Black Bear Cub, Gardiner, MT - ©2010 Juan A. Pons
Yesterday (June 6th) was our first day of my Spring Yellowstone and Grand Tetons Workshop. After picking everyone up at the Bozeman airport we quickly made our way into the northern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. However even before we got into Yellowstone we saw this super cute Black Bear cub in the center of small town of Gardiner Montana… Believe it or not it was dozing on a small tree on the parking lot of one of the towns gasoline stations!
I made this image after he had had enough and it decided it needed to go back into it’s real habitat; back in the woods.
While traveling within the park we saw Sandhill Cranes with two chicks (a first for me in the park), plenty of Bison (and some newborns), Pronghorn, Mule Deer, Bighorn Sheep, hard some coyotes howling, and last of all we ran across this gorgeous Red fox tending to a litter of 6 kits. This vixen (what female foxes are called) was very comfortable with people and allowed us to make some great images of it and its incredibly playful kits.
Red fox vixen, Cooke City, MT - ©2010 Juan A. Pons
All in all I have to say that this was a very successful first day. Tomorrow we head east on the Beartooth Highway, which has been called “the most beautiful drive in America.”
Quick Tip: Mind your backgrounds and make sure you have nice clean backgrounds that will provide some separation for your main subjects. Also make sure you have no distracting elements poking into your backgrounds.
-J
June 6th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Juan… does a bear……
June 6th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Looks like your juvie grizzly photo is more the black bear physiology Juan!
June 6th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Peyton,
You are absolutely right… I corrected the article.
June 7th, 2010 at 7:55 am
It would be really great if you would include some of your shooting information with the images–f-stop, ISO, speed, lens setting, etc. It would be so helpful to me.
June 9th, 2010 at 2:31 am
Johnna,
The images include full EXIF data, so you can see exactly all the settings I used when I made the image. To inspect the EXIF data on the photos, search on the web as it varies by operating system.
Take care,
-J
June 7th, 2010 at 9:33 am
Juan- Heading out of the park today driving towards Mammoth I spotted a group with really big lenses along a small creek- I wonder if it was your group! Have a great time, I just spent three nights in the Slough Creek and Lamar Valleys, my first Yellowstone for photography/wildlife viewing, and it was incredible.
Tom
June 9th, 2010 at 2:34 am
Tom,
Don’t think it was us… we where mush further south by then. Hope you had a good time in the park and that you made some great images.
-J