Blizzard in October: Teddy Roosevelt NP, Badlands in North Dakota, NP in South Dakota & Yellowstone.

What a crazy trip! When I think back on it, I only remember the tough stuff… getting kicked out of Yellowstone (they closed all the roads and rangers had us leave) and the nightmare of white-knuckle driving through a North Dakota blizzard.

But when I look at the photos we got, I realize what an amazing trip it was! Mountain Bluebird flocks in the snow at Teddy, a sow Grizzly eating rose hips only yards from us near Wapiti, Wyoming, a Badger cooperatively hunting with TWO Coyotes, backlit Raven breath, and so much more.

[DISCLAIMER: This was filmed about a year before I got my Canon R5 so cut me some slack on the video quality :)]

October 5-13, 2019

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Contact Sparky at sparkystensaas@hotmail.com

Back in the slide film days I used to work much harder at getting good landscape images. We worked much slower in the film days. And I really put thought into good composition. But with the digital age, I’ve gotten a bit lazy. Too easy to just snap some quick photos with my iPhone and call it a landscape. But having access to a drone has made me think more about aerial landscapes and I’ve included four of those images here…Roughly 30 percent of my favorite landscape images this year were with the drone.

I do enjoy very wide images and so have also been using my 10mm Rokinon lens on the Sony A6500 body.

Here’s my faves from 2019.

Some of you may know where this little gem is located. The cedar tree that I used to include in my compositions here, is now tipped over. A long exposure made for a colorful pattern of swirling foam and leaves. Did I put that maple leaf on the rock? Only I know!

I absolutely love the new perspectives the we can get with drone images. But I am still learning on how to be a good drone pilot (I have crashed my DJI Phantom 4 a few times).

I was passing through southwest New Mexico on my way to southeast Arizona for a birding trip when I saw this scene. I love the drama of Yuccas…and the clouds helped make this image. For this look I desaturated this image, and increased the “clarity” slider, in Lightroom.

Yes, a very simple “tree silhouette” landscape, but I like the vertical trunks contrasting with the horizontal bands of color in the sky. This is well past sunset.

You could only get a shot like this with a drone (or a really tall ladder!). I like the different shades of blue and yellow as the lake begins to thaw in spring.

What do you do after you get back to your campground in Yellowstone? Eat dinner and take star photos! A headlamp briefly turned on illuminated my face.

I’d seen photos like this taken from a plane in the “pre-drone” era. Knowing that I could never afford to rent a plane, I gave up on making an image like this. But a drone now allows some very unique shots at a fraction of the cost.

Ryan and I have photographed this thermal feature in Yellowstone before, but on this evening it had a completely different feel due to the thick steam arising from the pool. We stood on the top rung of the barrier fence and held our cameras high to get a more pleasing angle on the scene.

Aerial view of Lake Superior ice during break up. I converted to black and white for a more graphic image.

I love the splash of color on this atypical landscape photo. What else can you do on an extremely gloomy day? Ryan got even lower to the road and also made a very cool image.

Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces

I’m not sure why Ryan and I had never noticed this big ol’ Cottonwood in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley before…Maybe because we were always looking for wildlife. But on this year’s trip Ryan saw it and named it the Zen Tree. It has wonderfully gracefully arced limbs and trunk, and it is very photogenic.

I actually had to stick my hand and camera into a bramble of spiny Cholla cactus stems to get this wide angle view of the Sonoran desert landscape near Tucson. I love how everything is framed by the Cholla (except the foreground Saguaro could be placed a bit better). Overall a unique view of a very unique habitat.

Here are my favorite mammal photos taken in 2019. It was a pretty good year for locating and photographing the “four-leggeds.”

I call this the “Group Back Rub.” This is from October when Ryan and I were enroute to Yellowstone. I took this while we were waiting for a Burrowing Owl to poke its head out of a prairie dog hole. Let’s just say that Ryan doesn’t appreciate prairie dogs or their high level of cuteness. If its his turn to drive, I really have to plead for him to stop for a prairie dog colony. I love photographing them and their antics.

Due to the deep snows and cold temps of the winter of 2018-19, many critters had a tough time finding food. At least 9 Bobcats were seen in the Sax-Zim Bog including a mom with 2 young. This was likely one of the young who camped out at a road-killed deer (note ribs in background). Bobcats are gorgeous and cute at the same time. A flash helped make this image Uber-sharp on a heavy overcast day.

This is the start of the snowstorm that closed Yellowstone down for 36 hours at the start of our time in the park. These three ruled the road between Madison and West Yellowstone.

While guiding a group from Outward Bound along the Warren Woessner Bog Boardwalk at the Warren Nelson Memorial Bog, this little guy popped out of a snow burrow and immediately emerged from a nearby hole. They are unbelievably fast critters! They hunt voles in their subnivean tunnels (their long thin body shape helps in this pursuit) but also feed on carcasses.

Ermine is the name for Least Weasel, Long-tailed Weasel and Short-tailed Weasel when in their winter white coat (this is a Short-tailed Weasel).

He stayed still for approximately 1.5 seconds but I was able to snap off a couple shots. It will be in the MN Conservation Volunteer magazine next month.

Something a bit different…an image from a zoo of a mama Baboon gently grooming her baby. Just darn cute!

This is a real “mammal in the landscape” photo. But I think it works because of the Red Fox looks sharp with the red of the willows, both of which contrast with the white of the symmetrical aspens.

Arriving in Teddy Roosevelt National Park we were greeted with this young Mule Deer buck browsing on some roadside shrubs. An early October snowstorm provided the backdrop.

Not a great photo…so why is it included here? Because it was the first Canada Lynx I’ve seen in the daylight…and I got some images! I lucked into this mellow cat up in the Superior National Forest in late March and got to spend a few minutes with it as it sauntered through the forest, then sat for a while before moving on in its never-ending search for Snowshoe Hares.

Read more and see the video HERE

Sometimes trying to predict where a wild animal might intersect with our own path pays off. We saw this Grizzly making its way across the North Fork of the Shoshone River just outside Yellowstone. She went into the woods so we moved up the road to a pullout and waited. And, believe it or not, she came out of the woods and headed in our direction. But it was not us she wanted to investigate, but rather a stand of Wild Rose whose hips were in full ripeness. It was a joy to watch her delicately plucking the fruits from the bush a couple at a time. Not once did she look in our direction, and when she was filled, she moved off.

Read more of this story HERE

On may way to photograph Loons one early summer morning I stumbled across a trio of romping Red Fox pups. I stayed with them for nearly an hour and enjoyed their antics. The loons could wait.

It seemed that only two would wrestle at a time, never all three. I took many photos and quite a bit of video.

This mellow Red Fox tolerated my presence for about 10 minutes as it hunted for voles along a minimum maintenance road and a farm field in the Sax-Zim Bog. Occasionally it would hear the sound of a vole under the crusty snow; its ears would rotate forward towards the sound, it would then rock back on its haunches, then launch high into the air to get enough force to break through the crusty snow to get a the vole.

Pine Martens LOOOVE peanut butter! And suet. And carcasses. So they are occasionally attracted to bird feeding stations in the Sax-Zim Bog. They use this food to supplement their normal diet of Ruffed Grouse, voles and squirrels. There were at least two, and possibly three coming to this feeder. They ignored the nearby birders and photographers for the most part. It is ALWAYS a treat to see these guys.

October 9, 2019

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

We awake to a couple inches of snow at our Madison Campground…but despite having to cook breakfast in the cold, dark, wet conditions, we are pumped! Snow in the landscape always makes for moody wildlife shots, and we were headed to a spot where two bull Moose had been spotted the day before.

But before we even made it to Norris, we were turned around by a ranger who said the mountain passes were closed with 18 inches of snow already. We turned around and headed for the geyser basins south of Madison. And now it was snowing HARD. After a look-see we saw nothing and then were turned around by another ranger. It was clear that we weren’t going anywhere today. A female ranger greeted us back near Madison Campground and said the park was closing and ALL of Yellowstone’s roads would be shut down for at least a day and a half.

Our choices were to stay at our campsite for 36 hours (not!) and freeze (temps were predicted to be below zero F. that night) OR shoot on our way out the West Yellowstone park entrance. We decided to pack up our tents and head towards Teddy Roosevelt. With only two-full days of shooting in Yellowstone, it was our shortest trip to the park ever.

The snow continued to pile up as we spotted this herd of cow elk along the Madison River.

A “car window” shot at 40 mph. No self-respecting photographer would post this shot, but I kind of like it in black and white. It reminds me of my early darkroom print days. It has a vintage feel to it.

We were finally told by the rangers to just keep moving, so we had no choice but to exit the park and head for Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Little did we know that the real adventure of this year’s trip would be just getting home! But more about that in the next post.

October 7-8, 2019

Day 3 (really our second full day of shooting) started as usual…Crawling out of the tent in the pre-dawn darkness, and boiling water and frying bagels on our Coleman stove. So after our breakfast of grits, oatmeal, bagels and cream cheese, we stuffed the “bear locker” with our cooking stuff and headed out to find….anything!

Ryan and I seem to remember more elk bugling near our Madison Campground in previous years, but we hadn’t been to the park in fall for seven years so maybe things had changed. We also did not see many elk, period. We realize the wolf packs have brought the Elk numbers down and more in balance with the park’s holding capacity, but we surely thought we’d see herds scattered about. But it was slim pickings.

A classic Yellowstone “animal in the landscape” shot. Steam from geothermal vents frame a lone bull Elk. After glassing the bull, Ryan said he noticed that he only had one antler! Must have lost it in a fight.

Just a nice portrait of a bull Elk near Mammoth

As the sun set over Fountain Flat Drive it illuminated this herd of Bison with neat golden backlight/rimlight. I love the peaceful painterly quality of these photos. They look even better if you view them full-screen.

We named this well-balanced tree along Soda Butte Creek, the “Zen Cottonwood.” Ryan first spotted it and it is a stately tree.

If you can’t find wildlife, you can always find scenery in Yellowstone National Park! Some details of the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces.

We spent quite a while with this good looking bull Bison. My idea was to take a long exposure so the grass would blur but the Bison and background would be sharp. I took about 100 photos ranging from 1.6 seconds to 3.2 seconds and this is one of the few that turned out. BUT I don’t think my idea really came to fruition as there is not enough blur to the grass, and the sage doesn’t really blow in the wind. Oh well…You gotta try and experiment!

Coming soon….”Kicked out of Yellowstone”…due to snow, not our behavior!

***Just a note to my subscribers that I have now ponied up for the “Premium” plan so you won’t have to wade through those annoying ads placed into my posts.

October 6-7, 2019

Since we were coming from the South Dakota Badlands, Ryan Marshik and I headed towards the Yellowstone East Entrance. The country between Cody, Wyoming and the park is stellar, and as we got closer, we started thinking, “Hey, we might even have some shooting light by the time we get into Yellowstone!”

But even before we got to the park, we had our first bear sighting. It was a Grizzly crossing the Northfork Shoshone River. We managed a few snaps but it was soon into the brush…but on our side of the river. So we decided to pull over in a locked entrance to a campground. And we didn’t have to wait long! The Grizzly was working its way towards us…and completely ignoring the two Minnesota guys laying on the ground pointing big barrel-shaped things toward it. Within a minute the bear was too close for comfort and we retreated to the vehicle.

But then a large patch of Wild Rose hips caught her attention. And she began delicately plucking the ripe fruit only 20 yards from us. It was dusk and we kept cranking our ISO up. I ended up at my max for my old Canon 7D…ISO 6400. Some noise in the photos, but I’d MUCH rather have a sharp and grainy/noisy photos of a Grizzly than a blurry noise-free shot!

These images took quite a bit of working in Lightroom to get to the images below.

Eventually she sauntered within 2 feet of our SUV. A really neat encounter. Made better by the fact that we didn’t have to share it with the typical Yellowstone “shooting gallery.”

Due to our wonderful “bear delay,” we didn’t get inside the park until sunset. But Ryan spotted this perched Red-tailed Hawk which made for a neat silhouette.

We camped in the Madison Campground, and headed out in the early morning, excited to see the Hayden Valley again. The last seven years had been spring trips, and almost every time the road through the valley had still not been opened up by the time we arrived.

And we found this cooperative Raven. In all likelihood, it is probably the same begging Common Raven that I photographed here years ago. It is such a treat to be able to get close to these birds since in Minnesota they are so spooky that you can’t even touch the brake pedal and they are gone.

Video of the Raven’s backlit breath while calling was my goal, but I also tried some stills. Like Ryan said, it would have been better if the slight breeze hadn’t been blowing their breath behind them. Interestingly, the biggest puff of breath didn’t come until their beak was already half closed again…and not when it was fully open.

I intentionally darkened this image, and increased contrast, in Lightroom to make it a more dramatic photo.

We were photographing the Coyote below when Ryan spotted this distant Grizzly. We knew we were somewhere near a carcass by the small Raven congregation and 3 Coyotes milling around. We had walked out into this meadow near Canyon to check it out. We later learned that it was a carcass that had been picked over, and this Grizz was probably checking on it…Just in case.

Day 2-3 in Yellowstone coming soon

Pelican Pouch (St. Louis River, Fond du Lac, Duluth, Minnesota)

Most every spring now, a flock of 40 to 120 American White Pelicans stop over at the Fond du Lac, Duluth portion of the St. Louis River on their way to breeding colonies farther north. They spend most of their time loafing on the barely-above-water islands, preening, sleeping and squabbling. Not sure if this guy was yawning or if this is an aggressive act towards a Ring-billed Gull that flew low overhead. I intentionally underexposed the shot to show off the veins of the pelican, and block out the distracting background forest.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/400 sec. at f5.6; ISO 100; tripod]

High-Key Tern (Churchill, Manitoba, Canada)

To make the red inner mouth of this Arctic Tern really pop, I decided to make this a “high-key” image by increasing the exposure of the shot so most of the highlights are overexposed.

[Sony A6500 with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens; Metabones adapter; 1/4000 sec. at f8; ISO 200; -2.33ev; hand-held]

Wild Turkey detail (Our home, Carlton County, Minnesota)

I took this image right out our living room window! And the only lens I had inside was my 400mm f5.6 lens. So I got some extreme close ups of a displaying Tom Turkey. The iridescence in their feathers is a coppery rainbow of colors.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/500 sec. at f6.3; ISO 5000; hand-held through our living room picture window]

Raven Rainbow (Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming)

Two foreground snow mounds frame a friendly Raven looking for a handout. The background “rainbow” is just the way-out-of-focus trees and shadows. I took the color out of the Raven and made him totally black (they normally show blue iridescence in their feathers).

[Canon 7D with Canon EF200mm f2L IS USM lens; 1/400 sec at f2; ISO 100; +1.33ev; hand-held]

Running Grizzly cub (Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming)

Panning at a VERY slow 1/20th of second, I tracked the running Grizzly cub as it hurried to get back to mama Griz. I like the streaks of snow, and the different background blur colors.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF200mm f2L IS USM lens; 1/20 sec at f14; ISO 100; -0.33 ev; hand-held]

Northern Hawk Owl silhouette and Tamaracks (Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota)

The curvy trunks of the Tamaracks are appealing to me in this silhouette. The Hawk Owl is centered so I could frame her with the two background Tamaracks.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/2500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 400; hand-held]

Sandhill crane flock reflection (Crex Meadows, Wisconsin)

As the cranes flew in to roost for the evening at the Crex Meadows marshes, I noticed their perfect reflection on the still open water. I tried to capture the interesting juxtaposition of sky and water. It is an interesting photo…not great…but unique.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 70-200mm f4L USM lens at 200mm; 1/250 sec. at f6.3; ISO 250; hand-held]

 

Sandhill Crane panning blur (Crex Meadows, Wisconsin)

Sometimes I like panning at “below-recommended” panning shutter speeds and seeing what I get. It is very low percentage shooting, but sometimes you create something pleasing. Though the crane’s head is not sharp, I still like the overall motion blur of this graceful flyer.

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/25 sec. at f9; ISO 100; -0.66ev; hand-held]

 

Mixed Scoter flock (Hudson Bay at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada)

I was laying flat on my belly on the wet rock shoreline of Hudson Bay. And I was wishing I had the Sony A6500 instead of the Canon 7D…Why? Because the Sony has a tilting screen so I wouldn’t have had to contort my neck to look through the viewfinder of the Canon. I love the eye-level perspective and the narrow strip of in-focus water with the blurred foreground and background water framing the scoters. If you look closely you will see that all three North American scoter species are in the frame! Surf Scoter; Black Scoter; White-winged Scoter.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens at 400mm; 1/640 sec at f5.6; ISO 200; +1 ev; hand-held while laying on beach]

Bison fur (Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming)

You can get close to Bison in Yellowstone…Really close! Of course, this was out the car window, so no threat of being gored! I love the wavy quality of their hair.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF200mm f2L IS USM lens; 1/2000 sec at f2; ISO 100; +0.66 ev; hand-held]

Blackbird Blur (Northwest Minnesota)

There are things to shoot even on bleak early spring gray rainy days. This migrating flock of Red-winged Blackbirds took off suddenly and I panned with them at a slow shutter speed.

Sandhill Crane orange silhouette flock (Crex Meadows, Wisconsin)

I tried combining two creative wildlife photography techniques in this image; I underexposed the image to create silhouettes of the flying cranes AND slowed the shutter to 1/25 of a second and panned with them as they flew. In this image, the heads and necks re fairly sharp, yet their wings show a pleasing blur that hints at their flapping motion.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 70-200mm f4L USM lens at 163mm; 1/25 sec. at f5.6; ISO 100; hand-held]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arctic Hare [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

Talk about a cooperative subject! This Arctic Hare (my first ever!) was browsing willows on the tundra near Hudson Bay. She’d eat a while, then sit and rest and look about. I like this wider shot as it shows a bit of habitat and I love the translucent orange eyeball that contrasts nicely with the vegetation. The hare’s curly pelage also blends with the curvy stems of the foreground flora.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens at 371mm; 1/500 sec at f5.6; ISO 320; +0.66 ev; hand-held]

Beaver [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

Beaver are rarely seen out and about in winter, but this guy must have run out of food and had to risk coming out of the safety of the lodge to eat. I took video of him plowing through the snow to get fresh willows. Because I shot few stills, this is actually a single frame extracted from a video clip, and that is why the shutter speed is a very slow 1/60 second. Fortunately the Beaver was still for a split second and the photo is sharp.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with Metabones adapter; 1/60 sec. at f14; ISO 200; tripod]

Grizzly cub [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

Kids will be kids! “Coming through Mom!”

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/800 sec. at f5.6; ISO 200; tripod]

Yellow-bellied Marmot [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

I just like the blue and green background…and its a nice photo of a marmot.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 200; tripod]

Grizzly cub [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

What can I say? CUTE! Like a cuddly 200 pound teddy bear.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/800 sec. at f5.6; ISO 200; tripod]

Cottontail [Carlton County, Minnesota]

This photo was taken about as close to home as possible…Only about 20 feet from my front door! I laid down on the gravel of our driveway and slowly crawled closer. Always good to get eye level to your subject. Just a cute critter.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with Metabones adapter; 1/1250 sec. at f5.6; ISO 500; hand-held]

Harbor Seal [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

Every photographer hopes his mammalian subject will yawn. Yawning in a still image can look like a ferocious growl. Not sure what this Harbor Seal was doing but the open pink mouth contrasts nicely with the blue water of Hudson Bay.

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/2500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 320; tripod]

Moose [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

This photo was taken on the last day of February but I believe it is the same young cow Moose that I found a couple miles away in early November. She was a very tolerant critter…especially for a Moose! Several of us were able to shoot quite close to her as she browsed willows. She would mostly ignore us, but occasionally steal a glance to make sure we didn’t get too close. I like how the shaded woods turned a pleasing purple and the red willows were beginning to pop.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with Metabones adapter; 1/500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 500; -0.33 ev; tripod]

Pine Marten [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

Marten are cute as a button, but also ferocious hunters. They are able to hunt down Red Squirrels in the trees! Clinton Nienhaus and I were watching a roadside bird feeding station when this guy came from the bog and started feasting on peanut butter left out for the Boreal Chickadees. He paused to lick his lips. Hey buddy, you missed a spot!

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with Metabones adapter; 1/800 sec. at f7.1; ISO 200; hand-held]

White-tailed Deer bucks [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

I was on my way home from doing some work on our Welcome Center in Sax-Zim Bog when I spotted these two bucks browsing in a hayfield along the road. Unlike most bucks, they did not bolt the minute I slowed the car. In fact, they came closer and closer even after I got out of the car! Maybe it was the many deer flies that made them crazy that day.

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/1600 sec. at f5.6; ISO 320; -0.33 ev; hand-held]

Grizzly and cub  [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

Ryan and I had a chance this spring to spend much time with a sow Grizzly and her yearling cub. They played and dug grubs and roots, and the cub would even nurse, all the time, ignoring the photographers. I like the eye-level perspective and the fact that they seem to be gazing at the same thing.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/1600 sec. at f5.6; ISO 640; tripod]

Arctic Hare  [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

How can you not love a face like this? Like in the other Arctic Hare photo in this post, I love the translucent orange eyes and the oversized black and white ears. He seems to be eyeing me up…wondering if I’m a threat or just a harmless crawling photographer.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens at 321mm; 1/320 sec at f5.6; ISO 320; +0.66 ev; hand-held]

I really do get bored with many of my wildlife “portraits.” Many images are just record shots of a species…Often they don’t tell you much about the critter, its behavior, or habitat. Plus, many other photographers have taken the same shot..and probably have better portrait photos of that species anyway.

Because of this I always try to take some creative wildlife photos on each trip. I detail TEN techniques below. Try one or two on your next wildlife photo shoot.

SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD

On this late April trip to Yellowstone National Park, my main creative endeavor was the shallow-depth-of-field wildlife shot. I accomplished this mainly via the Canon 200mm f2.0 lens that I rented from lensrentals.com. You can see that post and photos here.

ANIMALS IN THE LANDSCAPE

Though taken handheld with a crappy kit lens (the Canon 18-55mm lens), I really like how this Black Bear photo turned out (the Clarity slider in Lightroom helped a lot!). Animal-in-the-landscape images really help us visualize the critter’s home

[Sony A6500 with Canon 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 lens at 46mm; (Metabones adapter); 1/200 at f5.6; ISO 640; handheld]

Another almost surreal wildlife photo. There is something I really love about this elk herd photo…I think it’s that it has the quality of a composite image…as if I took 30 photos of a single elk from this one spot and then melded them together in Photoshop.

[Sony A6500 with Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens (Metabones adapter); 1/125 at f5.6; ISO 100; tripod]

Mountain Bluebird in snowy landscape. Our tendency as wildlife photographers is to fill the frame with our subject…It takes real mental effort to NOT do this, and to step back and allow the critter to have equal (or lesser) presence in the landscape.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/800 at f5.6; ISO 100; handheld]

SILHOUETTES

Gray skies?…Back light?…These are tough situations for a wildlife photographer. But you can always experiment with silhouettes in these cases. You do need a sky background usually though.

Mule Deer silhouette. On our way home from Yellowstone each year, we camp overnight in North Dakota’s Teddy Roosevelt National Park. It breaks up the 17-hour drive home and allows us to get in just a little more shooting. This would have been a terrible image if I’d exposed for the deer themselves, but a the silhouette is quite nice.

[Canon 7D with Canon 200mm f2 lens; 1/3200 at f2; ISO 100; handheld]

Black-tailed Prairie Dog in Teddy Roosevelt at sunset. Underexposing helped highlight the rim light of this cute little guy giving his alarm call.

[Canon 7D with Canon 200mm f2 lens; 1/1000 at f2; ISO 100; handheld]

PHOTOSHOP CHANGES

Which of these 3 Mountain Bluebird shots do you like best? The bird was left untouched in Photoshop, but the grass was desaturated to different levels in two shots. My mind is not made up, but I still think I like the top image. By the way, laying in the grass to get eye-level shots is also a creative wildlife photography technique. I love how the foreground and background have blurred out.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/800 at f5.6; ISO 250; handheld]

IPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY

I just got the iPhone 7+ before leaving on this trip (replacing my “ancient” iPhone 5) and man, do I love it! The camera in the phone now has two lenses (one a “telephoto”), improved resolution, fantastic “Portrait” mode (try it!), and awesome video, including time-lapse, slow motion, and even 4K video!

This is a panorama of the Lamar River in the Lamar Valley.

TELEPHOTO LANDSCAPES

Okay, this is not a “creative wildlife shot” but it is a creative use of your telephoto lens. Isolating landscape/scenery with a long lens can give you a new perspective (fresh vision) of a place you’ve visited many times.

BLACK AND WHITE

Some images just don’t work well in color…so why not try them in black and white? Snowy wildlife scenes really lend themselves to this technique.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 lens at 43mm; (Metabones adapter); 1/2000 at f7.1; ISO 1250; handheld]

Canon 7D with Canon 200mm f2 lens; 1/1250 at f2; ISO 100; +0.66 ev; handheld

Did converting this image of a Bison herd crossing the Madison to black and white help? Or do you prefer the color version?

[Sony A6500 with Canon 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 lens at 55mm; (Metabones adapter); 1/200 at f5.6; ISO 100; handheld]

GET HIGH!

No, I did not bring a drone into Yellowstone! But this is an effective trick for getting faux aerial images. I put on my widest lens (in this case a Rokinon 12mm lens), then attach the camera to the tripod and extend all the legs to maximum length (if you have a center post crank that up too). Now set your exposure in Manual mode, put on the self timer for 5 or 10 seconds, push the shutter and then hold the tripod as high over your head as possible. Wait until the shutter clicks. It takes many tries (to get the right angle and to get the horizon somewhat straight (and your arms get a real workout!)

[Sony A6500 with Rokinon 12mm f2 lens (Sony mount); 1/125 at f16? (Lightroom does not record data from manual lenses); ISO 100; tripod held as high over my head as I could]

[Sony A6500 with Rokinon 12mm f2 lens (Sony mount); 1/125 at f16? (Lightroom does not record data from manual lenses); ISO 100; tripod held as high over my head as I could]

You could not get this shot without using the tripod-over-your-head trick.

[Sony A6500 with Rokinon 12mm f2 lens (Sony mount); 1/60 at f16? (Lightroom does not record data from manual lenses); ISO 100; tripod held as high over my head as I could]

DETAILS

We don’t always have to show the face of an animal for it to be an effective wildlife photo. This is detail of a Bison’s beautiful hair.

BLUR, BABY, BLUR

Want the feeling of the energy of a moving mammal or bird? Try slowing your shutter down and panning with the critter. I shot this Grizzly cub at 1/20 second at f14.

No…Not a Bison cow with triplets…Just two playful “red dog” calves coming over to play with her nursing calf. The Bison were just dropping their calves in late April.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/160 at f5.6; ISO 100; tripod]

Snow greeted us as we pulled in to the Mammoth Campground in Yellowstone after driving all night from Duluth. But as we waited for someone to vacate the campground so we could pick a spot, this male Mountain Bluebird entertained us by foraging near the gate.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/320 at f6.3; ISO 100; handheld]

Mountain Bluebird male

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/800 at f5.6; ISO 100; handheld]

Yellow-bellied Marmot surveys his “kingdom” in Yellowstone.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/250 at f5.6; ISO 100; tripod]

Yellow-bellied Marmot. I like how the shade of the mountain slope in the background becomes a beautiful blue blur.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/500 at f5.6; ISO 200; tripod]

Elk pair; His breath visible in the cool morning air.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/640 at f5.6; ISO 320; handheld]

We were bummed that the road that leads to LeHardy Rapids was still snowed in. This is the traditional hotspot for Harlequin Ducks. But fortunately we spotted this colorful pair along the Madison River.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/400 at f7.1; ISO 800; tripod]

Harlequin Duck male spreads his tail feathers after preening. Yellowstone is the southernmost breeding site for this species in all of North America! The main part of their breeding range includes British Columbia, Alaska, Yukon and Labrador. They prefer to nest along fast-flowing mountain rivers.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/250 at f6.3; ISO 400; tripod]

Harlequin Duck male

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/100 at f6.3; ISO 100; tripod]

Harlequin’s love fast water…the more turbulent the better! They dive underwater in rapids to feed.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/500 at f5.6; ISO 200; tripod]

Bison herd along the Madison River.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 lens at 18mm; (Metabones adapter); 1/400 at f6.3; ISO 160; tripod]

Beaver having a late afternoon snack.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/200 at f7.1; ISO 1600; handheld]

Sow Black Bear and one of her two tiny cubs. I got some nice video of this trio, which I will include in a future post.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/320 at f8; ISO 400; tripod]

Bison and her “red dog” calf.

We ran across a band of Bighorn ewes near Yellowstone Picnic area.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/400 at f5.6; ISO 100; tripod]

A trio of Black-billed Magpies wait out a snow squall near Mammoth.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens (Metabones adapter); 1/60 at f13; ISO 100; braced on car window]