Visiting Grand Teton National Park is about more than photographing a beautiful landscape. It is about the wildlife, the mountains, and the moments that make this part of Wyoming what it is.
During a trip in May 2024 I photographed everything from the full panoramic view of the Tetons to some of the park’s most remarkable wildlife — a Great Gray Owl, Grizzly Bear 610, and Grizzly 399 with her cub Spirit.
The Grand Tetons: the full view
The mountains are the most recognisable sight in the park. The panoramic photograph captures the full sweep of the Teton Range and the scale of the Wyoming landscape around it.
What I am trying to preserve in a landscape frame is the feeling of standing in front of it.
Those unforgettable yellow eyes: a Great Gray Owl
Sometimes the most memorable wildlife photograph is a single look. A Great Gray Owl stared directly into the camera, and those yellow eyes became the whole frame.
The intensity of the eyes, the detail in the feathers, the stillness of the moment — it made an unforgettable portrait.
Photographing Grizzly Bear 610
Grizzly 610 is one of the well-known bears of the Greater Yellowstone and Grand Teton area, and one of 399’s own daughters.
Seeing a grizzly in the wild is a completely different experience from seeing one in a photograph. It takes patience, distance, respect, and being ready when the moment arrives.
Grizzly 399, Spirit, and a morning I will never forget
I had the chance to photograph the legendary Grizzly 399 and her cub Spirit in Grand Teton National Park.
Seeing 399 was emotional in a way I did not expect. People around me were crying. Once I saw her myself, I understood the connection.
These images became far more meaningful after 399 was struck and killed by a vehicle on Highway 26/89 in Snake River Canyon, south of Jackson, on the evening of 22 October 2024. She was 28 years old and the oldest known reproducing female grizzly in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Spirit was with her that night and fled the scene unharmed. He has not been confirmed sighted since. Many who know these bears believe he was old enough to find a den and make his own way, and I hope he learned enough from his mother to live a long life in the wild.
Looking back at the photographs, I caught a chapter of their story together. They are a reminder of how precious these encounters are, and how quickly things change.
More than a photograph
Wildlife photography is mostly waiting. You cannot decide where a bear will walk, when an owl will turn its head, or what the light will do against the mountains. You can only be there when it happens.
