Recent days seem to be repeating themselves. Today was another lackluster sunrise followed by a good day to shooting wildlife. I had to get up at 5:00 to ensure a good spot to shoot sunrise at Schwabachers Landing, and all I got was a very mediocre sunrise. It was still a beautiful morning, but there were no clouds above the peaks and no warmth to the color of sunrise.
The good luck actually started after I left Schwabachers Landing. Throughout the trip, I've been trying
to shoot horses or bison in front of the Tetons at Elk Ranch
Flats.
In fact, I've been trying to get this image for years.
Today, I had the opportunity. As I drove down the hill approaching
Elk Ranch Flats, I could see both horses and bison in the meadow.
Better yet, they were relatively close to the fence where they
could be photographed large enough to fit into the landscape.
The horses were beautiful and included several "paints" to
add interest to the shot.
As I returned to the campsite, a moose cow was in a small pond right outside of Jackson Lake Lodge. We had often commented on what a great placed that would be for moose, but we'd never seen one there. Today, the cow was munching away on the vegetation on the bottom of the pond, oblivious to all the cameras on the road right above her.
We closed out the day by driving the Inner Park Road looking for wildlife. We drove nearly to the south end of the park when we saw a herd of elk right at the edge of the trees. We hiked out toward the elk herd using a grove of trees for cover. The bull elk finally came out and made an appearance, so we could photograph him also.
We turned around and headed back to camp, when we came upon another bull elk and his harem. They were right along the road and were lit by the last beams of the sun between the clouds and the horizon. After a few minutes, the bull elk approached a cow and stood right beside her. Then they started "making out." Okay, they're elk but they definitely had a thing going. They took turns nuzzling each other and seemed very affectionate. It was very interesting to watch them because they were so gentle with each other. The cow eventually moved away and the bull elk returned to his role of harem gatherer and protector.
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