People talk about the beauty of Yellowstone National Park, and I admit I’ve seen, liked, and commented on the beautiful pictures I’ve viewed on social media. For those who have been there, you can imagine my excitement and probably question if you can ‘Shoot Yellowstone in a Day’. For those who haven’t gone yet, I hope this inspires you to take a trip yourself!

My group got up early to be in the park before sunrise (we stayed in a VRBO that was about an hour from the West Entrance) and as we approached the entrance, we were glad we did because there were only a few cars ahead of us. Once through the gates we drove a few minutes and saw the sun was casting amazing colors of pink in the sky. We pulled over to capture some ice floating down the Madison River and this was the shot I got. (I absolutely love how the mountain behind the trees has pink hues.)

As we got back on the road to head to our first stop on the map we got with our admission, it wasn’t long before a friend yelled out ‘what’s that’ and the next thing I knew we were pulled to the side of the road and I’m hanging out the window to shoot my first Bison!! The excitement, the awe, the size and yet for such a large creature she seemed so at ease and unafraid.

I suppose I should apologize to my friend who I jumped over the top of to get a shot of the bison and her baby (did I mention that was a bonus) as they crossed in front of us to head to the other side of the road. Took me a bit to get a good shot so of course this is what I’ll be adding to my Butt I Didn’t Get Your Eye collection.

Once the adrenaline slowed a bit (there was alot of ‘that was so cool’ and ‘I can’t believe how big that was’ and ‘wow did we really just see that so close’) we continued on to our first stop on the map, Norris Geyser Basin. It was a cool cloudy morning, but this wide shot caught the steam coming up from seemingly all over. Only thing not captured here was the sulfur smell that filled the air.

Driving on we headed several miles down the road to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The whole area is beyond vast and absolutely stunning. The river below seemed so far away but that just gave scale to how far up we were. I captured this piney shrub with cones as the canyon sprawls in the distance behind it. Love the juxtaposition between the small details of the shrub and the vast distance of the canyon.

As we moved on wanting to see as much as we possibly could, we noticed a group of cars pulled over and of course we stopped too (seemed likely that they were looking at something pretty cool.) We were a good distance away, and most of the herd must have moved on ahead from what I could see moving through the brush, but I was feeling lucky to capture this elk grazing on her own.

Again, excited and full of adrenaline from seeing the elk we moved on and saw the Yellowstone River from the Chittenden Bridge. Not much more to say except it’s beautiful!

It seemed like we’d been out for a while (Lord knows time flies when you’re having fun) so we stopped for a snack. Glad we listened to friends who had been to the park before and told us to bring food and picnic. We tail gated in a parking lot and met a friend (love the detail of the crow’s feathers.) Also found this pretty white pelican floating around and waiting for his snack too.

Full, fat and happy we kept going and made it to Yellowstone Lake. Standing in front of the General Store there, it’s hard not to just stare at this breathtaking view. The layers upon layers of mountains, their varying shades of blue, the clouds above them as they float by, the water moving in a peaceful sway…God does amazing work!

As the afternoon moved upon us, we finally pulled up to what Yellowstone is famous for…Old Faithful. There were tons of people so finding a parking spot was interesting. We weren’t sure where to go so we just took the first one we found and started walking. We must have just missed the eruption because lots of people were walking towards us. As we moved on, we saw the location and found out we had about an hour to wait for the next one. FYI…if you go into the gift shop in the Old Faithful Lodge, they have a sign that tells you when the next eruption will be. I stood a good distance away (used my Sigma 150-600 lens) and captured the big moment. With the cloudy sky it was hard to distinguish the steam from the geyser so in post-production I darkened the whites of the steam a bit to see the contrast.

Yellowstone National Park is known for its ‘Bison Jams’ and before our day ended, we were one of the many stopped cars waiting for bison to decide which side of the road they wanted to be on. Standing up through the sunroof (and again using the Sigma lens) I was able to capture what might be some of my favorite pictures from the park.

It’s an understatement to say there are many places to take an amazing picture in Yellowstone National Park. With just a map from the guard at the gate and no structured plan it was beyond an amazing day, and I left feeling like yes, you can Shoot Yellowstone in a Day!

Drop a comment below about YOUR trip to Yellowstone or maybe what you hope to see when you get there yourself. I’d love to hear about it!

FYI…I’ve sized and lowered export quality for quicker movement throughout my blog. If you’d like to see my work full size and quality, visit my website at elena-palmi.pixels.com