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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Two: On Safari -- expressing the essence of nature > Stretching, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2008
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08-OCT-2008

Stretching, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2008

It is very easy to make pictures of bison in Yellowstone National Park. It is more difficult to make a picture of how bison live in Yellowstone National Park. I always look for an image that goes against the normal view. Most bison stand. This one was lying down. As I waited, it began to stretch its legs to get the circulation going. I noticed that its hooves were split into two “toes.” I quickly changed my vantage point to include some fallen branches that not only echoed the stretched legs of the bison, but also had symbolic “toes” at the end of them.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/500s f/6.3 at 70.2mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time08-Oct-2008 14:58:33
MakeLeica
ModelV-LUX 1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length70.2 mm
Exposure Time1/500 sec
Aperturef/6.3
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis05-Jul-2009 00:13
Thanks, Rose, for the Bisonian info. You add still more wonderful context to this image.
sunlightpix04-Jul-2009 21:55
Good catch! Yellowstone's bison population is about 3,000 which roams over 2.2 million acres. This one may be rolling in the dirt to remove insects/ticks/parasites from its fur. 200 years ago bison numbered over ten million across the Great Plains states. When thousands in a herd would roll in the dirt, their sheer numbers would create depressions in the earth and thus form shallow ponds.
Phil Douglis19-Oct-2008 19:32
Bison pilates? Your guess is as good as mine, Carol. This bison had been resting on its side for a long time. What do we do when we get up from our bed after hours of sleep? We stretch. This bison does the same thing. I was fortunate to be there, camera in hand, when it decided to roll over and stretch.
Carol E Sandgren19-Oct-2008 19:04
Again, good choice. One never thinks of these large wild animals' need for simple stretching. Bison pilates perhaps??
Phil Douglis18-Oct-2008 23:17
Thank you, Tim -- people often ask me "how" I think of these things during the shooting process. I always answer that my responses have become intuitive. I am really not consciously thinking when I shoot -- I am acting. The ability to respond intuitively to a photographic situation is acquired over time. Experience, as they say, is the best teacher. We gradually learn to be aware of not only what the subject is doing in a picture, but what is happening elsewhere in the frame, if we do so, our instincts will usually kick in.
Tim May18-Oct-2008 21:51
Wonderful example of the mind of the photographer at work at the creation of the image.
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