Pixiq

There’s some kind of lightning-fast intra-species communication that takes over in Yellowstone National Park when one photographer comes across an animal working on a carcass. Within a very short time, every photographer in the park will arrive on the scene. It’s vulture-like behavior: One bird finds a body, and the next thing you know, the sky and trees are full of big, hungry birds.

When I encountered a cinnamon black bear working on an elk carcass on the edge of the Yellowstone River, I was not alone. On the opposite bank, more than a hundred photographers stood shoulder to shoulder, tripod to tripod, all getting the same picture with their monster lenses: a bear in weeds, feeding on an ugly carcass. It’s not an image that would have much market value, but sometimes, we photographers are just another in the line of predators that attend a kill.

While the bear-on-elk scene was not very interesting to me, I was reluctant to leave a promising subject: the bear. It offered one essential component of a possibly worthwhile composition. So, after the bear left the carcass and wandered away, a few of us followed. In my opinion, the more interesting photograph was captured as the bear entered a thicket of wild rose bushes and began to eat rose hips—for dessert, as a digestive aid, or just to round out the meal. Favorable light and a 600mm lens made the shot possible from a safe distance.

The first possibility isn’t always the best one. Wait for a promising subject to do something significant; then you can capture a more meaningful—and valuable—image.