By: D. Robert & Lorri Franz
The last time we were in the park was October 31, 2004 . As we slowly tow our camping trailer through the park for the last time of the year, we stop to photograph a huge grizzly bear boar during a raging snowstorm. It is now 7:55 am on May 6, 2005 . Lorri and I are sitting in our vehicle anxiously anticipating the east gate of Yellowstone National Park to open at 8:00 am for the season. As we wait, we begin to imagine with much excitement the unlimited photographic wonders of yet another season in the world's first national park. Being residents of Cody Wyoming Yellowstone is literally our back yard. By 8:30 am , we are busy photographing a beautiful grizzly bear sow with her two yearling cubs. What a great start to the new season.
Yellowstone National Park begins opening for the year in late April. There are five entrances into the park, not all open on the same day. The north and west entrances open first usually followed by the northeast and east gates a week or two later. The south gate is usually the last to open in mid-May. In early May, many of the parks facilities are not open and many will not be operating until later in the month. Mammoth and Madison are the only campgrounds in operation. Lodging is available in the towns of West Yellowstone and Gardiner either of which makes for good base camps for photographing within the park. Temperature wise late April and early May typically look more like winter than spring in Yellowstone . With most of the park at an elevation greater than 7000 feet, snow cover persists at the higher elevations and north facing slopes into June. Spring snowstorms are common and temperatures are usually cool.
Spring is an excellent time for wildlife photography in Yellowstone for endless reasons. Both grizzly bears and black bears have recently emerged from their winter dens hungry and busily search for food. They are more visible and easier to photograph in the spring than at any other time of the year. Low traffic volume in the park emboldens the bears as well as wolves to feed and travel closer to the roads during this time. Winter killed large ungulates such as bison and elk are magnets for bears, wolves, and coyotes and can provide some exciting photographic situations. In late May, the elk begin calving and for a two to three week period grizzly bears hunt the calves, this to can provide some incredible natural history photography. The area from Norris Junction north to Swan Lake Flats near Mammoth is a favorite hunting area for grizzly bears. This past spring 10 different grizzly bears were identified hunting elk calves in this area.
Bison, elk, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, and bighorn sheep all give birth throughout April and May and the cute babies make excellent photographic subjects. The sharp-eyed photographer can locate predator's dens throughout the park. Badgers and coyotes den annually in the Lamar Valley and the area around Mammoth. Many of these dens are visible from the road and photographable without stressing the animals. Wolves now range throughout the park and offer excellent photographic potential. River otters are common in the waterways and beavers are now making a comeback after many years of being scarce in park. Yellowstone 's very own sub-species of red fox is seen and occasionally may be photographed near Canyon and Tower. Arboreal predators' the pine marten, though not often seen, is common in the parks vast forests.
Many species of birds can be located and photographed during the spring. Cavity nesters such as mountain bluebirds, flickers, chickadees, sapsuckers, among others commonly nest in aspen groves in the northern region of the park while Great gray owls inhabit the coniferous forests. Trumpeter swans and other species of waterfowl nest in and around many of the ponds throughout the park and Ouzels nest along rocky streams. White pelicans are common around Yellowstone Lake and the Yellowstone River and can often times be photographed fishing or in flight. Osprey and bald eagles commonly nest here as well as Peregrine falcons who live and nest in canyons. Besides the abundant birds and wildlife, endless photographic opportunities exist with the wildflowers, landscapes, and the ever-famous thermal features.
For us the greatest thrill of spending time photographing in Yellowstone National Park is in not knowing what dramatic natural event we may encounter just around the next bend. On May 19, 2005 at 11:00 am Lorri and I we're driving toward Tower Falls looking for black bears. We noticed some people looking excitedly through their spotting scopes. I stopped our vehicle with the assumption they were watching the bighorn sheep, which give birth to lambs each spring on the rugged cliffs of the canyon. Instead, to our delight, someone had spotted a mountain lion resting on the cliff face. The lion was lying on a narrow ledge framed by mossy tree limbs and lichen covered rocks. In all of the 22 years, we have spent photographing in Yellowstone this was only the second mountain lion we had ever seen. We quickly realized the cat was very far away and we were not sure what kind of image we could make of it. Our only chance to obtain an acceptable picture was to use our longest lenses and teleconveters. By using the Canon Eos 1D mkII camera on the EF600mm F4IS lens, with a 2 X teleconverter we were able to achieve a suitable subject size. At the effective focal length of 1560mm, every vibration is magnified dramatically. Having this extreme combination on the heavy-duty Gitzo 1548 carbon fiber tripod along with Canon's splendid image stabilization allowed us to get sharp photos. We found that by stopping down one stop to F11 with the 2 X converter on gave us the best result. By using this method and stacking the 1.4 and 2 X converters, we were still able to achieve excellent results. Having the ability to raise our ISO with the digital camera bodies at any time was also a key to success. The shutter speeds we were able to get at ISO 320-640 made a huge difference too. We stayed on location photographing the mountain lion for over 9 hours in a variety of lighting conditions until finally the sun set. After we got home, we printed some of our favorites from that day to 13 x 19 inches and the quality of the images was stunning.
We had many memorable days this spring and as usual; the time went by far too quickly. On the morning of June 12, 2005 , we were reluctantly heading home as we drove past Steamboat Point along the north shore of Lake Yellowstone , we found a young male grizzly bear that we have seen and photographed often. We have named him “Circus Bear” for his playful antics and clown like disposition. On this day, Circus Bear had stumbled to close to the den of a coyote family hidden among the rocks along the shore. The mother coyote was obviously not happy with the aspect of a large dangerous predator in such close proximity to her pups. For well over two hours, we witnessed amazing interactions as the coyote in deadly seriousness attempted repeatedly to drive off Circus Bear who appeared to be merely playing. This was indeed a fine ending to another wonderful spring in Yellowstone National Park , where the spectacular can be the norm.
The last time we were in the park was October 31, 2004 . As we slowly tow our camping trailer through the park for the last time of the year, we stop to photograph a huge grizzly bear boar during a raging snowstorm. It is now 7:55 am on May 6, 2005 . Lorri and I are sitting in our vehicle anxiously anticipating the east gate of Yellowstone National Park to open at 8:00 am for the season. As we wait, we begin to imagine with much excitement the unlimited photographic wonders of yet another season in the world's first national park. Being residents of Cody Wyoming Yellowstone is literally our back yard. By 8:30 am , we are busy photographing a beautiful grizzly bear sow with her two yearling cubs. What a great start to the new season.
Spring is an excellent time for wildlife photography in Yellowstone for endless reasons. Both grizzly bears and black bears have recently emerged from their winter dens hungry and busily search for food. They are more visible and easier to photograph in the spring than at any other time of the year. Low traffic volume in the park emboldens the bears as well as wolves to feed and travel closer to the roads during this time. Winter killed large ungulates such as bison and elk are magnets for bears, wolves, and coyotes and can provide some exciting photographic situations. In late May, the elk begin calving and for a two to three week period grizzly bears hunt the calves, this to can provide some incredible natural history photography. The area from Norris Junction north to Swan Lake Flats near Mammoth is a favorite hunting area for grizzly bears. This past spring 10 different grizzly bears were identified hunting elk calves in this area.
Bison, elk, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, and bighorn sheep all give birth throughout April and May and the cute babies make excellent photographic subjects. The sharp-eyed photographer can locate predator's dens throughout the park. Badgers and coyotes den annually in the Lamar Valley and the area around Mammoth. Many of these dens are visible from the road and photographable without stressing the animals. Wolves now range throughout the park and offer excellent photographic potential. River otters are common in the waterways and beavers are now making a comeback after many years of being scarce in park. Yellowstone 's very own sub-species of red fox is seen and occasionally may be photographed near Canyon and Tower. Arboreal predators' the pine marten, though not often seen, is common in the parks vast forests.
Many species of birds can be located and photographed during the spring. Cavity nesters such as mountain bluebirds, flickers, chickadees, sapsuckers, among others commonly nest in aspen groves in the northern region of the park while Great gray owls inhabit the coniferous forests. Trumpeter swans and other species of waterfowl nest in and around many of the ponds throughout the park and Ouzels nest along rocky streams. White pelicans are common around Yellowstone Lake and the Yellowstone River and can often times be photographed fishing or in flight. Osprey and bald eagles commonly nest here as well as Peregrine falcons who live and nest in canyons. Besides the abundant birds and wildlife, endless photographic opportunities exist with the wildflowers, landscapes, and the ever-famous thermal features.
We had many memorable days this spring and as usual; the time went by far too quickly. On the morning of June 12, 2005 , we were reluctantly heading home as we drove past Steamboat Point along the north shore of Lake Yellowstone , we found a young male grizzly bear that we have seen and photographed often. We have named him “Circus Bear” for his playful antics and clown like disposition. On this day, Circus Bear had stumbled to close to the den of a coyote family hidden among the rocks along the shore. The mother coyote was obviously not happy with the aspect of a large dangerous predator in such close proximity to her pups. For well over two hours, we witnessed amazing interactions as the coyote in deadly seriousness attempted repeatedly to drive off Circus Bear who appeared to be merely playing. This was indeed a fine ending to another wonderful spring in Yellowstone National Park , where the spectacular can be the norm.