Second looks often yield rewards.
I have always been a fan of a shot very similar to this one. I felt like the landscape orientation would fit the vibe of the situation better. Upon second glance, I have a new appreciation for this shot. Layer stacked upon layer filling the frame to the highest reaches of the Beartooth Range and beyond. This is what wildlife photography dreams are made of.
I had just gotten done with a short hike to some thermal areas near Mammoth Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Montana. The daze of the late afternoon had invaded my brain as I settled back into Foxy, my 2002 for E-510 van that I built out into a mini apartment. I turned the ignition and her V-8 roared to life.
The hula girl on the dashboard swayed to the tune of a Tallest Man on Earth track as the van shifted into gear. She would sway and sag and dip at every turn as I funneled out of the park and into Gardiner, Montana. The sun, seemingly lazy from the day’s hike was in the process of setting already. Its low trajectory illuminated her skirt with warm sunlight like a strobe as it filtered through the Cottonwoods and canyon walls.
Foxy spilled out of the narrow walls of the canyon and onto the flat lands skimming the edge of the park. Gardiner and a cold beer or two were just on the horizon. My eyes kept drifting up and into the left, to the mysterious Beartooth Mountains. Suddenly, my head snapped into place.
I careened off the side of the road as quickly as the old van would allow me. She sagged and moaned as she dipped off the pavement. I quickly reach behind my seat and grab a different lens. For this shot, I need reach, and a lot of it.
A distinguished-looking buck pronghorn is feeding only 50 yards from the side of the road but no one else seemed to notice. I could what was going to happen next. He was going to climb the bluff to get to the next cove full of golden grass. At the top, he would skylined for only a few, short moments.
I had to move fast. I screwed the telephoto lens into places and hopped out of the street. The buck had already moved toward the bluff by the time I crossed the street and got into position. I watched him climb to the top before he stopped to survey his kingdom, and what a kingdom it is.
