I added some brushstrokes to the foreground to soften it a bit.
This January, I went to Finland where it was about -38C straight to Yellowstone where it averaged about 14F with temps dipping below -10F. Needless to say, Yellowstone felt like a sauna. This year we had a lot of photo opportunities. Our first session was blessed with several up-close and personal wolf shots on the north end of the park. During our time on the snow coach (in the interior), we photographed wolf 1270m. A large, silver, grey Alpha male from the Wapiti Lake pack. He was apparently kicked out of the pack but made his way back to Alpha. Given his bulky appearance he has been eating good regardless.
From our time on the snow coach, we also photographed the “Bobby Sock” trees, Murphy’s tree and many winter scenes. AND we had bison coming straight at us with frosty fur!
It was also the year of the Coyote, we saw so many this year that it was crazy! Every time we saw something moving- it was a coyote. We even saw a pack of 10 coyotes feeding on a young bison. We saw a cute, little, curious, Pine Martin and a few foxes. We also saw and photographed a Rocky Mountain fox which is a sub species of the Red Fox.
Elk, Pronghorn, Mule deer, and Big Horn sheep were plentiful and easy to spot. Each year is different in terms of subjects and sightings but there wasn’t much snow in Gardiner, and it made the first section of the northern entrance a little less appealing in terms of photography. However, things picked up as we got more into the park.
I used my Sony A1 and Sony 200-600mm lens for almost all the wildlife images. I used the Sony 24-105mm lens for most of the scenics. I brought my Sony 70-200mm lens and used it on occasion. I am still having issues with one of my A1 bodies in the extreme cold. I will be writing to Sony and will keep you posted. Also, I brought my Sony 400-800mm lens but never even took it out of the case. Our sightings were close and I never needed it. BUT, I will bring it just in case next year.
Pine Martin
Rocky Mountain Red Fox
Frosty bison
A mating pair of coyotes
Another Pine Martin shot.
Coyote with his shadow!
Raven
Trumpeter Swans
A frosty morning.
Murphy Tree
A stitched pano
Frosty Stems
Bobby Sock Trees, creative edit.
In Photoshop I created a multiple exposure then did an Invert. and added some color tweaking.