(In case you missed the last part of the series, where I showcased the colors and textures from Yellowstone, you can check it out here)

…And here we have what have Yellowstone, America's Serengeti, is most known for: the wildlife. Photographing wildlife is a true test of persistence and patience, but the experience is surreal and the results are some of the most rewarding.  I rented a behemoth of a lens for the trip, a Nikon 600mm f/4 (the heaviest lens Nikon produces), and using that monster was an experience in of itself.  Holding steady a long 12lbs is harder than it seems… as a result, it was mounted on a tripod with great regularity.

The wildlife in Yellowstone, like the landscape around it, is unpredictable and ever changing, but when the light is right, the weather is terrible, and the opportunity arises, it’s an incredible sight to see.  While we didn’t catch a glimpse of a grizzly, we were pleased to encounter quite a number of bison, pronghorns, white-tailed deer, mule deer, herds of elk, young bighorn sheep, coyotes, and a just a glance of a pack of wolves before they disappeared into the forest.  Photographing the animals was a blast and definitely something I'm looking forward to doing again.  Hope you enjoy the photos!

Be sure to stay tuned for the last segment of the trip to Wyoming featuring the spectacular and staggering Teton Range of the Grand Teton National Park.

Update: Here's part 3 from Grand Teton National Park!

(This is part 1 of a 3-part series, be sure to check out part 2, featuring Yellowstone wildlife, and part 3 from Grand Teton National Park!)

Yellowstone National Park, our first national park, is a marvelous landscape of mountain ranges, lush forests of lodgepole and whitebark pine, valleys of sagebrush, winding rivers, geothermal features in a spectrum of colors and sizes, and of course, an array of wildlife. Part of Yellowstone National Park lies atop the Yellowstone Caldera, with the grounds acting essentially as a cap to a massive reservoir of molten lava.  Potential death and destruction aside, the molten lava is responsible for providing the energy to the various geothermal features found throughout the park, from the far northwest Mammoth Hot Springs to the most famous geyser and thermal feature of them all, Old Faithful.  In addition to the explosive eruptions,  the hot springs create mineral deposits and allows thermophilic bacteria to thrive resulting in an array of colors and textures throughout the lands of the park.

Since the area is so diverse, I decided to break up the trip into two separate blog posts to appreciate the unique features of the park. In this first part of a two (maybe 3?) part series, you'll see the colors and textures of the vast expanses, deep canyons, rushing waterfalls, big skies, autumn leaves, thermophilic bacteria, travertine terraces, and geyser basins, of Yellowstone National Park.

Hope you enjoyed the photos, be sure to stay tuned for the next part of the series!

Update: They're here! Check out part 2, featuring Yellowstone wildlife, and part 3 from Grand Teton National Park!