May 29, 2013
Black Bear Sow And Cub in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Patience paid off big time for this image. When I came across this black bear sow and COY (cub of the year) yesterday afternoon in Yellowstone National Park, the cub was sleeping up in a tree and the sow was sleeping near the base of the tree. There wasn't anything to photograph right then, but I knew that the extremely cute cub would come down and then the magic would begin. At T+0:28 (0 hours, 28 minutes after my arrival), the cub came down and nursed, but they were pretty far off and the environment was a bit messy for good images. At T+0:35, they went up a draw and disappeared from view. By this time, Jan and several of our Canadian photographer friends had arrived so we visited while waiting for the bears to come back into view. At T+1:22 they were photographable again but even further off. After crossing an open area they disappeared into the trees at T+1:36. More waiting and visiting. At T+2:40 they came out into view and played a bit far off. At T+2:58 they moved out of sight. After this, most of the photographers left because it was dinner time and there was light rain. By the time the bears came out at T+4:01, the rain had stopped and the fairly bright overcast was perfect for bear photography. Only three other serious photographers were left as they came closer to the road, crossed it at T+4:06 really close to us, and then headed off over the hill on the other side at T+4:07. This image was made shortly after they crossed the road. It was definitely worth the wait!