When it comes to wildlife, there are few places in the US that rival Yellowstone. The wildlife opportunities are seemingly endless and you never know what’s around the corner. This year’s workshop was off the charts for wildlife. We had great sightings every single day.

On the first morning of the trip, we spotted a herd of elk no more than two minutes after entering the park. We got a few shots in before continuing into Mammoth where we found a bull elk standing on the steps of the Yellowstone Justice Center. While this was not the shot that we were expecting, it was rather funny so we racked off a few shots. The rest of the morning and afternoon produced some fantastic close encounters with the park’s mascot. I’m talking about bison of course!

The following day we headed into the park a tad bit earlier so we could photograph Yellowstone falls in the morning. After sunrise we continued with a game drive down a foggy valley. As the day wore on, we headed over to Old Faithful to shoot the famous eruption as well as a few other geysers in the area. We made sure to leave the geysers with enough time for one more game drive that resulted in a few more bison and a great prong horn stop.

The last morning resulted in one of the most incredible bison scenes that I’ve ever seen. We watched and photographed about 100 bison cross a steaming backlit river at sunrise. It was unbelievable. Shortly after the bison sighting, we spotted a black bear near the road. The group got out and took some shots. About ten minutes later we spotted another black bear. Back-to-back bear sightings! What are the odds? The last shoot of the trip produced a few more close bison sightings. Eventually, the sun began to fade and it was time to bring the workshop to an end.

Until next time,

Mike and the rest of the Aperture Academy crew

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