In October 2012, I decided to take a vacation and head out to Yellowstone. At the time, I was still focused on doing what I’d always done on vacation - cover as much ground and see as much as possible in the time allotted. So, I decided to take the train rather than fly. It would take longer, but I’d see more of the country and be more relaxed than going by air. And, since I was going to have to rent a car and drive quite a ways to get to the park, I decided to see a few other things on the way.

      I took the train from Wells, Maine to Boston, Massachusetts, then a cab from North Station to South Station. From there, the train took me to Albany, New York where we hooked up with the larger train to Chicago. From Chicago, I took another train up and over to North Dakota, debarking in Minot.

      From there, I took my rental and headed down into South Dakota, just getting a quick drive-through of Badlands National Park before the sun set and the rain started pouring down. The next day, I headed over to see Mt Rushmore and the Black Hills before crossing into Wyoming with a detour for a glimpse of Devil’s Tower National Monument. I made it through the Cloud Peak Wilderness Area in the Bighorn National Forest before it got completely dark and spent the night in Cody. Devil's Tower National Monument viewed from just outside the park gates. Devils Tower, Wyoming

The famous rock formation viewed from just outside the park gates. Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming

      The next morning, I headed into Yellowstone. I had only done a few minutes worth of research on the park before leaving home, I’m ashamed to admit. I hadn’t known anything about it at all other than Old Faithful, and the research I did talked mostly of the geology and the animals. So, I went in with the totally wrong mindset.

      First, I wasn’t really interested in the geology, hadn’t seen any photos and assumed it wouldn’t be that interesting for me photographically, or otherwise to be honest. Second, my plan was to capture beautiful fall foliage shots. Third, I was going to get what I could for animal shots if I got lucky enough to see anything on my drive through the park.

      I spotted my first bison walking down the road towards me within a few minutes of entering the park. The signs and the literature all say not to stop and to use designated pull-outs for everyone’s safety, but I couldn’t. Here in Maine, you see a bear/deer/moose, you stop until it’s safely out of the road and in the puckerbrush. You don’t mess around trying to get by. They could kill you if you hit it with your car. This guy was huge, and I wasn’t taking any chances. I got lucky, too, because he just kept on coming at his own pace along the other side of the road, so I had plenty of time to swap lenses and get some photos out my window. My first wildlife sighting, a bison walking towards me beyond the East Entrance near Sylvan Lake. Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone, Wyoming

My first wildlife sighting, a bison walking towards me beyond the East Entrance. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

      From that point on, my whole time in Yellowstone was an eye-opener. I’d drive only a few minutes before having to pull over again, either due to another bison sighting or a beautiful vista. My mind was blown by both how spectacular the scenery was and by the plethora of wildlife sightings right from the car. It took me hours to reach the West Thumb Geyser Basin simply from stopping so often for photos, and that was without setting up a tripod or hiking away from the road. Yellowstone Lake taken from Lake Butte Overlook. Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone, Wyoming

Remnants of a forest fire along Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

      I had another eye-opener at the boardwalk at the basin. I couldn’t believe how varied the colors of the pools were and loved the steam coming off them. I found the whole area to be quite photogenic and really enjoyed my time there, much to my surprise. Steaming turquoise pools at West Thumb Geyser Basin with Yellowstone Lake in the background. Yellowstone National Park, West Thumb, Wyoming

Steaming turquoise pools with Yellowstone Lake in the background. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

      After that, I was crossing a bridge when I spotted a bison below. I pulled off the road and walked back onto the bridge a couple of times to try different lenses. At one point, a huge geyser shot off on the other side of the trees beyond the bison. I was floored by the height, completely taken by surprise at the whole thing. When I got back to my car and looked at the map, I realized it had been Old Faithful. While I’d been planning on stopping, because how could I not, I hadn’t really looked forward to it. Now, that had changed. Old Faithful Geyser blasting off behind the trees. Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful, Wyoming

Old Faithful blasting off behind the trees. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

This was the bison I was photographing when Old Faithful went off in the background. At the time, he had been more to the right, closer to the Firehole River, so I wasn't able to get a shot of him and the geyser together with that lens. Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful, Wyoming

This was the bison I was photographing when Old Faithful went off in the background. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a photo of them both together with the lens I was using at the moment. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

      I had enough time to walk some of the boardwalk for photos of the area and then find a spot away from everyone else before showtime. It was pretty cool, though not as exciting as seeing it behind that bison unexpectedly.

      Not far from Old Faithful, just beyond Black Sand Basin, I came across a huge number of cars pulled over and people lined up outside. They were bear watching! The brown bear was on the other side of the river, and there was a ranger standing amongst the crowd, so it seemed pretty safe. I got out my 200mm zoom lens, the biggest one I had at the time, and tried to get some photos from the car. The bear was already at a great distance and heading towards the trees, so I knew I didn’t have time to get out and join the crowd.

      The lens had a ‘macro’ setting, and it somehow got locked on that while either putting it in or pulling it out of the bag. The first photo was blurry, so I deleted it. I tried to get it out of macro and took another photo, also blurry, also deleted. I finally succeeded in getting it back to normal operations but didn’t get the focus quite right, so it too ended up blurry and deleted. Then, the bear was gone, and I was completely out of luck and out of photos.

Steamy landscape along the Firehole River at Biscuit Basin. This was the photo I had stopped to take when the bison snuck up on me. Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful, Wyoming Steamy landscape along the Firehole River. I stopped specifically for this photo and ended up having a bit of a run-in with a bison. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

      After leaving there, I stopped at a few more geyser areas and had many more bison photo ops. They were so prevalent that I didn’t feel comfortable hiking any of the trails or boardwalks on my own, especially after also having just seen that bear. In fact, at Biscuit Basin, there had been a bison laying down right next to the parking entrance. I had parked my car and walked to the other end of the lot for a photo of the river, and when I turned around to head back, the bison was walking right past the car. I had to wait for him to move on before I could get safely back inside. Sunset at Great Fountain Geyser in the Lower Geyser Basin. Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful, Wyoming

Sunset in the Lower Geyser Basin. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

      The following day continued my whirlwind tour. I visited Firehole Falls and then Gibbon Falls with more bison in between. Then, I found more cars parked along the road and managed to get some photos of a bull elk as he walked along the river next to my car. From there, I visited the Artists’ Paintpots and did the small hike there for some great views. Just beyond, there was another line of cars on the side of the road. This time, it was a coyote, but I didn’t get a chance to photograph it.

Bison along the Firehole River. Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful, Wyoming Bison along the Firehole River. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Bull elk along the Gibbon River. Yellowstone National Park, Madison, Wyoming

Bull elk along the Gibbon River. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

View from the walk at Artists Paintpots. Yellowstone National Park, Madison, Wyoming

View from the walk at Artists Paintpots. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

      After that, I picked up speed as I headed towards Mammoth Hot Springs. The landscape changed a lot along the way, and I didn’t see any more wildlife. I was still stopping for photos but not nearly so often. After exploring the hot springs by car, I drove down into the village of Mammoth for the vantage points there. That was the only place in the whole park where I saw fall foliage. The rest of the park was covered in lodgepole pine or other spruce or evergreen trees, not deciduous trees. View from the Bunsen Peak area. Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth, Wyoming

View from the road to Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Steam rising off Orange Spring Mound in the Upper Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth, Wyoming

Steam rising off Orange Spring Mound in the Upper Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Fall foliage in the village. Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth, Wyoming

Fall foliage in the village. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

      I headed back the way I’d come, then finished the loop to return towards the East entrance once more. I spotted several more bison, both individually and in herds, but didn’t stop for many photos. At this point, my goal was to make it back to Cody for gas and out of the mountains before dark. I stopped for one shot in Shoshone National Forest as the setting sun lit up the bluffs, then continued on, making it to Cody before running out of gas. Late day sunlight on the landscape. Shoshone National Forest, Wapiti, Wyoming

Late day sunlight on the landscape. Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming

      I left Cody and headed for Montana, spending the night in Billings. The next day, I traveled along the interstate, stopping only at a couple of rest stops for some quick photos of the state. There was another rest stop with an overlook at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. From then on, it was just driving driving driving so I could catch my train home back in Minot in time. View of the badlands from the scenic rest stop. I found out from a park ranger that 'badlands' is actually a type of landscape and thus is found in multiple places, not just the national park of that name. Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Medora, North Dakota

View of the badlands from the scenic rest stop. I found out from a park ranger that 'badlands' is actually a type of landscape and thus is found in multiple places, not just the national park of that name. Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

      All in all, this was a great little trip, but there are definitely lessons to be learned. First, do some sort of research, not just a couple of minutes, that includes photos of your destination. This will give you a more accurate mental picture of what to expect so you don’t plan for one thing, find it’s something else, and be disappointed. It will help you prepare in terms of having the correct equipment, as well, not only in terms of lenses, tripods, etc, but also in terms of clothing and hiking/safety gear. Similarly, know your gear before you go. You don’t want to be wasting time trying to figure out a piece of equipment and miss the shot, like I did with the bear.

      Next, don’t delete any photos from the camera while on location in the field. It was a hard lesson to learn, but a necessary one. This is especially true while in the midst of photographing a wild animal. They don't stick around long, and you don't want to miss out on the opportunity for more photos while you're busy deleting bad ones. Instead, wait until you’re home or at least looking at the photos on a computer. Sometimes a photo looks bad on the camera's LCD screen, but once you’re viewing the real thing on a big monitor, you realize it actually isn't. Plus, this is a trip full of memories. It’s better to have a blurry photo of something memorable than nothing at all.

      And, lastly, if at all possible, slow down and take your time. You'll find you get much more out of the trip in the long run. Whether you use that time to enjoy yourself, to more intimately explore an area, or to spend more effort in a single shot, it will be well worth it.

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Click here to see more photos from my trip to Yellowstone.