More Yellowstone

 Last weekend we went back into Yellowstone for one last fall visit before roads and accommodations begin closing.

The fall is such a wonderful time in the Park with fewer visitors, cooler days and lots of wildlife on the move!










The first shot shows Otter Creek at sunrise.

 In the above shot the bison are grazing in Lamar Valley. The lighting was pretty amazing - I have not manipulated this photo in any way but it looks like an old picture from the days when the bison roamed the prairies.

When else but in the fall could you take photos of grass and have it look this pretty?

More HDR

There is definitely a line that HDR photographs cross when it comes to reality. Even though you are simply combining three photographs of the exact same image,  the result can be quite surreal and more painterly than a typical photograph.

Last weekend was my outdoor photography course in the Beartooth Mountains and Yellowstone Park. Because of the smokey skies covering the west this summer, it is really tough to get a good landscape shot that doesn't look like it was taken through wax paper. That is where HDR comes in. By increasing the contrast in the images you are taking, you are able to circumvent the smokiness - but it comes at the price of realism.

I need five images to turn in next week from the trip and one has to be an HDR. Pictured here are just three of the approximately thirty I have to choose from!

The first shot is from a half mile up the trail to Crazy Creek looking out over the creek and the plateau below.

 Next up is Yellowstone Falls from Artist's Point. The haze in the background in this case is from the rain that was pouring down as I was shooting.

This view of the Terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs is pretty amazing. The colors really do look this intense when you are standing there and it is pretty tough to capture without HDR.

Photography Classes

 This week has been overwhelming so far with the number of projects needed for my college photography classes. And it doesn't show any sign of letting up soon. The only really good news is that this weekend is my outdoor photography class and I get to spend two days shooting in Yellowstone Park.

I thought I would show just a couple of my recent projects. These are actually those that were not turned in as I didn't think they were up to par but I still like them enough to show them here.

The first two are HDRs. That means they are photos for which I shot three of the exact same image - one underexposed by 2 stops, one normal exposure and one overexposed by 2 stops. I then combined all three photos to get a richness of color not possible otherwise.

I don't usually shoot buildings but I really like this image of the Chamberlain Inn in downtown Cody. It was dusk when I took the photos and so the shadows are nice and rich and the lights are twinkling on top of the building.

 The second photo, on the other hand, was shot in early morning and is, of course, at Mammoth Hotsprings in Yellowstone. The moon you see is the "blue moon" of late August, getting ready to set behind the Terrace.

The third photo is a surreal landscape I had to do for my Photo Illustration class. It is a compilation of several photos. The moon is the same one as in the Mammoth photo but it has been moved to an over saturated blue sky atop Bald Ridge. It must be a magic moon as it is bringing out the little rock girl!

Yellowstone

 School is back in session which means a couple things - 1) I am taking more photos than ever...but very few of them are the ones I really want to be taking and 2) My spare time is suddenly non-existent.

Both these things mean the blog posts are going to be fewer for the next 8 months or so. I will certainly try and post on weekends and will add in a post during the week when I can.

 Last weekend Ken and I went to Mammoth in Yellowstone Park for the weekend. The weather was glorious, the tourists were fewer and, surprise, the elk were already starting to make their way down from the high country.

We did two really good hikes while we were there: Specimen Ridge on Saturday and a 13 mile loop up and over Bunsen Peak from Mammoth Hotel on Sunday.  There were a few great wildlife shot opportunities and I am sharing a couple of my favorites here.

 The funny thing was that we didn't see a bear while we were in the Park but as we got about 15 miles from home I suddenly caught sight of a large animal moving in the nearby field. I screamed at Ken to stop the car - I'm sure he thought I was dying - and he pulled over so I could get these pics of this huge grizzly bear taking a mid-day stroll! You can see how close he was in these shots and this is after he had moved away from us while I was fumbling with my camera. In the shot below he is letting us know he sees us and doesn't want us any closer.

In several of the shots he actually looks like he is smiling.

Mulies

In the summer months we get our share of visiting mule deer. In some cases, such as the two bucks in the bottom photo, they are transient.

In other cases, like the mama and baby in the first photo, they are relatively long term residents, hanging out all summer long.

I have to wonder if the fawn in the first photo will grow up to tell its children about the day it escaped death. Because it literally did just that - with a little help.

My basic philosophy is to leave nature alone. Sometimes that is easier said than done. About a month ago I stepped outside and heard the screams that can only come from a baby deer in mortal danger. It was heart wrenching and I couldn't stand it so I took off on a run to see what the problem was. As I came over the hill I spied this fawn on the ground with two coyotes attached. One had it by the neck and they other was taking a piece from its rump. I yelled at the canines and they fled, leaving behind what I was sure was a dead baby. As I got closer I realized the fawn was gasping and its heart was beating so hard I could actually hear it! I knelt on the ground beside it and stroked its back, trying to calm it down, waiting for it to die. Instead, after about 10 minutes, it got shakily to its feet and took off at a full sprint for the hills!

At that point I worried I had condemned it to an even worse death of bleeding out all alone and scared. Again it surprised me when it showed up about two weeks later with its mother. It has been hanging around the house ever since.

If you look closely you can see the scars on its neck.  The one on its right hip is out of sight. It is pretty awful but it looks healed. It is one lucky baby!

Why I Love Rock Wrens!

 I mentioned before that we have a greater population of rock wrens on our property this year than I ever remember seeing in the past. The wren pictured here is the one that built its nest in our garden. I am pretty sure it is on its second brood of the year since most of the others have already left to head south and yet it is still feeding its young.

You may think the three shots on the bottom are all the same but I guarantee you they are not. These four photos were taken over the period of about a half hour.

Approximately every ten minutes this overworked bird arrives with yet another grasshopper for its offspring.

 I would love to see it bringing in the rocks for the nest. Next year I will have to be on the lookout for that. My guess is that each of the rocks in the nest must weigh close to the same amount as the bird.

Kestrel

 Today's post is mostly about the beautiful Kestrel or Sparrowhawk we saw last week but I also wanted to show a photo I forgot to include yesterday of the reason we went to Deep Lake.

Ken and I have a pretty clear policy on fishing when we are camping -we catch what we can eat and then quit. In this case it took me two casts to get the cutthroat trout on the left and Ken four casts to hook his brook trout, right. They were both big fish and provided more than enough nourishment for dinner that night.

Deep Lake does not get much fishing pressure so I don't feel bad taking a couple of trout out of the pool.

 Meanwhile, this kestrel was an amazing spot of color against the brown cliffs behind him. If you click on the photo to enlarge it you will see that even his beak is multi-colored!