Animals

Aurora Bats

Bats feed over in the mist during a 2 a.m. aurora at Island Lake in northwestern Montana.

Batty Aurora Reflections

Bats forage over Montana's Island Lake during a 2 a.m. aurora.

Ferret Face

A rare black-footer ferret peeks out from a prairie dog burrow at night. The eyes of our native ferrets reflect an emerald-green "eyeshine," and conservation biologists use spotlight to search for this glow during the wee hours.

Spotlight Ferret

A black-footed ferret glows at night in a conservation biologist's searchlight. Once thought to be extinct, our native, endangered ferrets have recently been reintroduced to prairie dog towns in several western states.

Black-footed Ferret Blues

An endangered black-footed ferret looks out from a prairie dog burrow to find the Milky Way crossing the midnight sky. Ferrets are native, nocturnal animals who are most active in the we hours of the night.

"Ferret Kit"

A female black-footed ferret kit watches the midnight prairie from the safety of a vacant black-tailed prairie dog burrow, in central Montana.

Prairie Bandit

One of Montana's rarest animals, a black-footed ferret, becomes active around midnight when the sky is filled with stars. Our native ferrets were thought to be extinct at one time, and now there are fewer than two dozen making the midnight rounds in eastern Montana.

Ferret Fields

The diet of black-footed ferrets consists almost entirely of prairie dogs. So our native ferrets live exclusively on prairie dog towns, where they rest deep down in the dog burrows by day and only become active when the Big Sky is full of stars.

"Blazing Saddles"

Rocket — a horse at Dunrovin Ranch — grazes peacefully (and safely) in the town of Lolo, Montana, while a forest fire blazes up the flank of Lolo Peak, west of town. The horses here were never in any danger, and horse owners from nearby forested areas brought their own animals here for safety during the fire.

"Yee-haa!"

Isaac is a four-year-old paint who found his "forever" home thanks to the Montana Horse Sanctuary near Simms, Montana. The Sanctuary is a non-profit which helps in-crisis horses and horse owners. Learn more at www.MontanaHorseSanctuary.org.

"That Was a Good One!"

A wild stallion appears to enjoy a good joke, but he's really just smelling and gesturing towards his mares. Montana's last band of wild horses live in the Pryor Mountains, in the southeastern corner of the state. You can learn more about Montana's wild mustangs by visiting the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center.

"Mother Daughter."

A young mare, "Halo," nuzzles her very first foal, "Kaelia," at the Pryor Mtn. Wild Horse Range, in southeastern Montana. Both are free-ranging, wild horses. To learn more about Montana's wild mustangs, visit the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center.

"Mother's Watchful Eye."

"Buffalo Girl" keeps a loving watch over her four-month-old foal, "Kitalpha." They are among the free-ranging horses at the Pryor Mtn. Wild Horse Range, in southeastern Montana. To learn more about Montana's wild mustangs, visit the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center.

"A Soft Eye."

Happy, a young mare, enjoys a peaceful moment at Montana Horse Sanctuary in Simms, Montana. The Sanctuary is a non-profit that shelters and assists in-crisis horses and their owners. To learn more, visit www.MontanaHorseSanctuary.org. .

"The Watchtower"

Chief Mountain stands sentinel over a horse feeding peacefully in the last rays of evening on the rolling plains. Behind the lens. This mountain is sacred to many people, but especially to the Blackfeet People, who call it, “Ninaistako.”

"Sanctuary."

The Montana Horse Sanctuary, near Simms, is a non-profit which helps in-crisis horses and horse owners. Learn more at www.MontanaHorseSanctuary.org..

"Dancer."

Although not a “rescued” horse, Dancer provides therapy to Montana Horse Sanctuary horses through play and friendship. The Sanctuary is a non-profit that shelters and assists in-crisis horses and their owners. To learn more, visit www.MontanaHorseSanctuary.org..

"Peaceful Lamb."

A young lamb rests peacefully in a bed of straw, under the nurturing care of its mother. Behind the lens. Everyone responds to this photograph with a universal, "Aaaaaaw!" This is a good example of how camera angle influences how we respond to an image. I created this intimate image of a ewe and her lamb by getting down at eye level (and crawling around in some interesting-smelling straw). How boring would it look if I'd photographed the very same scene from a standing position? Boiled down to basics, photographing people and animals from above makes them look relatively smaller and weaker. Photographing from below makes the very same subject look bigger and stronger. But we feel the strongest connection when we are looking at the subject eye-to-eye. Call it, "The Aaaaaw Effect.".

"Who Nose Where This Might Lead?"

A male black bear (right) cautiously greets a female nose to nose. During spring the young couple will travel together for a few days before parting ways again. Note - these are two wild and free-ranging back bears.

"Three Little Bears"

Learning to recognize sounds is a big part of growing up as a bear cub. When these black bear cubs hear something they don't recognize, they run together and look at mom. Based on her reaction, the cubs learn the appropriate response and file that information to memory.

"Mountain Matriarch"

A bear who can raise two cubs through their first summer is a good mother. But raising three cubs, like this black bear mom, requires all of the skills of a Montana matriarch. This family grew up in the Many Glacier Valley, and the cubs are grown now and on their own.

"Checking In"

A mother black bear stands on her hind legs to check her cubs who are feeding nearby. It goes without saying, but bear mothers are very protective parents.

"Black Bear Stare"

Some books say that bears have "poor" vision, but it's comparable to ours. Bear vision is only poor in comparison to their incredible sense of smell.

"Thirsty Grizzly."

A wild and free grizzly bear stops to sip from a pool of water while ambling around in Glacier National Park. Behind the lens. A lot of photographers rent captive bears that otherwise live in cages when not posing for photographs. Then they put the bear up high and photograph them from below eye level, making these "pets" look like scary monsters. Can you guess my opinion of so-called "game" farms, and so-called photographers? I like this image because it is the antithesis of the others. Here is a wild bear just being a bear, getting a drink of water and going about life. It isn't posed or scary, it's natural.

"Up a Creek."

A male arctic grayling swims upstream through the riffles of a small, western Montana spawing stream. Behind the lens. Male Arctic Grayling have large dorsal fins with irridescent blue spots and red trim, while the females' dorsal fins are about half as big and less colorful. I noticed that, as they swam upstream, they would sometimes come partially out of the water when moving through shallow riffles. So I hunkered down and watched and waited. Every now and then a fin would appear, but the eye of the fish would almost always be distorted by the waves. Trust me, an oblong fish eye looks really wierd. After several arm-cramping hours of following fish through the riffles with my lens, this male finally made the image come alive. He's holding his dorsal fin high, and his eye actually looks like an eye. That's more than I could ask for from a preoccupied fish.

"The Boys in the Choir."

Wild arctic grayling work their way upstream, into the spring current of a small, unnamed spawning stream in western Montana. Behind the lens. As our neighbor says, Montana is 10 months of winter followed by 2 months of bad sledding. But the poor sledding is more than made up for by the amazing wild lands and wildlife that surround us. Take the rare Arctic Grayling, for example. In our neighborhood, there is a tiny trickle of water that swells up in the spring melt-off to become a bonifide creek (or "crik," depending on where you grew up). Part of the rhythm of our lives here is the return of the Grayling each spring to spawn in this unnamed creek. Tracy and I have more or less adopted this little natural wonder, and we get to help when the state biologists come here to collect Grayling eggs to raise and transplant into other lakes and rivers. To provide a sense of the wildness in this photograph, I positioned the camera lens to be partially above water and partially below water, so that you get a feel for the underwater and streamside habitats that the fish need. I used a remote camera with a long "extension cord," and then sat back among the trees and waited for the Boys (and Girls) to arrive...

"Grayling Rapids"

A female arctic grayling swims upstream through a small set of rapids.Montana's Grayling swim upstream each May to spawn in small creeks.

"Eye of the Trout"

A large westslope cutthroat trout — Montana's state fish — works his way into the current of a shallow spawning stream.

"Trout Bubbles"

A westslope cutthroat trout swims into the bubbling current of a small spawning stream in western Montana. Behind the lens. This was a difficult image to create. I wanted an eye-level portrait of the trout that included the air bubbles, which would show off the current that the fish was swimming in. But the fish is under a log in the shadowed corner of an undercut bank. Just getting in position without scaring the fish away was challenging -- and time-consuming. The low light levels meant a slow shutter speed,and that in turn helps show motion in the air bubbles. I had to be pretty close to the fish because that much current tends to pick up debris, and shaded underwater areas want to turn blue on you. So the resulting image is a pleasing compromise between lighting, motion and camera positioning.

"Rising Trout"

A westslope cutthroat trout briefly rises above the surface while jostling for position in a shallow spawning stream in western Montana. Behind the lens. While photographing this spawn, I noticed that the fish tend to push each other around to get the best pools, and again after they've paired off. So I watched and I waited, focusing over the most active individuals. With time and patience -- and a little luck -- I finally captured the full-face, out-of-the-water portrait that I had pre-visualized. If you look closely below this fish, you can see the black spots of the other fish involved in this tussell. Because I was working in dappled sunlight and shade, I used a strong fill flash to really bring out the bright colors of the spawning fish.

"Resting Trout."

A westslope cutthroat trout rests along the edge of a small stream during its journey up the creek to spawn. Behind the lens. When we name the "forest animals," we don't tend to include fish in that group. But the health of the water, and thus the fish, is dependent on the health of the land surrounding them. To keep our native fish healthy, we need to maintain a good amount of wild, un-manicured land (ie -- forests) intact around our lakes, streams and rivers. I intentionally set out to photograph this trout in a way that shows the overhanging vegetation at the water's edge. These are natural resting places for fish -- and we all need nice places to rest.

"Moose Cascades"

A bull moose saunters across a cascading creek in the Two Medicine valley of Glacier National Park.

"Autumn Moose"

A bull moose turns the golden leaves of fall into an evening meal, in Glacier National Park.

"Bullwinkle"

A big bull moose gingerly wraps his lips around the delicious leaves of fall, in Glacier National Park.

"Moose Meadow."

Mother moose and calf feed peacefully, side-by-side in a grassy meadow. (Note cards available here.) Behind the lens. There's something about this photograph that I can't quite put my finger on. People respond well to the balance between the two moose, the two trees, and the calm green colors. Everything combines to form a peaceful, calming image.

"Moose Munchies."

A hungry moose turns an aspen sapling into a quick snack. Behind the lens. After photographing stars overnight, we wandered into Glacier Park's Many Glacier valley to watch the sunrise. No one else was up yet, except for this moose. She watched us watch her as she browsed her way through a patch of aspen saplings. This is a good example of rim lighting, with low-angle light coming in from behind. I like this kind of lighting so much that I seldom even attempt photographs in straight-up daylight. The first and last hours of the day are almost always the best for photography.

"Moose March."

Mom moose listens to her baby behind her while feeding in a shallow western Montana lake -- but what is the baby listening to? (Note cards available here.) Behind the lens. This image is from the forests west of Glacier National Park. If you're already at a lake when moose arrive, they tend to ignore you. If you arrive after they do, they'll often leave. This was one of those wonderful morning that I arrived first, and I got to watch them feed for almost half an hour.

"Eye-to-eye."

A bull moose looks forward to a summer of growing his velvet-covered antlers. The caloric needs to grow a pair of antlers is about the same amount that a female moose needs to grow a calf. Behind the lens. We discovered this moose on a trail in Glacier National Park. Instead of chasing him with a camera, we hustled back down the trail, set up the camera at eye level, and then sat still and waited. In this way, the moose could choose whether or not to approach us, based on his comfort level -- not ours. He stopped to look us over, and then kept his eye on us as he walked past peacefully. Is it just me, or is he smiling at our trailside etiquette?

"Moose Mom."

A mother moose pauses to check on her calf while exploring the lakeshore. Behind the lens. These moose arrived on my birthday, in late June several years ago. That's the kind of wonderful gift that you can't buy at the department store. (But you can purchase a print here!)

"Montana Traffic Jam"

A rather large bison claims the middle of the road at the National Bison Range, in western Montana.

"Bugle Boy"

Nothing says fall in the mountains like the rustling of aspen leaves and the bugling of bull elk on a brisk, sunny evening.

"Elk Mist."

A bull elk feeds peacefully in a misty meadow on a brisk, fall morning. (Note cards available here.) Behind the lens. Most professional photographers only look for the biggest horns or antlers, ignoring everything else. I tend to see animals in terms of ecology and behavior, and my images tend to reflect this different view. So my bull elk image is as much a peaceful landscape as it is a wildlife photograph. As the first light of day creeps across the meadow, lighting up the steam from a creek, this elk just moves along slowly and chews contentedly.

"Elk Bugle"

When the chill turns the aspen to gold, bull elk are busy battling other bulls for the right to breed the females that come into estrus.

"One of Those Days"

Elk antlers are designed to disengage when combatants back away. But they are easily damaged while velvet-covered and spongy-soft inside. Fortunately for this spike elk, these damaged antlers will be shed over winter, and both of his new antlers should grow normally next summer.