About a week ago I visited the Big Meadow section of Shenandoah National Park, specifically looking for deer. As I walked through the meadow I noticed this White-Tailed Deer watching me. I was able to get much closer, the deer in the park are quite used to people, but I like this image of the meadow with the deer resting in it.
An American bison bull stops to observe his surroundings as he makes his way across a hill in Yellowstone National Park.
The American bison is the only species of bison living in the United States and are abundant in Yellowstone. They tend to take their time moving across the countryside but they can run up to 30 miles per hour, making them much faster than they look. If they feel threatened bison will attack with their horns and each year ignorant tourists try to get too close and end up getting hurt.
The North Gate to Yellowstone National Park is quite impressive. Although I would guess most visitors no longer arrive through this gate, it struck me as a nearly perfect entrance to the park. It’s large, rugged, and beautiful in it’s own right, much like the park itself. You also have to love the inscription at the top “For The Benefit and Enjoyment Of The People”. It kind of sums up the whole National Park system.
We spent a week in Yellowstone in mid-June which was a wonderful experience. The downside was after a few days the park food starts to get a little monotonous. On our fourth night we left through the North Gate to find pizza for dinner. After getting our fill of non-park food, we returned through the gate and I was pleased to be able to photograph it with some interesting clouds in the sky. Luckily the lighting at the time allowed the same exposure for the clouds and the gate so no HDR trickery was needed to make this image.
This panoramic photo was stitched together from 10 separate images taken at the Richmond Folk Festival on October 13, 2012. There were 6 stages hosting musical acts ranging from Argentina to Ethiopia. The scene depicted above was on one of the hills as a band named “Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Pineiro” played Cuban music. We arrived there just after watching Wang Li play the Chinese jaw harp. Needless to say it was quite a big event.
You can click on the picture above to see a larger version of it.
Doug Couvillion's Photo Blog 