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Montana Elk Photography

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Montana Elk Photography
Elk rut, western Montana

Here’s a shot from last week while I was out photographing fall colors and the elk rut in western Montana. I’ve had some of the most wild and intense elk photography over the last couple days I think I’ve ever had out here. The weather has been great and there’s been a ton of activity going on with the elk. I was fortunate enough on this morning to get some great backlighting to work with, allowing me to create some really nice landscape shots with the elk.

Canon 1DX 500mm f4L IS II , 2Xtc  f8  1/1000  ISO800

 

Paradise Valley

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Paradise Valley – Images by Jason Savage
Happy Holidays! Thought I would share a few images from around the Paradise Valley and Yellowstone that I shot recently. Winter’s here and what an amazing time to be out, especially around Yellowstone.

Currently I am stuck in front of my computer editing like a mad man trying to get caught up with all my work from this last year with high hopes to be back out on the road soon.

I should have some of my favorites from this year to share here soon and will be posting some new winter photography in the coming weeks.

Happy new year!

Yellowstone

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Fall Yellowstone – Images by Jason Savage
Here are a few images from a recent trip out to Yellowstone last week. Fall is looking pretty nice down there right now and you can’t beat September and October in the park. I use to think that was our little local secret here in Montana but I think the cat’s out of the bag on that one. This year the park has been packed and surprisingly even October is seeing a much larger than usual visitation. Here’s some interesting stats on visitation this year : http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/12084.htm

Hard to say exactly why, but wouldn’t be surprised if some of our warmer fall weather has people extending their traveling a bit. In the past it seemed like the fall was a sure bet to have some of the park to yourself and beat the crowds, not so much at least lately, but it’s still a far cry from mid-summer.

Last week was sure a nice trip with a lot of elk sightings, one griz and of course many, many bison. Had some wolves close by while I was photographing some elk on Swan Lake Flats, but I wasn’t able to get any shots. All I could hear was their nearby howling and growling as they worked their way along a ridge nearby.

Elk were abundent and some great photo ops all throughout the park, especially up north near Mammoth and Swan Lake Flats.

This week I head off to Seeley Lake for an annual Fall Workshop I do and should be a great trip as the Tamaracks and the rest of the fall foliage should be about prime. Hopefully will have a few images to share this next week from that and then I’m off to Churchill for a couple weeks with Natural Habitat Adventures photographing Polar Bears along the Hudson Bay. Will make sure to share some images for sure. In the meantime, hope everyone is enjoying their fall and getting some great shots!

National Bison Range

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Bison. Canon 7D 500mm f4.0  ISO 100   f4.5   1/500

Here are some shots from this week over at the National Bison Range, north of Missoula, Montana. It’s a great place to view and photograph wildlife with the Mission Mountains adding a great scenic backdrop. Bison, Pronghorn, Elk, Deer, Bear are just some of the local big game on the range. It’s a great day getaway if you’re near Missoula, or a stopover on your way up to Glacier National Park via Highway 93.

With all the great stuff to photograph around the area, you’d think getting a few decent shots would be no problem. However, this week it just wasn’t happening. Every once in while I get those trips where it’s just not in the cards and sometimes it seems like packing up and heading home would be more productive. But, it’s times like these that make those day’s where the planets seem to align, that much sweeter.

I did enjoy myself nonetheless and in this particular area of Montana it’s hard not to.

So now I’m shifting gears and getting ready for Fall Photography here in Montana and the northwest. It’s started to cool in the evenings here and you can sense a change in the seasons. This weekend there was even some frost on the ground in the early morning. Definitely getting anxious as Fall in Montana is without a doubt my favorite time of the year in Montana  and probably one of the best times to photograph the state.

Whitetail Deer. Canon 7d 500mm f4. ISO 400 f4.5  1/1000

National Bison Range. Canon 5d mkII  TS-24mm f3.5II   ISO100  f16  1/30. 3 image panorama.


Springtime in the Mission Mountains

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Mallards

Mallards.© Jason Savage.

Well believe it or not Springtime is finally here. Although if you are living east of the Rockies this week, you may have a hard time believing that, as snow flurries have been forecast for most of this next week.

In any case, we had some great weather last week with temps in the 70’s and things really starting to green-up. I was up in the Mission Mountains area near Polson and the National Bison Range last weekend and the landscape is really looking great. The trees are in bloom and it won’t be long before some wildflowers arrive.

Misson Mountains

Mission Mountains.© Jason Savage.

I was lucky enough to arrive while there was still some snow left on the Missions. This area is great for not only landscape photography, but for wildlife as well. The Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge on the Flathead Indian Reservation has an amazing diversity of birds and waterfowl and just a few miles south is the National Bison Range, which as you can guess has a healthy population of Bison along with some stunning views.

Cow Elk Montana

Cow Elk.© Jason Savage.

Now’s the time to get out there and start enjoying our short spring, before we know it we’ll be into summer. Happy Shooting.