I took a drive to the Lamar Valley today and came upon coyotes on an elk carcass. There were anywhere from 6 to 8 coyotes around the kill. It was an amazing experience watching their behavior. There was definitely a pecking order. When the dominant coyote would get full and move off to rest, others would move in. I spent over 4 hours out in the cold photographing and enjoying the event. This guy was letting an approaching coyote know that he was not welcome.
A coyote bares his teeth as he approaches the elk carcass.
When they were away from the kill, they exhibited no signs of aggression.
This guy goes on alert at the approach of 3 more coyotes.
Images captured with Nikon D2Xs, AF-S 200-400mm with Tc-17e on Lexar Digital MEdia.
With temps hovering around unbearable, you woul dhave thought that the DLWS group would have opted to enjoy the beauty of Yellowstone from the comfort of the snowcoaches but, not this group! Everyone was out photographing the wonders of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Overwhelmed by the beauty, the -31 degrees temps were soon forgotten.
Images captured with Nikon D3, AF-S 70-200mm & AF-S 200-400mm on Lexar Digital Media
Any day in Yellowstone is magical but, when you wake to 5″ of new snow it’s truly one of the most beautiful places I know. I sure have to hand it to our group…they gamely came along and were rewarded to an incredible day of shooting.
Image captured with D3, AF-S 14-24mm on Lexar Digital Media
Image captured with D300, AF-S 70-200mm on Lexar Digital Media
This is a very unique DLS event. We kicked off 2008 with a trip to Yellowstone and really changed things up. We headed out at our usual o’dark thirty and headed into the park under a cover of heavy clouds. And, part way into the day, the clouds parted, the sun came out and we were blessed with a spectacular day. We wandered our way towards Old Faithful stopping frequently to capture the beautiful light, filtering through the steam, had a great show from Old Faithful followed by a trip to Midway Basin where the great weather continued. After 11 hours in the field, we took a short dinner break and right into the classroom we went with our eager students for another 3 hours of Photoshop fun. Don’t think Moose is kidding when he says you will need a vacation after a DLWS event. I know I will.
Images captured with Nikon D3, AF-S 24-70mm & AF-S 14-24mm on Lexar Digital MEdia
Morning found us driving along the Madison River in search of our first photo opp. We came across a herd of bison on the move. The overcast, monochromatic landscape lent itself nicely to B&W.
As predicted, the bison worked their way towards us. This frost covered bison paused to check us out before moving on.
Images captured with Nikon D3, AF-S 70-200mm 2.8 on Lexar Digital Media
