Reflections on 2022
My golden doodle contributed to the inspiration of this post with her reflection in my entryway, which was taken with my new RF 50mm 1.2 lens. You may wonder why someone focused on wildlife photography needs a 50mm lens. Well, I’ve read that it makes a good portrait lens, more on that later.
2022 ended up being a great year from a personal, professional and photography perspective.
On of the highlights from this year included taking the dive into mirrorless photography in March with getting a Canon R3. I’m loving the features in mirrorless cameras and haven’t touched my 1DX III since picking up my R3. I’m really glad that I didn’t wait for the R1 to come out.
Took a couple of amazing trips to Yellowstone in January and Alaska in June. This was my 4th trip to Yellowstone in winter and it likely won’t be my last as it’s such an amazing place. Got my dream shot on this trip of a black wolf staring at me with his yellow eyes.
Made my second trip to Alaska for coastal brown bear photography, which is my latest obsession. The bears were amazing, although we didn’t see the cubs like last year. However, made up for that with my first attempts at taking video with my new camera. Got some amazing slow-motion video of bears opening clams with their claws. Video adds another dimension to the storytelling of my wildlife photography, and it has been very exciting to add it to my portfolio.
After returning from Alaska in June, spent some quality time taking photos and videos at Bolivar Flats, on the Texas gulf coast. Quickly found that it was a little more challenging to take video of fast-moving birds than the slower moving bears. However, I’m very pleased with the results. Have been collecting some of my favorite bird videos to enter into the 2023 Audubon photo contest, so be on the lookout for them.
In total, made 50 trips to local areas around Houston for wildlife photography. Can’t wait to see what photo ops 2023 will bring.
The major highlight for 2022, and the reason to get a 50mm lens, is that my daughter is pregnant!! We are thrilled for Heather and Jack with their baby due in May. Next year will involve lots of baby photo shoots with some outfits already being purchased for Christmas gifts this year.
Happy New Year everyone!! 2023 is going to be amazing! Hopefully will have time for some wildlife photography. Already have two major trips planned with hopefully a third one as well. More on those later.
Frosty Bison
Got home yesterday from a trip to Yellowstone with 7 days of shooting in the park. Spend 3 days in a snow coach from West Yellowstone and 4 days driving on the northern range from Gardiner. It’s always a great time to be in Yellowstone in the winter. The animal activity was slower than normal this year likely due to the lower snow pack in the park but still had some great photo ops with wolves, moose, bison, coyotes, bald eagles and a large herd of big horned sheep.
Used manual mode while shooting in the snow. Only used my tripod once since it is much easier to use a Black Rapid strap for my 500mm lens when bailing out of the vehicle for some fast-moving action shots.
Found this frosty bison close to the road as he was using his head to push away the snow to get to the grass in -16 deg F temperatures. Was hoping for colder weather for more frost.
1/640 sec @ F7.1, ISO 2500, manual mode, 700mm, handheld
My Favorites from 2019
As the year comes to a close, it’s time to reflect on 2019 and what’s to come in 2020. My photography goals for 2019 were to get out and shoot more than in 2018 and try to improve the quality of my photos. Made some progress on both of those goals.
Yellowstone in winter was the highlight again this year, along with several local trips to the gulf coast/surrounding area. Looking forward to seeing what 2020 will bring. It’s going to be an interesting year for sure.
Here are some of my favorite photos from 2019.
Great egrets from High Island rookery that made the top 100 in Audubon’s photo contest.
Yellowstone Bison with some frozen fog @ -22 deg F.
Yellowstone coyote jumping up the hill towards us. Off the charts experience.
Black-necked stilt posing for me at Bolivar Flats
Thousands of American Avocets on the shoreline at Bolivar Flats with my group from Galveston’s FeatherFest.
Reddish Egret in silhouette at Bolivar Flats.
White morph reddish egret at Bolivar Flats along the Texas gulf coast.
Reddish Egret from Bolivar Flats.
American Avocet taking off at Bolivar Flats.
Willet landing at sunrise at Bolivar Flats.
American Avocet at Bolivar Flats.
Long-Tailed Weasel from Yellowstone
We were lucky enough to find a long-tailed weasel. He was across the river on a hill and was very difficult to spot. I couldn’t find him after he was spotted. Had to try to find his black tail bounding across the snow. Cute little critter but a very vicious carnivore with sharp teeth and claws.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens, handheld
1/800 sec @ F6.3, ISO 1600, spot metering off the snow +2 tops, manual mode
Yellowstone Coyote – Head Shots
To cap off my coyote encounter at Yellowstone, the coyote almost face-planted while nearing the top of the hill. The snow must have gotten deeper or the hill was steeper causing him to almost fall into the snow. He was able to maintain his laser focus on what he was looking at and didn’t miss a beat.
Minor cropping off of the left side of the frame on these head shots.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm lens, handheld while sitting in a snowbank.
Manual mode, 1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 400
Yellowstone Coyote Full Frame
Here is a full frame shot of the Yellowstone coyote as he went around me after jumping up the hill. Was a very good day.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II, handheld while sitting in a snowbank.
1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 400, manual mode
Yellowstone Coyote Among the Cattails
Yellowstone coyote on his way to the small creek before he ran up the hill. Full framed shot without any cropping. Saw this composition coming as he got near the cattails. Used back-focus button to get him in focus and then recomposed to put him in the lower left corner with the cattails in the top of the frame.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II, handheld
1/3200 sec @ F8, ISO 800, manual mode
Once-in-a-Lifetime at Yellowstone
Our second coyote encounter on Day 1 at Yellowstone was incredible. One of our workshop leaders spotted a coyote crossing the river at a distance. We got out of the snow coach and walked down the road to try to get a better view of him. He got up on the bank and made his way to our right in the snow, catching some food along the way.
Three of us went with Jared further upstream and waited for him to come to us. While sitting in a snowbank, got some cool shots of the coyote working his way along a small winding creek at the bottom of our hill. Was very happy to get those shots and expected him to continue along his way at the base of this hill.
All of a sudden, he took off and ran/jumped up the hill directly towards us. Luckily didn’t have my tripod or would have missed some of the shots as I had to lean back and to my left to shoot as a small tree got in the way.
He bounded up the hill while glancing from left to right with making direct eye contact with me several times. He would blast up out of the snow, which created a cool ring of snow around him. As he got closer, began to wonder if he was going to run right into me so I briefly lifted my head up to see how close that he was getting and he veered off to my left, leaving me with some full frame shots as he went by.
He kept going up the hill while almost face-planting into the snow allowing for a couple of cool head shots. At the top of the hill, he looked back at us and then went down the road like nothing happened. He left us with the thought “What just happened and did we capture it?” Downloading my photos revealed that I got 37 out of 40 photos in the sequence in focus when he ran up the hill in about 75 seconds. Have a 12 frames/sec camera really paid off.
I keep having these once-in-a-lifetime photography experiences in Yellowstone, which will ensure that I keep going back. Thanks again Jared and Doug. One of my favorite Yellowstone encounters ever.
All photos were taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II lens, handheld
Manual mode, 1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 400, 500mm
Yellowstone Coyote Mousing
Just got back from another trip to Yellowstone with Jared Lloyd and Doug Gardner. This was my third year in a row but had to grab a cancellation spot to make it. Was another awesome trip with meeting some great people and critters.
Although the park was somewhat slow for animal activity based on the last couple of years, we had some outstanding photo opportunities. The area finally got some snow right before we arrived. Coldest temperature was –22 deg F but much warmer than that for most days.
My first trip with Jared was the year of the fox, last year was the year of the wolves and this trip was the year of the coyote with some great bighorns thrown in.
This day 1 encounter featured a coyote that went mousing fairly close to us. He was successful and moved on. Thought that we were lucky to see this until the next coyote sighting, which was off the charts spectacular. More on that later.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II
Manual exposure, 1/2000 sec @ F4, ISO 1000, spot metering off of the snow + 2 stops
Yellowstone in Winter 2018 – Day 2
Day 2 in Yellowstone confirmed our suspicion that the wounded bison didn’t make it as a new carcass was discovered about 25 yds from the tree where we left her the day before. As we approached the area, several wolves were crossing the road in front of us about 50 yds away. It was too dark to take photos so we got out our cell phones for some video. They went up the hill to our left to bed down with their full stomachs.
We kept pushing forward in search of frosty bison as the temperature had dipped to – 18 deg F in the park just after sunrise. We headed towards Old Faithful and found a lone bison with some decent frost on him and got some full frame shots. Kept going and found several bison a little further off of the road so we stopped to take some photos. Some hiking out into the now put us in position to get some cool shots of the group. We later found a group of bison heading towards us walking down the road that were back-lit so we bailed out of the snowcoach again. We worked along the Madison River on our way back to the wolves.
1/800 sec @ F6.3, ISO 2500, manual mode with spot metering off of the snow + 2 stops
1/500 sec @ F6.3, ISO 800, manual mode
We spotted a lone wolf at the top of the hill lying down resting with his head raised and paws out in front of him. He looked like a big puppy dot and was sleepy from having a full belly. We photographed him for quite a while until he got up and moved.
1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 200, manual mode
We headed back towards our vehicle and started eating lunch near our tripods. Food wasn’t supposed to be an element in our shooting until Jared spotted a black wolf coming out of the woods right behind us. We quickly spun around and started shooting as he moved towards the road. Got the shots while operating my camera in one hand and holding onto the sandwich and lens with the other.
It was an amazing experience to see a black wolf in the white snow at that distance. The first shot below is full frame with no cropping. He could have cared less if we were there or not as he never lost focus on his awaiting feast. Got 67 shots of him as he came down the hill and casually walked away from us down the road.
1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 200, manual mode
1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 200, manual mode
1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 200, manual mode
Thought that those were shots of a lifetime until he returned about 14 minutes later. He ran up the hill only turning his head slightly to look at us near the top as he barely acknowledged our presence. With his yellow eyes and black sculpted body, he looked like the wolves that nightmares are made of. A literal once in a lifetime experience and I’m still fired up about it.
1/1600 sec @ F7.1, ISO 200, manual mode
Yellowstone in Winter 2018 – Day 1
Just got home last week from my second journey to Yellowstone National Park in winter, traveling on Jared Lloyd’s Winter in Yellowstone Workshop. My first trip last year was one of those so called life changing experiences with it being an easy decision to go back again this year before the airplane wheels touched down in Houston. Last year was very special with fishing coyotes, bull elk, jumping fox, frosty bison and a long-tailed weasel. Also got to see wolves in the Lamar Valley about 1 mile away through a spotting scope. This year changed that perspective, just slightly, forever.
Day 1 in the park started out with a slight delay with the snow coach but it all worked out with us entering the park at the West Yellowstone entrance around 7:30 a.m. We had heard about a carcass near the road with wolf activity, so we were very excited to see what the morning would bring. As we approached the location, we could see what was left of the carcass but no wolves, so we kept going in search of other wildlife along the Madison River. We worked the river to the warming hut and headed back west.
Just past the seven mile bridge, we spotted two wolves on a hillside that were watching a young bison that was standing in the river. The bison had apparently been attacked earlier by the wolves on her rear legs and was seeking shelter in the river.
Manual mode, 1/2000 sec @ F10, ISO 500, spot metering off the snow, +2 stops
Manual mode, 1/1600 sec @ F10, ISO 400, spot metering off the snow, +2 stops
We photographed the wolves for over two hours and they eventually moved over the hill out of sight. The bison took that que to try to make an escape by walking along the river right in front of us and then up on the road heading east, limping along as she walked. We found her later on the opposite side of the road lying down next to a tree.
We all knew what would likely be her fate by the next morning, which came to pass. The circle of life is very hard to watch in person but inevitable in the wild.
Manual mode, 1/1000 sec @ F10, ISO 400, spot metering off the snow, +2 stops
Manual mode, 1/1000 sec @ F10, ISO 400, spot metering off the snow, +2 stops
Manual mode, 1/4000 sec @ F6.3, ISO 320, spot metering off the snow, +2 stops
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on Induro tripod with leveling head and Wimberley II gimbal head, some hand held.
Yellowstone Winter Trees
It’s getting quite toasty with the heat/humidity in SE Texas so I thought that it was time to cool it down a touch with a couple of photos from Yellowstone in winter. My trip was focused on “wildlife” but we did stop a couple of times for some landscape photos. Proof that I can somewhat take non-critter photos.
I wasn’t the best prepared traveling without my ball head but made
do. Trying to use a 17-40mm lens on a gimbal head was a challenge though. Plus breaking my 100-400 lens on day 1 didn’t help so the last shot was with my 500mm lens. Next time I’ll have my back-up camera ready with my wide-angle lens for just such an occasion.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 17-40mm lens mounted on tripod.
Manual mode, 1/60 sec @ F11, ISO 200, spot metered off the snow + 2 stops
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II handheld
Manual mode, 1/800 sec @ F5.6, ISO 100, spot metered off the snow + 2 stops
Bighorn Sheep
Another first for me was to see Bighorn Sheep in the wild on my Yellowstone trip. We searched for a few days in the Lamar Valley looking for them with no luck. On our next to last day, we found two of them just outside of town. We parking along the highway and got several good looks from them.
One of my favorites was this face to face interaction. Not the right time of year for head butting but it was cool to see.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
Manual exposure, 1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 400
Manual exposure, 1/1600 sec @ F8, ISO 400
Moose Encounter at Yellowstone
Here are some photos of my first Moose encounter in Yellowstone. We found this one as we were headed to Cooke City on the north side of Yellowstone. Jared spotted a female moose and made a quick turn around with his vehicle to try to find it again. We ended up having to drive to the next turn-around as the snow was quite high along the road. By the time that we got back, Doug had spotted this male bull moose walking through the trees.
We set up near the road as he walked out of the tree line right in front of us. It was very exciting as he got into open ground in the virgin show.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter, mounted on a tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
Manual mode, 1/2000 sec @ F7.1, ISO 800, spot metering off of the snow
Long-Tailed Weasel
Here are some photos of a Long-Tailed Weasel from Yellowstone. He was originally identified as an Ermine but later was corrected to the Long-Tailed Weasel due to the length of his tail. The black tip on their tails help them survive as raptors will go for the black tip and allow them to escape.
Meggi spotted him while will we were headed down one of the snow covered roads. The snowcoach driver stopped suddenly, I grabbed my 500mm lens and headed to the door. Of course, the driver was trying to grab some of his gear and hadn’t opened the door. I started raising my voice and ended up yelling for him to “please open the door!”. That got his attention and I started shooting from the open door. However, the people behind me weren’t too pleased so I bailed out of the vehicle and the pursuit was on for this little critter.
In my haste to get at least a few shots before he disappeared under the snow, I forgot my hat and gloves. Also forgot that my 1.4X was still on, so trying to quickly focus on this fast moving little critter was a major challenge. He ran back and forth along near the road for about 20 min. At one point he ran across the road and back and went straight for our workshop leader, Jared. Thought that we was going to try to run up his leg.
Several other vehicles stopped while we were there to get photos. It was lots of chaos but also lots of fun. Had to sneak back to the bus at one point to grab my hat/gloves and take off the teleconverter.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III telconverter, handheld
1/2500 sec @ F7.1, ISO 800, spot metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm
1/2000 sec @ F7.1, ISO 800, spot metering, +1 exposure compensation, 700mm, with minimal cropping
Nature’s Snowplow
This bison was found in a snowbank and plowed his way to the road. Very sturdy beasts for sure. At this stop, I started out using my 500mm lens on a tripod and then switched to the 100-400, which was a good move. Ended up with a good variety of shots.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 100-400 II lens, handheld
Manual mode, 1/1000 sec @ F6.3, ISO 400, spot metering off the snow
Since the colors were muted in the snow, converted it to B&W using NIK Silver Efex Pro II
Jumping Fox
One of the highlights of my recent trip to Yellowstone was the red fox. Our workshop leader, Jared Lloyd, knew where to find him as we headed to Larmar Valley on the north side of Yellowstone. He was sitting on top of a snow covered boulder that helped keep track of potential predators.
We spent about 2 hrs photographing him in the morning and came back in the afternoon. He had moved off of the rock and was sitting near his den along side the rock. Got a couple of shots of him and then, in my infinite wisdom, I stepped away from my camera to see where the rest of my group was. Of course, a snowball came rolling down the hill and spooked the fox and he quickly got up. Missed that shot but got him as he stopped and turned towards us before entering his den under the rock.
He ended up coming out the other side of then rock via the back door and climbed on top of the hill adjacent to the rock. We got several shots of him in that position. Some of us were thinking that we were going to leave at that point but Doug came walking up the road from parking one of the vehicles and said that we were going to stay put. That was a great decision as the action picked up. The fox finally got up, yawned several times and headed back to his rock.
He then got into position and jumped back onto the snow covered rock. I was able to catch him in midair during the jump.
Yellowstone Adventure
Sorry that I’ve been away for a while but a recent trip has kept me somewhat preoccupied. Finally checked going to Yellowstone off of my bucket list. Decided last spring to take the plunge and register for a 10 day trip to Yellowstone in the winter. Goal was to avoid the crowds and to see the raw beauty of Yellowstone in the winter.
Ended up spending the rest of 2016 buying up warm clothes for the trip. More on that later.
I’m still working on my photos and it will take some time to go through all of them. Here are a couple of teaser shots.
More to come…
Frosty Bison: it was – 20 deg F on the first day that we entered the park from the town of West Yellowstone. We headed towards Old Faithful looking for “frosty” bison. We found a herd along the way and were rewarded with some great photo op’s.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X teleconverter mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head.
Manual mode, 1/1600 sec @ F9, ISO 3200, spot metering off the snow with adjustments from there, 700mm
Red Fox yawning: We found this red fox sitting on top of a snow covered boulder, which he used as protection from coyotes. He was one of my favorite targets on this trip. We spent about 4 hours photographing him that day.
1/800 sec @ F7.1, ISO 800, evaluative metering, + 2 1/3 exposure compensation, 700mm
Tim Timmis Photography 