I took a photography trip to the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks this fall. I arrived at the beginning of October. This year that marked the change from summer to Autumn. It also featured the start of the Elk rut.
The day I arrived, the high temperature was about 70. I heard that the weather had been the same for the previous three weeks. The ungulates stayed in the mountains where it was cooler. The day after I arrived the rains came and temperatures struggled to get to 60. By the time I left, the first snows of winter had fallen.
On the trip, I took over 3000 exposures. It is going to take me some time to sort through and edit them all. In the mean time, here are some of the photos I shot in Grand Teton National Park.
I’ll start with my first wildlife shot of the trip. Judging by the dark racing stripe between his legs, this little guy is a Chickaree.
I didn’t realize it, but this was to be my only clear view of the Teton mountains. Note the distinct lack of snow. That changed a few hours after this photo was taken.
The next wildlife I found were a few Mule Deer does and their fawns. I got some nice close ups.
This group of Elk were grazing along the road as I drove back to the Hotel room.
Rain started before I made it back to my room. The following day was very cloudy with intermittent rain. I ventured forth in spite of the weather. I chose this time of year in hopes of seeing the fall colors and the Elk rut. I was not disappointed.
Moose are quite common along the roads in Jackson Hole.
The following photos were taken during the photography workshop I took with Steve Mattheis. I highly recommend his workshop, I learned a lot about both my camera and wildlife photography.
And what trip would be complete without a photo of a Grizzly Bear. I would see many more bears in Yellowstone but these were close.
I’ll post more photos from the Yellowstone portion of the trip.
I had an amazing time. If you can get out to see these parks I would highly recommend doing so. My experience was heightened by hiring a guide service. The guide I hired showed me areas of the park I would not have seen and he knew where the wildlife was close enough to be photographed, and when it would be there.
If you are looking to see wildlife, selecting the right guide will maximize your chances of seeing the wildlife you are looking to see. My Yellowstone guide, MacNeal Lyons, helped pick the time of year to visit as well as the locations. As an example, one day in Yellowstone my guide took me to a place where we saw 16 Grizzly Bears! Sixteen! Most of them were a half-mile or more away, but I was fine with that. That’s a lot of bears to see in one area.