I’ve enjoyed nearly 25 years of leading photo tours and exploring Yellowstone National Park. While every visit is different, one aspect remains consistent: every trip is wonderful in its own unique way.
Winter means the crowds are gone, and most of the park’s roads are closed for the season, returning the park to serenity. With the cold, nature wrestles back its dominant role over Yellowstone’s forests and meadows. Quiet and solitude return to the landscape as snow keeps most folks away during the winter months. At the same time, most travelers are considering booking a warm weather holiday for this time of year. Fortunately, many don’t think about a winter experience exploring the beauty of Yellowstone’s frosty winter. For the adventurous, the reward is a memorable experience for nature photographers to capture and enjoy.
I am happy to report that the winter weather we experienced on our second 2024 trip was everything I hoped it would be. When I lead nature journeys or photo tours, I wish for every one of my travelers to experience a place in as many moods as the location can deliver. This season’s tour provided for all that in the first three days while out on our snow coach as we explored the interior of the park. Conditions were clear and cold with temperatures barely above zero Fahrenheit. The cold produced magnificent steam that turned into fog that hung over the park’s geothermal areas, creating the misty light that makes landscape photography otherworldly. In turn, the fog yielded layers of frost on trees and on any other object that dared to stand in its way—be it tree or bison.
I should also recap the excellent wildlife we encountered during several snowy days. If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times, I never get tired of photographing bison. I believe everyone in the group would agree. Whether it be a herd of frost-mantled bison standing strong against the rigors of winter or a lone bison cruising the geyser basins with a snow-covered face, we had plenty of opportunities to photograph these beasts of winter. I am all about not rushing a good photo situation; at one point, we spent nearly an hour watching and photographing a herd of sixty plus bison working their way through a meadow during a particularly blustery snow squall.
Winter is also a favorite time to photograph wolves. Most photographers hope for a chance to catch up with one of Yellowstone’s wolf packs during their visit, and our small group was no exception. Wolves are great travelers, meaning they can be anywhere within their territory at any time. We were fortunate to cross paths with one pack on three of our five days. On one of these encounters, we watched as the pack put on a chase, testing two adult bison, running them through the deep snow of one of the more extensive meadows and into the Firehole River before losing interest and disappearing into the dark distant tree line.
Along with the excitement of photographing wolves, we had plenty of other wildlife to train our cameras on. Coyotes always make for great winter subjects, of which we were privy to photographing courtship behavior as two wolves met up on the frozen Yellowstone River. At multiple times, we photographed coyotes traveling or hunting Yellowstone’s forested edges. One highlight of the trip was catching up with a lone female bobcat as she traveled through deep snow, along the ridge between our snow coach and the Firehole River. Once we figured out her course, we found a suitable opening and set up in time to catch a few shots of her stalking her way through deep snow across an opening in the pines.
A favorite bird that adds to any winter scene is the trumpeter swan. With the Yellowstone River being frozen due to the previous day’s frigid temperatures, many of the swans moved into the lower section of the Madison River. With so many swans, they were close to the trail and approachable. I always find it a rewarding experience to spend some unharried time looking through a lens, watching and photographing these elegant waterfowl surrounded by such beautiful scenery.
I should also mention the ever-present ravens of Yellowstone. Their antics and watchful eyes are prominent in many scenes. We took advantage of their presence whenever possible, either adding their silhouettes to a landscape or photographing some of the winter’s early courtship behavior. Watching our photo guests experience this incredible landscape and its wildlife during this enchanted season is rewarding for me. Our group appreciated the winter beauty and wildlife Yellowstone presented during our photographic adventure. Yellowstone is remarkable for many reasons, and sharing time photographing this special place with such good companions made this adventure as much fun as it was productive.
