The secret to photographing Yellowstone in July is to know where the action is, hike there shortly after sunrise and spend the entire day there. It really helps if the action is on the shores of a lake with plenty of shade.
Each year in July I make the hike to Trout Lake to try my luck, and often try my patience too. This year the family of otters rewarded my patience by putting on a few great shows. I did have to spend two days waiting, but the company was pleasant and the setting pristine.
A North American River Otter enjoys a dinner of Cutthroat Trout on a log along the shores of Trout Lake in Yellowstone National Park. Captured with a Canon 7D with 500/4.0L IS in manual mode at ISO400, f/4.5, and 1/320th of a second. The camera was mounted on a Gitzo 3540XLS and Induro GHB2 gimbal head.
A pair of North American River Otters enjoy dinner of Cutthroat Trout on a log along the shores of Trout Lake in Yellowstone National Park. Captured with a Canon 7D with 18-55 (@55mm) in manual mode at ISO400, f/5.6, and 1/250th of a second. The camera was handheld, while I let a park employee use my 500/4.0L IS mounted on my tripod with his Canon Rebel, "oh boy what a difference a lens can make."
A trio of North American River Otters engage in some playful fighting along the shores of Trout Lake in Yellowstone National Park. Captured with a Canon 7D with 500/4.0L IS in manual mode at ISO800, f/4.5, and 1/400th of a second. The camera was mounted on a Gitzo 3540XLS and Induro GHB2 gimbal head.
A trio of North American River Otters engage in some playful fighting along the shores of Trout Lake in Yellowstone National Park. Captured with a Canon 7D with 500/4.0L IS in manual mode at ISO800, f/4.5, and 1/400th of a second. The camera was mounted on a Gitzo 3540XLS and Induro GHB2 gimbal head.
These pictures are so amazing!! Yellowstone is one of my favorite places and you have captured that feeling I get when I visit there!!!!
My students and I on a trip with Ecology Project International, watched one of these otters for quite a while and also took some great photos of him. We saw him catch a trout, eat it in less than 15 minutes, and then nap on a log at Trout Lake. What a great day with my students from Connecticut! It was fun to see these shots. It brought great memories back from the first week of August.
Dave,
Love these! We didn’t see otter, Where are you in the park? So we know where to go when we return in 2012. September 20th we were there for the first time… Loved it so amazing for a pro photo bug like me! Thousands of photos in a week !
Bobi Cripe
ps I would love to share YS through my eyes, where can I post?
pss I met you at your book table, we had fun bantering about “being expressive” then my hubby showed up and was expressive reading your sign as well… just fun! B
When I was at Yellowstone I went to Trout Lake just because I was told that a family of otters was there. Unfortunately, they weren’t visible at the time, but Trout Lake was beautiful, a nice little gem that a lot of people didn’t take advantage of.