Bear sightings are rare in Rocky Mountain National Park. I got lucky this day as I saw a bunch of cars pulled over and people looking at a small bluff about 75 yards away. At first I thought elk or maybe sheep but when we heard it was a bear I was all about it.
Olympus OM-1, 400mm, iso 2000, f8, 1/60
Click on image to enlarge.
The early morning of March 23 at Zion National Park started with a record snowfall. We had been lucky to get a lottery spot for Angels Landing. With the effort to get there and the money spent there was nothing to do but try to see how far we could get. Clouds and snow came and went but we made it to the top. My reward was some great pics.
Olympus Tough, different settings, mostly on automatic.
Thinking about ice in the August mid-west weather… Ouray, CO, last Feburary.
In Estes I get pics of elk all the time but bobcats and coyotes are rare.
My brother in-law has good eyes and spotted the coyote across Horseshoe Park. The coyote was hunting but came up empty handed for the 20 minutes we watched him.
My wife whispered, “there’s a bobcat in the yard.” I had about a minute to grab a few shots from the kitchen window before he was out of range. The tricky part was getting him away from the septic tank cover. Somehow that ruins wildlife shots.
It’s been super cold and I saw a recipe to make frozen soap bubble so I thought I’d give it a shot. (get it?, sorry) I learned a few things-
Bubble mix recipe:
15 February, 2021
In the Wild Basin area of RMNP we took a horse trail I hadn’t been on before. Got a great opportunity to watch and photo my son making a few runs up the ice. Not gonna lie, there were a lot more chunks of ice flying around than I expected. Glad I brought my helmet.
February 10, 2021
We had visited the North Rim, Bryce Canyon and Arches with in 4 days. While they were all amazing, we both thought Bryce was the best. We took a short hike 2 miles down into the canyon to get a feel for the depth of the canyon and fully experience the wonder of this place.
Nov. 7, 2020
In May, I went up to Jurassic Park to scout a location for star photos. A storm rolled in so the night shoot was cancelled but I did get this photo of my son on top of the Edge of Time.
(OMD E-M1 m2, 21mm, f16, 1/2500sec)
I had the idea for this photo several years ago but always had barriers to putting it together- too busy, creek too low/too high, poor weather, etc. Well, thanks to COVID-19 I have lots of time. So it finally happened. Just how I had pre-visioned it. Finally.
So much of what I shoot is “make the best of what you have.” E.g. An elk is in the meadow but the light is poor or the animal is too far away, etc. In this case I saw the rocks across the creek and saw in my head what I wanted. I was able to place myself and my grand-daughter where I wanted.
It’s pretty satisfying to be able to see the vision become reality.