Photographic gallery — Yellowstone National Park

In forests in the greater Yellowstone area, fairy slippers can be found in the late spring. Waiting for sunlight to illuminate them through breaks in the pines can be maddening as can waiting for the slightest of breezes to fade. It took more than an hour for everything to come together to make this image near Tower Junction in Yellowstone.

Two ghostly coyotes crossed my path in the dim light as I walked along the boardwalk near Old Faithful on a December morning. The low light gave Castle Geyser an otherworldly feel.

A young bison calf clings to its mother while the rest of the herd grazes nearby.

Obsidian Creek, smooth and glossy upstream, breaks over stones and before flowing into the Gardner River.

A spring snow shower paints this picture of a bull elk in velvet racing through a meadow from some unseen threat in the forest.

The sun rises softly over Yellowstone's Little America on a summer morning.

While watching a black bear sow and her yearling grazing on grass in Yellowstone, I was surprised by this much bigger bear stepping out from the forest.

More than 300 stairs take you down to the lowest view you are allowed to get of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. The view is well worth the effort of having to climb back up all those stairs!

Blazing skies above the dormant Old Faithful Inn warm a cold December evening.

A young bison calf, with its umbilical cord still attached, scans its new world before hurrying to catch up with its mother.

A rutting bull bison in his prime pauses in Yellowstone's Little America before wandering off in search of cows.

A colorful sky glows behind the silhouette of a pine forest following a summer storm near Gardner's Hole.

On a rainy October morning, with hibernation a few weeks off, a black bear feeds on rose hips along the Blacktail Plateau Drive in Yellowstone.

A full moon rises above Yellowstone's Mt. Norris on a still February night. Down the valley, a lone wolf's howls go unanswered.

Wind gusts blow across the ridges of Electric Peak as shafts of sunlight flitter in the cold smoke.

Bunched-up elk watch for the return of the Canyon wolf pack near Mammoth Hot Springs on an April morning. The wolves, however, dropped down to the Gardner River and trotted west.

A curious bison calf lingers to have a a look at people stopped on the road in Yellowstone watching its herd.

The cold spring water of Obsidian Creek slips downstream over stones and reflects sky and forest.

Fading sunlight warms a sliver of Electric peak as the foreground rests in the shadows.

A gray-crowned rosy finch pauses for a moment while foraging for seeds below basalt cliffs near Tower Fall in Yellowstone.

A young otter rests for a moment before sliding back into Trout Lake. One of its siblings later became separated and cried loudly from near the outlet before its mother came along and grabbed it by the scruff of its neck.

A sow grizzly takes a look around a high meadow near Mount Washburn in Yellowstone.

A sow grizzly crosses the Lamar River one spring evening before taking her two cubs uphill for the night.

The Yellowstone River plummets some 300 feet creating the Lower Falls south of Canyon Village. The view from Artist Point rivals Old Faithful Geyser for visitor attractions in the park.

A lone bull rests a moment while feeding in Yellowstone's Round Prairie. The deep and heavy snows of 2010-2011 taxed many bison and elk. As a result, many did not live to see the spring green up.

A shaft of light illuminates a bighorn sheep near Bighorn Peak in the northwest of Yellowstone.

Though much maligned in the West, it's hard to look into the eyes of a coyote and not sense their intelligence.

A late brood of Barrow's goldeneyes ventures out on an August evening on a quiet stretch of Thorofare Creek in the southwest corner of Yellowstone.

Mammatus clouds sweep over a forest towards Yellowstone's Electric Peak.

Muted autumn colors lend a subdued mood to this bull moose's landscape as the rut nears.

Following a spring snowstorm, many migratory birds that had already returned to Yellowstone moved downslope to where the several inches of snow were melting quickly. A few western tanagers joined yellow-rumped warblers, juncos, chipping sparrows and others to feed on exposed seeds and insects.

Sunlight illuminates these shooting stars.

An adult coyote carrying one of its pups trots toward a new den. The previous den had been underneath a porch of one of Yellowstone's Roosevelt cabins.

Sometimes confused for grizzlies, cinnamon black bears are just a different color of black bear and can often be seen grazing on grass as this one was doing.

The alpha male of the Canyon Pack (lawfully) crosses the road between Gardiner, MT and Mammoth Hot Springs on an April morning in 2009.

Keeping an eye on potential rivals, this Barrow's goldeneye circles Trout Lake, feverishly chasing away other males from a female he's hoping to mate with.

The Hoodoo Basin (originally named the Goblin Labyrinth) sits near the eastern border of Yellowstone. At different times of the day and in varying levels of light, the rock transforms into interesting shapes and figures, such as these hand-holding goblins.

As winter thaws into spring, a group of bighorn rams surveys the landscape in all directions as they move to a new foraging area.

Ravens are remarkable birds for many reasons, and a close look at one's wing reveals the beauty of their plumage.

A bull moose feeds on aquatic vegetation in Yellowstone's Floating Island Lake one summer evening.

A coyote surveys the landscape for prey on a spring morning in Yellowstone's Little America.

A pelican glides in for a landing east of Fishing Bridge before joining others searching for trout.

A bull bison plods along the road near Yellowstone's Trout Lake during the epic winter of 2010-2011. The plowed road allowed easier travel for many animals during a heavy season of snow. This bull eventually lunged up into deep snow and plowed it with its head to look for dried grasses.

These pronghorn stopped long enough for a portrait on a mid-winter's day north of Gardiner, Montana. A few moments later, they continued feeding in snow-free patches of grasses.

An early snow fell on a bull elk and his harem in the northeast of Yellowstone. The bull was bugling at a rival in a nearby meadow.

A cold, gray day transforms Electric Peak into a sketch, highlighting its glacially carved features and the inky forest below.

Early one morning while camped by Yellowstone Lake's South Arm, I meandered along the water's edge and caught this sepia-toned sunrise.

A male goldeneye displays for a female on Yellowstone's Trout Lake.

A coyote carrying one of its pups leaps over a fast-flowing creek on its way to a new den. Their previous home had been underneath a porch of one of Yellowstone's Roosevelt cabins.

A red fox, likely with kits to feed, pauses a moment in northeast Yellowstone before resuming its evening hunting.

During the epic winter of 2010-2011, many mammals in Yellowstone were pushed to the limits of survival. This moose traveled a creek corridor in northeastern Yellowstone to conserve energy but had to plunge into deep snow to reach the forest to browse.

While driving by Golden Gate, a fierce wind lifted pebbles from the roadside and shot them at my truck. From Swan Lake Flat, I watched as the storm moved away to the north.