was the latter.  I spent a lot of time out photographing, including sunrise and sunset shoots at West Thumb Geyser Basin, rutting bison, rutting elk, and the Point Fire, which continues to burn on the east shore of Yellowstone Lake.

The Point Fire is now over 1,000 acres but no update has been posted in almost a week, so the size may be different now.  This photo was taken on the first night that the fire really flared up, which was back on Monday.  I went out shortly after sunset and photographed, using a telephoto zoom lens, from near Bridge Bay.  Mount Doane rises above the fire in the background.  A long exposure of around 8 seconds created the swirling effect of the smoke and the bright yellow areas are where various areas flared up during the exposure.  Last night, we went out and viewed it from Lake Butte.  I may post a few photos from there on my blog later in the week.

Rise of the Phoenix

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Week of September 18, 2011

The elk rut is in full swing but that hasn't meant good photos of elk have been easy.  I've been out on the Madison three times this week and only came away with one good photo shoot.  A medium sized bull had a harem of cows near the Seven Mile Bridge.  The bull went to the river, took a drink, then proceeded to dig out a hole in the mud to sit in.  The late afternoon light worked well as I shot this with a 500mm tripod mounted lens.

I've seen a lot of elk activity in the past week but all of it has been at long distances.  Bulls have been working harems of cows along the Madison, around Canyon, in Hayden Valley, and near West Thumb.  They are less active during the warm parts of the day.  Cooler temperatures and rain moved in over the weekend.  Hopefully the cooler temperatures will make the elk more active and more photo opportunities may arise!

On the Madison

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Week of September 25, 2011

My quest to photograph elk during the September rut has continued with limited success, but I did achieve one of my goals, as seen to the left.  The elk on the Madison have been going into the woods at sunrise and not coming out until sunset, probably to escape the heat, plus there's only been medium sized bulls at best so far.  In fact, of the three bulls I saw there this week, one bull with a harem was only a 4 pointer!  Canyon and Grant elk also continue to hide in the trees.

However, one of my goals was to get a misty morning shot of a bull at sunrise.  I was lucky enough to achieve that this week.  This bull reluctantly followed a few cows across the Madison River as the sun rose over the distant ridges, creating a remarkable scene.  The light through the mist coming off the river was fantastic and the bull, moving slowly as he approached the river and then crossed, provided a lot of photos.  This image was taken with a tripod mounted 500 lens.  I exposed without any exposure compensation in order to maximize the color in the mist and allow the elk to be more of a silhouette.

Morning Mist

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October

Week of October 2, 2011

I spent a few days in Grand Teton National Park before heading to Maui for some tropical weather, after a summer in the mountains.  I had hoped to catch some nice autumn color and hopefully a bull moose or two.  I struck out on the bull moose, but the color, after being slow to progress, was surprisingly nice.  I chose this image as the Photo of the Week because it shows the color nicely at Oxbow Bend.  As scene here, the ground cover is showing some beautiful color.  The mid-ground trees area also nicely colored, with some green tree still showing in the middle right.  Today, I imagine, this area is at peak color, as is most of the Tetons.

This image was taken before the sun was up.  The blue band behind the mountains is the earth's shadow while the dawn light shows up pink across the top.  The image was taken at about a 4 second exposure at f22 for maximum depth of field.  Probably 50 other photographers were here at the same time, so there's nothing unique about this image, but I do find autumn photography in the Tetons to be very serene.

Autumn's Serenity

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Week of October 9, 2011

For our trip to Maui, I purchased a Panasonic underwater point and shoot camera, hoping to photograph sea turtles.  On our second day of snorkeling, the camera paid off as I watched, photographed, and swam with four turtles as they feed on the coral.  Unfortunately, a south swell moved in for several days, ruining the snorkeling in this area, but not before I got some cool turtle shots.

This image was taken as a wave crashed on the rocks above us, pushing us both back towards deeper water.  The turtle, which was about 2 and a half feet in length, swam around me and then went back in to feed more.  I eventually gave up as the waves made it difficult to swim.  I liked the body position of the turtle in this image and the crashing wave behind it made it one my favorites of the trip.  The image was made at ISO 100 and f3.3 at 1/400.

Under the Sea

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Week of October 16, 2011

What a week of travel this has been!  After flying back from Maui, we drove from Las Vegas to San Francisco with stops in Death Valley, Sequoia, and Yosemite National Parks.  This week's Photo of the Week comes from Death Valley at Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. 

The toughest part of photographing here is to find an area where there are no foot prints.  This meant walking far enough out into the dunes to find the perfect spot.  I walked for well over an hour, finding several nice places along the way.  This image was photographed as the sun side-lit the dune, creating some fascinating textures and patterns.  I have some more abstract shots of the dunes, which I really like, but they don't always translate well for the viewer.  So I chose this image for this week's photo due to the nice lighting and interesting patterns and lines.  Edyta left today to go back home, but I will join her there in a week!

Desert Sand

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Week of October 23, 2011

As autumn comes to a close, the moose rut also slows down, ending another part of the circle of life.  This mature bull was photographed at Gros Ventre Campground in Grand Teton National Park and was just one of 15 moose I saw that morning.  He had just scented a female's urine.  This response, called a Flehmen Reponse, is common and I recently posted images of both bull elk and bison also displaying this behavior.  This action is used to draw scent molecules to the vomeronasal organ, which allows for better identification of the scent.  As photographed, the behavior is to determine the presence or absence of estrus, indicating whether the female is ready to breed.

The image was taken in the early morning with a 50-500mm lens on a Canon 5D mk 2, mounted on a tripod.  I shot at 1/400 at f8 and an ISO of 400.  I posted a vertical image of this behavior on my blog, but I chose this image as the Photo of the Week due to the eye contact of the bull and also because it included more of the surroundings.  I called this image Full Circle as it not only represents the circle of life as described above, but also because our photographic journey of the last three weeks started and ended in Jackson Hole.

Full Circle

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Week of October 30, 2011

Halloween is ultimately an American tradition and finding much of anything in Poland that is "halloween" is a bit difficult, especially outside of the big cities.  But in Warsaw, there were a few grinning pumpkins and other signs of Halloween out and about.  But we spent most of the morning in Warsaw's Lazienki (pronounced wyshenki) Park enjoying the autumn colors when we found this red squirrel who was peering around a tree.  His behavior was probably better described as "hide and seek" rather than "trick or treat" but the latter seemed more fitting with the season.

Heavy cloud cover, that later turned to rain, forced me to bump the ISO on this one up to 1600 in order to get anything reasonably usable for a shutter speed.  The Canon 5D mk 2 handles higher ISO's like this ok.  The shutter speed was only 1/60 at f6.3, so I was lucky to get much of anything reasonably sharp.  I'll try to head back again on a sunny afternoon, if that happens before the leaves are gone.  Otherwise, I'll enjoy this little Halloween treat!

Trick or Treat

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November

Week of November 6, 2011

In Poland, Halloween takes on a different meaning.  Traditions of the halloween that is celebrated in the US stem from All Saints Day, a Catholic tradition.  In Poland and some other countries with strong Catholic ties, All Saints Day is a time of memory and honoring those past.  This is done in Poland by lighting luminaries and placing them on the graves of deceased family members.  Luminaries are also placed on memorials, particularly those for children.  This isn't a time of sorrow, but rather of reflection.  Families often go together and place luminaries, spend time in reflection, and also time for communion.

This image was taken at night.  Many people visit at night as the number of luminaries creates a stunning sight.  I shot wide open with an ISO of 1600.  I wasn't expecting to do night shots originally, so I had no tripod.  But I was able to get a usable shutterspeed of about 1/15 at f4 and the above ISO.

In the US, I'm used to candles in pumpkins, not on graves, and family time spent trick or treating.  But this experience was a real treat to both be a part of and to witness.

Luminaries

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Week of November 13, 2011

Cold temperatures and grey skies have been the norm lately and, as a result, most of the wonderful autumn color is gone.  I also haven't been shooting much.  One of my favorite subjects in Poland are the mandarin ducks in Warsaw.  Originally native to eastern Asia, now both China and Russia have only about 1,000 breeding pairs each.  But the species have become established in some places in Europe, particularly Britain, where captive birds have escaped and nested in the wild.

Warsaw's Lazienki Park holds a nice sized population of mandarins.  This drake was swimming towards me through an area where the river was reflecting some beautiful colors from the leaves that remained on the trees while a few leaves floated in the water nearby.  I shot this with a 5D mk 2 and Sigma 50-500.  I tried to get as low an angle as possible, but only getting in the water could have produced one lower than this, given the steep bank.  The colors of the duck along with the reflected colors in the water led to the name of this image, and combined for a wonderful sighting!

Nature's Palette

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Week of November 20, 2011

Cold weather has settled into eastern Europe and that often means grey, drab, days as well.  But occasionally, the sun comes out and there's some nice light.  The sun rises at 7 am and sets at 3:30 pm, so the angle of light, when the sun is out, is great all day long.  But the landscape, is often brown and dull with the leaves of autumn now gone.  So I focus my attention on buildings, which also can be beautiful at night even if it's cloudy.

This image is from Warsaw's Old Town.  The iron gate leads to an open plaza that is access to many people's homes.  The plaque showing through the ivy tells of Poles who were massacred against this wall by German soldiers during World War II.  Tragedy in history is never far in Poland, even near such a pretty scene as this one.  The image was taken with a 24-105L lens on a Canon 5D, handheld.

Gateway

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Week of November 27, 2011

I went into my vault this weekend and pulled out this image from a few weeks ago.  I have to confess, I haven't shot much lately.  This image however, fits with the Thanksgiving theme with autumn colors of red and yellow and the main subject feasting on an autumn acorn.

This image, photographed in a park in Poland, is one of my favorites with a little red squirrel as the subject.  The colors are nice and the warm tones complement each other well.  The squirrel's pose and action, while fairly typical, works for me in this shot.  But what is most important is the angle.  I was laying down on my belly as I photographed this shot.  Doing so not only isolated the squirrel from the background, creating a nice blurred background of autumn color, but it also gave a "squirrel's point of view" to the shot as I was eye to eye with this little guy or girl.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Feast

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December

Week of December 4, 2011

The village of Drohiczyn (pronounced droh-hee-chen) was once an important city situated on a major trade route between Ukraine and Poland.  One of Poland's most important rivers, the Bug (pronounced book) River, passes here, undoubtedly the reason for the historical importance of this location.  Historic remains have been uncovered here dating back to the Neolithic, or late stone age.  A castle once stood guard on a high hill over the river but was razed by the Teutonic Knights.  Despite a strong Catholic community, the Teutonic knights attacked, supposedly convinced it was a pagan settlement, but more likely they wanted control over such an important trade point.

One of the beauties of Poland this time of year, with the days being so short, is that there is beautiful light from sun up to sun down as the sun never gets very high in the sky.  The down side is that it is usually cloudy and grey.  This image was taken late in the afternoon as the sun was low in the sky.  The reflections of the clouds in the still river, along with the nice light made for a compelling composition with the white boat moored at the river edge.  I underexposed the image to pull out the colors and the backlighting. 

The River Bug

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Week of December 11, 2011

Driving through Paradise Valley, leaving Yellowstone going towards Livingston, Montana, I was aware of the eclipse the next morning but hadn't given much thought to the full moon.  As I rounded a turn in the road, the moon rising above the Absaroka Mountains came into full view.  The huge size of the moon as it sat above the rugged peaks was an impressive sight and I immediately tried to find a place to pull over.

I shot this image with a 500 mm lens in order to show the moon as large as possible above the peaks.  The sun was almost completely set, painting the tops of the peaks in beautiful pink light.  The next morning, the moon would be setting as the earth's shadow created a marvelous eclipse.  But for this moment, I just enjoyed seeing the moon as it sat over mountains, bringing with it a cold, chilly winter night in Montana.

Winter Moon

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Week of December 18, 2011

I returned briefly to the Yellowstone area in order to take care of some things related to the business side of photography, but also was able to get out and take a few photos.  My time in the park was not purposely planned for the eclipse and full moon, but those events definitely added to the photographic possibilities!  Probably the most excitement came when I had the opportunity to photograph my first wolf since "Sleeping Beauty" in early Spring of 2010.

I spent the morning in Lamar Valley, but wasn't having much luck.  I decided to drive back to Corwin Springs as the sheep there were still rutting and I needed to call my fiancé, Edyta after lunch anyway.  As I neared Floating Island Lake, I saw two wolves resting on a hill.  I pulled over and tried to get a better look.  But when I turned around, there were three more wolves approaching the road from the south!  The first wolf, photographed here, was the one to come closest.  I had my 500mm lens mounted on my tripod and was thrilled to have this one pass so close.  The other two passed further down the road, but not before they stopped about 75 yards away and both left out a long mournful howl!  Just as quickly as they appeared, they were gone.  Only myself and three other people to witness it too!

Through the Shadows

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Week of December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!  The last Photo of the Week for 2011 falls on Christmas Day, so I thought I'd post a "Christmas" tree.  While Yellowstone is full of lodgepole pines, which may have the appearance of a more typical Christmas tree, when the temperatures are cold enough in Lamar Valley, the aspens and cottonwoods are coated in ice, giving them this incredible appearance.  When the first light of day strikes the ice covered trees, the are illuminated in beautiful hues of warm colors.  Water, whether frozen or liquid, is highly reflective, so snow and ice will reflect the colors in the sky, or seen here, light up in beautiful warm light.

This image was taken with a telephoto lens in Lamar Valley.  The cottonwood tree is side lit by the rising sun while the rising landscape behind the tree is still in shadow.  Evident back in the days of film, but perhaps more even more evident with digital technology, due to its greater ability to show detail in shadow, the areas of snow where the sun hasn't reached take on a strong blue coloration.  This represents the white balance of light and shadow areas take on a blue cast since they are not directly lit by the warm light of the sun.

Merry Christmas everyone and thanks for supporting Steve Hinch Photography.  2011 was a great year and here's hoping 2012 is even better!

A Christmas Tree

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