Day 2: Yellowstone / Grand Teton National Park GroupShoot

The theme today was RAIN!  It rained most of the day with some very short periods of no precip. The next several days say 20-30% rain so we will take it day by day and work with it.

The five of us who arrived yesterday started out this morning from Jackson, WY around 6:45am.  We traveled some of the  local roads known for wildlife. We found the usual bison, elk and pronghorn. We turned down Mormon Row Road and I spotted a young Swainson's hawk sitting calmly in a tree. We spent some time with him until he flew.... He was cooperative though.

We shot some of the Mormon barns with the Tetons in the background shrouded in fog. The shoot there was a muddy mess. I hope the Rental Car folks don't mind a little mud.  Proceeded to Oxbow Bend but Mt. Moran was obscured by fog. The eagles were still hanging out there though.

The 3 Columbus MPEGers proceeded to Yellowstone while Jared and I waited for 2 members to arrive at Jackson Hole Airport. We had a quick lunch with them and then we escorted them to West Yellowstone.  As we drove through the YNP higher elevations, there was a significant amount of snow still on the ground.. and of course, the falls and rivers are flowing well!  Gorgeous (rainy) scenery.

We ran across a HUGE bull elk in the Lower Geyser Basin grazing by the roadside... he then proceeded to cross the road in between cars minding his own business..... and that's no bull.........then we saw many baby bison (a ton of them...) grazing by the Madison River with the parents, several of the babies together. This was quite a sight to see. On the way to West Yellowstone, the Madison eagle's nest was occupied by one adult... Yes, of course, we stopped and took a few snaps.

Meanwhile, the highlight of the day for the 3 Columbus members was they came across a young grizzly in the Lake Butte Overlook along with "a million other people" (aka bear jam) and got some nice images of  him.

We all had dinner together tonight and planned tomorrow by consensus which is a 5:00 am start and we are headed to the Northwestern part of Yellowstone looking for bighorn sheep, grizzlies, and wolves ... and whatever else shows up....we plan to eat lunch out of our cars to avoid losing valuable shooting ops so the local supermarket was happy to see us!

Doesn't this sound like fun?

Day 1: Yellowstone / Grand Teton National Park GroupShoot

Hello Everyone,

First, I have been awake for 22 hrs and if this post seems incoherent, you will understand why!

What a day! Flight to Salt Lake City was fine. The 5.5 hr drive to Jackson, WY was on schedule for Jared and me, but the 3 other members who were with us had a defective rental car and had to go back to the airport, replace the car and start over again. They arrived 3 hours late.

Jared and I (since the others were delayed) decided to venture out and see what we could find...Within minutes of driving into the Grand Teton National Park, we come upon a big bull moose grazing off the road about 75-100 yds. This was my FIRST bull moose experience. He does look like bullwinkle! There were several cars pulled over admiring this guy..... then we proceeded to Oxbow Bend...saw some elk and bison (the usual) on the way.. At Oxbow Bend, the sky was cloudy thus no sunset color but I snapped some images of the classic Oxbow Bend/ Mt. Moran scene with dramatic clouds. We will see how they turn out....

Within 45 minutes at Oxbow Bend, we snapped several American White pelicans in the Oxbow Bend water. Some took off in flight and flew right in front of the Tetons (see pic). We saw a nice big beaver by the water's edge and snapped him.

I was talking with a couple from Florida and I remarked, "all we need is an eagle to fly by" and (honest to God..) just as I said those words, a juvenile bald eagle flew out from the trees and circled over the water at Oxbow Bend... Amazing... You gotta love this place!

It is truly WILD! Unpredictable! It really is exhilarating to be here not to mention BEAUTIFUL... snow capped mountains....JUST BEAUTIFUL!

The rest of the MPEGers arrive tomorrow!

I am going to sleep... Goodnight!

Mark

"We are off to see the Wizard... of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons!"

In just under 48 hrs, 9 MPEGers will converge in Yellowstone for a MPEG GroupShoot they will remember for a long time!

I will be blogging daily here beginning June 3 to June 10, 2010!

Mark

Pelican Phun!

 I spent some time last week photographing pelicans along the Mississippi River. This was my first season with the Pelicans.

Here is a sample of some Pelican Phun!

HDR Software Shoot-out soon!

I have ordered my CS5 upgrade. I will receive it next week. I am eager to try the NEW HDR Pro feature in CS5. I have HDR Photostudio but have yet to use it. I am a 3 yr. Photomatix Pro user.

Once I receive my CS5 upgrade, I plan to find some time and work some images, compare and come to a conclusion as to which one works best for me. I try to achieve the Painterly Look.

I will post the summary and results for you to decide as well.

Stay tuned!

It's Spring time at the CVNP Heron Rookery!

I stopped by the CVNP (Cuyahoga Valley National Park) Heron Rookery last evening (4/22/2010) briefly to check out the latest activity.

There are over 70 nests, lots of Great Blue Herons, nest building activity and some nests had babies but the baby boom is still a few weeks away.

Here are some images from my visit:

A Great Horned Owl Owlet at 4-5 weeks old

They are growing fast!  This image was taken 4/9/2010: