American Bison

Yesterday we had a very stormy day with snow and wind all day long. The wind kept most critters down but it doesn’t seem to affect the Bison, heck the kids were even playing a bit. The morning consisted of this lovely stormy weather that really captures the true feeling of Yellowstone in winter. The Bison were moving along the river to the more enclosed forest nearby. We watched by the side of the van as the Bison charged ahead through the head wind. Focusing became a problem during this shoot as it has been anytime there is a snow storm. The snow coming down between us and the Bison caused the auto focus to go back and forth making it difficult to lock on. The solution came down to manually focusing most of the time.

The morning proved to be a bit challenging as it normally does with low light situations, however the evening proved to be much nicer. The skies cleared up a little bit and we had patches of sun come through to bring out the detail on the Bison. One of the great things about the snow is it acts like a giant reflector, so any light coming down on the snow will bounce up into the Bison making every hair on that individual stand out.

When working with groups it’s best to single out individuals or to find dynamic compositions between them all. For instance the one above the cow on the left is the subject but you can tell she’s in a herd with the other three. The space in between them all is what makes them appear as individual animals instead of one giant clump. Giant clumps without definition just don’t work. If our eyes can’t latch on to anything in the image than our minds just skip right over it. We want anyone that looks at an image to be grabbed by it so that they can become inspired and continue to look. Group shots are the hardest to achieve because there are so many critters to work with.

A couple days ago we had a little adventure at Fountain Paint Pots. As already blogged the scenery was yet again magnificent at the geyser basin. On the opposite side of the basin as we headed up the road towards the Madison, we stopped to look back at the Bison that were in the steam vents munching and staying warm. The light was on the backside of the big guys meaning that the only shot would be of them back lit. This was a good thing because Bison silhouettes are actually kinda cool. Then of course many large game in back lit can be really cool. The main group was in the middle and over the course of an hour they slowly spread out as they were making their way across the hill munching.

As it appears i spent a bit of time working with solo Bison. One here, one there, whenever there was a lone Bison working on a batch of grass. The look of a Big Bull trudging through the steam has always been a shot that i wanted. It’s just that powerful feel of the Bison’s silhouette and the brightness of the steam that i think is cool. I mean they can do that without sunglasses, one look at the snow and i get a headache. It’s just not fair.

On the other side of the road where everything was front lit, one lone Bison walked across the road to be in another thermal and munch. A good looking guy not a big boy but still good size. Behind him was a lot of junk, fallen trees, shrubs, bison biscuits, the usual stuff that isn’t really great to incorporate. Well any direction that you went that would be the background, so instead of trying to get a clean background by moving it proved better to wait for a big puff of steam to go behind the Bison. Nothing tricky just gotta be patient. Still want that one shot but this was definitely a great shoot.

Early morning shooting is always fun. The temperature is low and the critters move slowly. The Elk and Bison stay hunkered down during the night to stay warm. In the early morning they are usually covered in ice and snow making them look really cool. Their brown and tan pelts stand out well when covered in snow. Their faces especially look good all frosty.

The spot where we stopped a number of Bison and Elk scattered across the rivers edge. This was just before Madison Junction where the first rest stop is. They also have Hot Apple Cider. As the day went on the temperatures rose and eventually they all started moving around. This wasn’t a problem even moving around there are shots to be made. With the 600mm f4 secure in the wimberly head on the tripod, it’s easy to swing around from left to right going from one subject to another.

Images captured with Nikon D3, AF-S Nikkor 600mm f4 on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

This is week is another of the great adventures in the heart of the countries largest and personally my favorite national park, Yellowstone. These events are always fun, spending a whole week in Yellowstone, traveling in snow coaches to places unable to get to in winter by car. It didn’t take long to see our first critter of the trip, the big boys, the Bison. This guy was walking down the road, doing the usual Bison thing. The Bison use the roadways in winter to traverse the park, the roads are packed and are easier to move on then breaking a path through the snow. Bison don’t hibernate nor migrate out, so they spend their time eating calories in grasses buried underneath the snow. The less they spend the less they need to eat. Basic survival in this sense makes them use the roadways. This particular one along with his buddy, walked down the road and eventually moved off into the snow towards a group out towards the Madison River. It was a nice morning, nice light popping through the clouds making for some nice shots.

The afternoon wasn’t so nice… After we left the fountain paint pots we ran into a group of Bison not far away munching away. We pulled over, watching them, and not long afterward a storm cell came through providing a fresh blanket of snow. It was difficult to shoot through, and eventually had to go to manual to get a sharp image. Not a bad little session but a wet one.

Images captured with Nikon D3, AF-S Nikkor 200-400 Vr, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film