A Sad Tale of Photographing in Yellowstone

I just got back from a trip to Yellowstone National Park to test out the Nikon D500, Nikon D5 and Pentax K-1 DSLRs (reviews to be posted soon) and I wanted to share my experience, specifically my frustrations with visiting and photographing this amazing location, which has been my top spot for many years for photographing both wildlife and landscapes. I spent a week in Yellowstone and my original plan was to stay there for longer if needed, depending on how much wildlife I would encounter. But I had to cut my trip short, because I was just getting tired of seeing the same behavioral patterns of park visitors over and over again – to the point where it was just getting absurd, abusive and downright stupid.

Grizzly bear eating an elk calf early in the morning NIKON D500 + 300mm f/4 @ 420mm, ISO 800, 1/200, f/8.0

First of all, I like visiting Yellowstone for two reasons – one is to see and photograph the amazing wildlife the park offers to see such as wolves, black and grizzly bears, antelopes, sheep and many species of birds including birds of prey such as owls and eagles. The other reason is to photograph the stunning landscapes that include geysers, streams, rivers, mountains and colorful canyons. My intention for this trip was to photograph both, since my camera gear covered everything from wide to super telephoto. While Yellowstone ty