Tucked into the farthest northwest corner of Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park is one of the best places to experience the pure power, magnificent beauty and rich archeological and natural history of the great American wilderness. The park spans 3,471 square miles, and, yes, has several areas geared toward tourists. But it’s still a great place for a nature photographer to get a decent shot.
I, along with four fellow photographer buddies, drove down to Yellowstone the first week in April for the latest of many trips we’ve taken together to do photography. We went specifically to shoot wildlife, but we were also hoping to get some good scenic photos too.
We stayed in an Airbnb just north of the park and got up bright and early the first morning for the drive in. Since it was still early spring for the park, only the north road was open from Gardiner to Cooke City, Mont., but we didn’t get far before we saw a group of other photographers gathered along the side of the road. We stopped to see what was going on, and there was a grizzly bear maybe a couple hundred feet away. Now, I’ve seen a grizzly in Glacier National Park from very far away and way up above. That one was tiny. This one was huge and chowing down on a bison carcass. Every once in a while, he’d look up at all of us standing there watching him. Other times, he’d lurch forward to scare off the ravens that had gathered to share his food, and our hearts would skip a beat. It was an amazing experience to watch him and shoot a bunch of photos.
After a while, he took off to a spot on the nearby ice and pulled another carcass out of the ice. I didn’t even know they did this. In the spring, grizzlies feed on bison that have fallen into the ice or died for other reasons over the winter. And he had been pretty lucky in finding food this spring, because he was a big, fat boy! At a certain point, he just meandered up the hillside, taking his time. It was cool to watch.
Over the three days, we photographed antelope, bighorn sheep, and of course, the bison. Bison are pretty amazing and intimidating animals. They were just walking alongside the road and were in the road stopping traffic. They have no care in the world and come so close to you in your car. They look at you, and you can feel their strength and power.
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The one shot I wanted and missed was of a wolf. We came to a point in the road where a lady in an orange vest was standing holding a stop sign. Her vest said something about wolves, and while we sat and waited, we saw a lone wolf cross the road ahead. We went a little ways down the road and then pulled over and got our cameras ready. But when we finally found the wolf in the camera lens, it was moving fast in the opposite direction. I only had a few seconds before it was gone, so my shots weren’t great. Still, it was an exciting thing to see.
Before heading home, we did an evening shoot at Mammoth Hot Springs with the goal of shooting the stars and hopefully capturing the Milky Way.
For me, the stars add to the experience. The light of the moon cast the most wonderful shadows and made the landscape look so surreal. I took my photos with only the natural light of the moon and walked away with some fantastical images. N
By S. Michal Bennett
Photography By Joel Riner
