Tetons and Yellowstone - Wildlife

Glory hallelujah, I finally finished consolidating my images from Yellowstone and the Tetons into one gallery. What a marathon! (The landscape gallery isn't done yet, although it's close.) All manner of things conspired to get in the way, like computer viruses and rebuilds, illness (mine and others'), unexpected trips, and - thankfully - the need to earn a few pennies.

Here's the link to the new gallery:

http://www.pomeroy-photography.com/American-West/TetonsWild/19743300_J9wsXM#!i=1680246004&k=hNrnQnp

And here's a sneak preview of one of the characters you'll find in there:

A bison grazing in the Firehole River basin, Yellowstone.

I do love the buffs. (Yes, I know - they're bison, not buffalo. But somehow when I have an "Aww!" moment I always say buffs. Love dem buffs.)

Somehow I've still got to whittle it down to about half the images currently in there. But I've been staring at them so long my brain is dead and turned to mush - so feedback would most definitely be welcome.

Please check out the gallery and comment till the cows come home!

Tweet

Updated: list of folks to Follow on Twitter

I've updated (at long last) my list of photographers to Follow on Twitter. They're all terrific, they're all good folks, and anyone in the world can learn from them.

The original blog post is new and shiny and has the updated list:
http://blog.pomeroy-photography.com/2010/12/photographers-i-follow-on-twitter.html

Go! Follow! Enjoy!

Tweet

Alpha beta, alpha beautiful

I can't remember if I posted this shot on the blog when it was originally taken (a couple of years ago). But I'm reposting it now, as it's one of the featured images appearing in my Google+ profile.

Isn't she gorgeous?

You may have noticed that I have a weakness for beasties; I tend to take a lot of wildlife shots when the opportunity presents itself. I love moose; I love elk; I love - er, I love getting shots of bears (and living to tell of it). I have a huge soft spot for bison. I've never had the chance to shoot otters in the wild, but if ever I did, I would most likely squeal with excitement (silently - at least until I was done shooting) as they are among my most favourite animals. But wolves... I absolutely adore wolves. They are fiercely magnificent, and they appeal to something in us that still remembers the primal past. Their eyes are molten gold, and stare straight through to your soul.

The she-wolf in the image above is/was the alpha of her pack, and easily the most beautiful animal I saw that whole trip. I hope she's still going strong, and I hope she has many, many pups. Here's lookin' at you, kid.

It has finally occurred to me that, after posting low-res images on the blog for so long, I should maybe include links to the (protected) hi-res versions which are to be found on my website. Click here for the larger version of this image; feel free to click around and explore the galleries. I hope you enjoy my work, and if yes, let me know!

Tweet

2012: Maya it be the best one yet

It's a new year, and according to some it's the end of the world as we know it. Ancient Mayan apocalyptic predictions notwithstanding, I hope this year is a great one for us all.

I recently dipped my toes in the Google+ pool, and I've decided it's not a bad way to share information and images with the world. I have deep reservations about social media and the privacy issues that result - I still refuse to have a Facebook account - and although I realize that Google+ is the same kind of animal I think the people behind it are less likely to sell me down the river. Or at least they'll politely explain why first, rather than after a fait accompli in the manner of Facebook.

This guy wants you to circle me on Google+. Really. You don't want to make him mad, do you?

So to celebrate the new year, I finally figured out how to add images to my Google+ profile. ("Look! I haz a camera!") You can check out my mental meanderings and a whole host of very talented colleagues here:
https://plus.google.com/106843231388943252632/about
The image above isn't one of the aforementioned colleagues, although it does sort of resemble how I feel after days on end of rebuilding computers. (Don't ask.) The shot was taken up in the Yellowstone area and is one of my favorites.


Tweet

In an antique land

My Dad & I have often speculated that at some point in the past, a distant ancestor must have mated with a bear. Sadly, this does not translate to a full of head of hair (he went bald in his 30s), but it does mean that every year when the weather gets colder, our hibernation instincts kick in, full force.

Pfaugh, you say, you're in Southern California! Well, yes. But I've been here long enough that I've completely lost my Cold Club membership card, and besides, it's been getting down to the low twenties here at night. That's cold enough to bring out the hibernation urge, I promise! All of which is a long-winded way of excusing the two weeks since my last post... oh, ok, I'll stop.

Since the last post featured an ecclesiastical capital in Celtic lands, I thought I'd stay with the theme. This time it's the ruins of the old cathedral in St. Andrews, Scotland, the medieval center of the Scottish church. St. Andrews is a fascinating place to visit - the place well nigh drips history - and I should have some more images coming up, once I work my way through some of the never-ending backlog.

The West Door of the old cathedral, St. Andrews; the atmosphere of this place is amazing.

The ruins of the old cathedral in St. Andrews are very evocative, and the cemetery in particular is very humbling.

One of the interesting things about my visit is that all of these images were taken on the same day. The day dawned bright, sunny and (of course) freezing cold. By lunch time we started seeing the fog rolling in, then it cleared, then it really descended and that was that. By mid afternoon, visibility was maybe 50ft at best. It was incredible, like an old London pea-souper. In Scotland they call it the haar, a Dutch word presumably in frequent use on both sides of the North Sea!

If the cathedral ruins were atmospheric in bright sunshine, they were truly amazing in this fog; visibility was drastically reduced, but so were sounds, leaving you even more removed from the present.

Even though it wasn't Halloween, things got decidedly eerie in the cathedral ruins as the day came to a close; it was a memorable visit.

As I say, I'll have more images from St. Andrews later, including the town as well as the cathedral. There's more history in this one small town than in an entire US state; just an amazing place.

Tweet

I'm baaack...

OK, so I got back from Ireland - after a horrendous journey that had one delay after another - and more or less caught up with my life. I don't mean that I'm all caught up with everything IN my life. That may never happen! But I'm at least back in the saddle.

While over there, I spent a day out and about and, amongst other things, caught a sunset in Armagh, the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland. The Roman Catholic cathedral of St. Patrick has a spectacular setting atop a hill overlooking the city, and I enjoyed the light bathing the spires as the sun went down.

Here are a few of the images I took that day.

The West Door at sunset: St. Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh.

A closer view of the West Door just as the light turns it to burnished bronze: St. Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh.

One of the many statues on the grounds of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh; sunset in the land of saints & scholars.

I'm still working on the Tetons and Yellowstone galleries, so that's in the works for (hopefully) the near future.

Tweet

There will be more

As mentioned a few days ago, I'm going to reorganize and put up a couple of new galleries for my Yellowstone and Grand Tetons images. However, it's not going to happen (at least from your perspective) until after I get back from Ireland. Before I disappear off into the wide blue yonder again, though, here are a couple of previews of what's to come.

Oxbow Bend on the Snake River before dawn: purple mountain's majesty

And, to get back to the lighter side of things, here's my hairy beary friend once the audience (me) had been discovered (the mood stayed mellow and the bear turned and walked off in complete disdain):

Can't a bear have a roll in the grass without someone staring? Is nothing sacred?!

I have to say, the crocodile brain kicks in and starts pumping adrenaline whether you like it or not, when a large predator like that turns and stares you straight in the eye. As my father would say: brown corduroy time!

OK, that's it for now, but I'm looking forward to finally getting these images out there. See you next time!

Tweet