Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 7

September 18th, 2025

I started my photography day with a hawk posing, side-lit by the early sun, against an almost black background.
Surely makes for a nice image, and I also got to shoot some footage of it.
He was too far away for a good closeup, so I mostly shot video.

Nothing meaningful happened after that until midday, when I saw a Coyote wandering around the plains. At that time, the sun is hot, and there is a lot of heat distortion that makes for not-so-good close-ups.
When that is the case, I prefer to focus on environmental shots and keep the angle of view pretty broad.

As I was driving the main road, all of a sudden, there was considerable traffic.
That usually means one thing: a Grizzly Bear on the road (or visible).
People parked everywhere, at every angle, were admiring the bear scavaging for food further away in the hills.

I found a decent vantage point at eye level and shot some video.
Nothing to be too excited about, but still decent footage.
That took a bit of time; I changed perspectives a couple of times.

An exampled of the traffic that forms when there is a grizzly bear visible from the road

Finally, I headed to a nearby city where I got some food (and a doughnut) and gas before heading to the campground.

Got myself a treat: a doughnut and a couple of chocolate chips cookies

I taught my 3-hour lesson online and then went to bed.

It is incredible how quickly time goes; it seems there is never enough of it to do what you want to.