June 3, 2011
Golden Eagle in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Yesterday in Yellowstone National Park was really exciting. We were photographing a black bear in a decent setting, and the next thing we knew it came across an elk calf that was hiding among the downed trees and boulders. The elk calf tried to run away, and for a while it looked like it would escape because the bear wasn't closing the gap. The bear finally caught the elk calf, and after the elk calf started crying, another black bear came running in. The two bears fought, and I think the late-comer won and then went after the elk calf. It took quite a while for the elk calf to stop crying, and the bear drug it behind some rocks where we couldn't see it. The whole chase and kill took place in some open woods, but the brush near the road prevented us from getting and great shots. It was definitely something we captured on neurochrome. My favorite image comes from the last spectacular encounter of the day — a golden eagle eating a Canada goose. We arrived shortly after the eagle captured the goose and it was busy plucking the breast feathers off. The late light and short grass environment was good for photography.