Jess Lee’s Photo Adventures

Grizzly Cubs

For all of you traveling to Yellowstone this summer. If you would like to see some of my print in person you can stop by the Paradise Gallery in Gardiner on the border of the park.

I have about half of the prints here http://www.jessleephotos.com/paradisegallery/index.htm

The rest will be added as time permits (what ever that means;)

Yellowstone wolf chasing elk

It was really bad light from the only place we could watch the stand off. It had gone on all day. The cow elk on the tiny island, The 3 wolves napping on the shore, only attacking when the elk tried to rest.
Finally as the light got in the worsts location for us the wolves left the lake shore. They were out of sight for about 5 minutes on the far side of the lake. Then the 2 grays and the black returned. The grays drew the cow elks attention while the black circled the lake to come in behind its prey. The black lay in the cover along the lake shore taking in deep breaths to prepare it for what was to come. Then it charged.
The battle went on for what seemed to be a long time. The outcome inevitable. What was bad light for us was the end for the elk.
After the kill we watched the wolves take large pieces of their capture to the Alpha Female and the pup waiting in the den some 15 miles away.

I suppose I could have processed this for the shadow and again for the highlights but to me the harsh light seems to fit

This photo shows what can happen when we get to fixed on the action. While it is a good photo the foreground is cut off too close to the bears. This is usually caused by making your composition centered on the central focusing sensor of your camera.

Yes it is hard to keep this in mind and it is a trap we all fall into. You  can avoid this by remembering to look at the total image.

That is one of the great advantages of going to a place like our tour to Silver Salmon Lodge in Alaska. You have plenty of time and subjects to shoot and learn.