a friendly face

This was a very, very friendly horse. Encountered on the road from Gardiner to Bozeman,MT.

looking up

Looking at the sky, at Yellowstone. It was a clear and cold morning, after the snowstorm stopped.

Meditation Point

A lovely little (tiny, actually) church, on the way from Gardiner to Bozeman, MT.

Trees near Yellowstone

These were very close to Yellowstone’s entrance near Gardiner, MT. It was a gentle evening, the sun was low on the horizon. I loved the shadows.

All around

Looking at the vast Yellowstone landscape, near Lamar Valley. Everything looked soft and rested after the snow storm. Some landscapes have an eternal look. This could be 1972. Or 1930. Or May of 2009.

Trumpeter Swan on the White Snow

This photo almost looks unreal. White on white. It was hard for me to believe our luck. We came across a lovely white trumpeter swan by the edge of a frozen creek. He was walking back and forth, strutting almost. Enjoying the cold fresh snow.

Bison crossing the road

The snow was coming down pretty hard. The bison were making some grumbling noises as they crossed.

Taken with the Nikkor 14-24/2.8 that I rented from the fabulous Lensrentals.com. I debated whether to use a telephoto lens to zoom in on the bison, but I decided that a wide angle would be more interesting. I knelt and waited till the bison was right where the tire marks on the snow would lead the eye to him. Right after I pressed the shutter, the bison turned and gave me an intense look that scared me (!) and I ran back to the car. :-) [We had been warned not to get any closer than 25 yards or we would be ticketed by the park rangers (I was close) and that bison can charge at people with a speed of 35 miles/hr.]

Photographers photographing photographers

The wonderful Steve Simon photographing a landscape at Yellowstone.

Going to school

Oh yes. The bus stopped. We all stopped. The bison meandered and weaved through the road, back and forth, for a good long while.

Newborn bison by the side of the road

One morning, as we entered Yellowstone, we were told by the guard that there was an infant bison – less than 24 hours old, with the umbilical cord sill hanging.

Sure enough we saw the little baby. She was clinging to her mom, right by the side of the road. We were not permitted to get out of the car, so we took photos through windows.