Have you ever wanted to spend a day in Yellowstone with a local professional wildlife photographer? Our private photo shoots are the best way to capture powerful images of Yellowstone’s iconic wildlife.

About

Wildlife Photo Tour with Local Professional Wildlife Photographer

Spend the day immersed in photographing Yellowstone’s wildlife-rich Lamar Valley region, revered as the hub of wildlife photography in North America.

Exploring Yellowstone’s Northern Range or Hayden Valley our focus will likely be on the predators and their prey, which are most active during the twilight hours of dawn and dusk. We will spend our time in the best places to find these icons of American wilderness while discussing the ecology and natural history driving their behavior. Understanding the ecology and behavior of your subjects will help you tell their story through your photographs and will help you read and predict their movements to best position yourself to capture outstanding images.

On these excursions we have good chances of observing bison, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, wolves, grizzly and black bears, otters, and numerous other species both large and small.

Depending on the month, we may focus on seasonal wildlife highlights including bellowing bison in rut throughout July and August or the magnificent bugling elk during their breeding season in September and October. Spring in Yellowstone means animal babies abound and your day could find you witnessing a bison, pronghorn, or elk birth on the emerald-green bottomlands of the Lamar Valley in May and June. Perhaps bear cubs or badger kits are to be found scampering in a world entirely new to them!

Every moment in Yellowstone is different and unpredictable, and, therefore, we like to leave room for adapting to situations as they arise to fully maximize each opportunity as it presents itself!

What to bring:

Photography Gear:

While you don't need professional photography equipment in Yellowstone to get an award-winning image, at least one telephoto lens reaching 400mm is encouraged. The best lens is the one you have ready, such as a 150 - 600mm so you can cover a wide focal distance.

Recommended Gear:

Batteries/Charger - Enough battery power to shoot the entire day (recommend 3 batteries per camera body)
Media - Enough memory to shoot the entire day (recommend 256GB split between (2) cards per camera body)
Cleaning - Lens cloths, air blower, lens solution
Filters - Clear UV, Polarizer
Tools: Allen wrenches or Leatherman type tool for tripod plates

Recommended Lenses:

500 or 600mm f/4
150-600mm
100-400 f/4.5-5.6
24-105 f/4

A daypack is very handy for carrying personal items: hand and toe warmers, a water bottle, sunglasses, your camera, and for all the extra layers you will want.

Can you expect to see all the wildlife you hope for?

It is important to remember that the wild animals we seek to observe and photograph are exactly that - WILD, free-ranging animals that can roam across all of Yellowstone’s vast and rugged 2.2 million acres. We do not guarantee any wildlife sightings on our tours; however, we will guarantee your guide will use their knowledge, skills, and network of other guides, wildlife watchers, and photographers to do everything possible to find and photograph the animals you’d like to see. Our guides are in the park nearly every day searching for and watching wildlife, and that consistent experience pays off in finding the animals you’ve traveled to see.

We Adhere to the Yellowstone Wild Code of Ethics.

Park Rules and the Yellowstone Wild Code of Ethics

As a licensed Commercial Use Permit holder with Yellowstone National Park we must follow all park rules and regulations. Additionally, as lifelong proponents of wildlife and wild places, we also follow our own ethical wildlife viewing and photography practices.

We will take this opportunity to teach you about how we can have the very best viewing and photography opportunities possible without having negative impacts on wildlife by respecting the animals’ space and movements as they go about their lives.

While on tour with Yellowstone Wild LLC, we will observe the following park rules (subject to law enforcement):
Keep at least 25 yards from all wildlife
Keep at least 100 yards from wolves and bears
Avoid remaining near or approaching wildlife - including birds - at any distance that disturbs or displaces the animal

It is our ethical responsibility as visitors to the park to ensure our actions do not inflict undue stress or hardship upon the animals we are observing. Your guide is an expert at reading animal behavior, and the moment that our presence is bothering an animal we will back off until we are no longer disturbing its natural patterns. Failure to promptly respond to your guide’s instructions to back away from wildlife may result in the termination of your tour, subject to the discretion of your guide.