On my first trip to Yellowstone last year one of the disappointments was the lack of really cold weather. We had bison in snow, but not in the hoar frost. 3 days into this years trip we headed down the Lamar Valley at dawn, and the dashboard temperature reading just kept falling. By the time we stopped to snap this inversion we had hit -32 Celsius.
Further down the road we found the old bull again, and I pointed a lens at my first 'proper' heavily frosted bison. He was lying down at first. a warm brown eye contrasting with the white crusted face (the version here is too small to see - trying clicking the image for a larger view).
He got to his feet allowing a range of shots although in hindsight I didn't really get the best angle, not low enough - sloping land, deep snow and the need to keep out of other snappers sight lines were part of the explanation, but I think I missed a trick. Not sure if I prefer the colour version or the black and white view. Again the detail is best seen on larger views.
We never otherwise quite reached the dizzying depths of that morning, but there were a couple of other chances to get shots of frosted bison in the Lamar Valley. These were all single animals, and the biggest frustration tended to be the habit of a feeding bison to keep it's nose pretty firmly nailed to the floor - not unlike badgers; you just have to wait until you can grab a snatched shot.
When we were in the interior the temperatures had picked up a bit again, but we did get one session with some bison in a thermal area, the mist condensing and freezing providing that sugar coating again. The downside was the relative lack of snow on the warm ground ……..
but by lying down (and a small amount of cloning) I got what I actually think is my favourite frosty bison shot to date. Most of the time I like the views that emphasise the power of these animals, but this view is a much more peaceful perspective with a bit more of a story.
