Brown Bear

Yellowstone National Park. This was one of two bear sightings during my trip to Yellowstone. Photographed this #withmytamron 150-600 from approximately 75 yards away.

Bison, Yellowstone National Park

As I was photographing the bison, these two were "getting to know each other" a bit. Immediately afterward, I captured this image. Perhaps I invaded his privacy with my zoom lens? Canon 7D Mark II, Tamron 150-600, 1/1250 sec. at f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 2000.

Bison Drinking from the River, Yellowstone National Park

I watched a heard of about a dozen bison and ten calves by the river just outside the west entrance to Yellowstone. In June, the bison are shedding their winter coat, and trying to stay cool as the day time temperatures heat up.

Bison calves at the river

Clepsydra Geyser, Fountain Paint Pot Trail

Lower Falls, Yellowstone

There are over 300 known water falls in Yellowstone, but Lower Falls is by far the largest. This is the view from the top of the Lower Falls. This waterfall has a drop of over 300 feet which is nearly twice as long as Niagra Falls.

Lower Falls, Yellowstone

View of Lower Falls. Note the snow to the left of the falls, still present in early June. At the top right of the falls is an observation area which can be accessed via a short but steep switchback trail. It's definitely worth the hike.

Fountain Geyser, Paint Pot Trail, Yellowstone National Park

While scouting shooting locations for the Tamron USA/National Parks workshop we came upon this geyser along the Fountain Paint Pot Trail. After the sun went down, the colors in the sky were incredible. The colors also reflected on the pools of water around the geyser, creating an otherwordly view.

Bacteria and thermophiles, Fountain Paint Pot Trail

These trees and reflecting pools are found at the beginning of the Fountain Paint Pot trail. Bacteria and thermophiles (heat loving microorganisms) usually form ribbons of color, which may include green, brown and orange and can live in waters as hot as 167 F (73F). They become orange, rust or brown as the water cools. These trees are downhill from one of the geysers and receive run off. I found the trees and reflection haunting, and thought they'd look best in black and white.

Geyser backlit by lightening!

During our Nightskies Photography Workshop a thunderstorm moved in. While we were photographing this geyser along the Fountain Paint Pots Nature Trail lightening started moving closer and closer. It was exciting and a bit frightening to watch. I used a 4 second exposure at f/22, 20 mm, #withmyTamron 15-30, to capture the lightening. I've not seen too many images of lightening backlighting a geyser, so this image is pretty exciting to me. It's probably my favorite landscape from my Yellowstone trip.

Milky Way 2 AM

This image shows Milky Way at 2 am and the reflection of the stars in the Grand Prismatic Spring. We were very lucky to see this. A few hours earlier there wa a thunderstorm in the park with lightening. I've never in my life seen so many stars as we did at this location. It was quite humbling. Living near Los Angeles, there is so much light pollution that I rarely get to see anywhere near this many stars. We get so caught up in living our daily lives. Seeing the Milky Way like this is a very humbling experience when you stop to think about your TRUE place in the universe.

Bison, Morning Fog, Yellowstone National Park

After staying up literally the entire night photographing stars we were driving back to our hotel when we saw this thick fog bank in a Yellowstone meadow. I jumped out of the car to capture this image with a bison in the fog. I love the solitude in the image.

Tree in Morning Fog, Yellowstone National Park

After staying up literally the entire night photographing stars we were driving back to our hotel when we saw this thick fog bank in a Yellowstone meadow. I jumped out of the car to capture this and another image with a bison in the fog. I love the solitude in the image.

Grand Tetons

Mormon Row, Grand Tetons

Mormon Row is a line of homestead complexes along the Jackson-Moran Road near the southeast corner of Grand Teton National Park, in the valley called Jackson Hole.

Yellowstone Bison