In Focus Daily

What a difference thirty minutes makes. The colors of sunrise change constantly. I took these images thirty minutes apart, the first, 30 minutes prior to actual sunrise and the second, as the sun was cresting the horizon. You’d think the color intensity would lessen but that is not always the case as the clouds turned a fiery red at sunrise. The Madison River offers the perfect setting for sunrise in Yellowstone, with a spectacular view of the clouds, the river, and the thermal mist. Depending on where the sun is, the same scene might look vastly different.

Yellowstone fog and mist from the thermals wafted over the meadows, hiding, then suddenly revealing, the creatures hidden behind the curtain. A Bison bull stood, hardly moving a muscle, as the air clouded, then cleared, then clouded again.

Old Faithful was predicted to erupt at about 11:30 on our last morning in the park. The storm was on its way so the background was deepening storm clouds. Old Faithful erupted right on schedule. It wasn’t one of its taller eruptions and it was over in under 5 minutes but to me, the column of steam gushing out at the end of the eruption and being carried off by the wind was quite spectacular.

No two sunrises on the Madison River in Yellowstone are the same. Our last morning was filled with color, thermal mist, and even a couple of fishermen, barely visible in the upper right of this image.

It’s been only about ten years since the US finally declared the American Bison as its national mammal. Efforts to preserve these creatures from extinction began in 1872 in Yellowstone National Park. In 1905, Theodore Roosevelt helped form the American Bison Society (ABS) in an effort to save bison from extinction—the first national effort to save an American wildlife species. Bison now roam Yellowstone freely and create what are known as Bison jams when visitors, awestruck by these two thousand pound ungulates, stop in the middle of the road to watch them. As we drove through the park on our last afternoon here, we encountered a herd of Bison on either side of the road that created a Bison Jam by cars stopping in the middle of the road. Fortunately for us, there was room in a pullout and we were able to photograph the Bison up close and personal from inside the vehicle.

Yellowstone National Park is a very special place. In the past ten years that I’ve been privileged to visit here, each visit has been memorable for a specific animal. This visit, Elk have been the species most visible and the most photogenic. A small band of Elk has been hanging out near the 7 Mile Bridge that crosses the Madison River. This bull Elk was the most dominant, herding his harem around the meadow and keeping them away from rival males.

Sunrise on the Madison with clouds and reflections.

We ended our first day in Yellowstone National Park near the 7 Mile Bridge over the Madison River. A small band of Elk had gathered there and one cow arrived with a pair of twins. This twin calf was trying not to lose sight of its sibling and mother.

There are not many sunrises that are memorable for their sounds. This one, taken at Alum Creek in Yellowstone National Park just about one year ago, was the most magical sunrise I’ve ever photographed, and it was magical more for its soundtrack than its beauty. It was spectacular both because of the color and because of the thermal mists that hung close to the water, but the soundtrack was the Wapiti Wolf Pack, about a mile away from us, serenading us the entire time we were photographing the colors. It doesn’t get better than that!

Close encounters are one of the things that make an airshow so exciting to witness. Two of Canada’s Snowbirds appeared to be on a collision course as they whizzed past each other. It was a heart-stopping sight, that’s for sure!

This is the U.S. Navy F/A-18F, nicknamed the “Rhino,” as it lifts off to showcase its tactical capabilities, speed, and power. Based at the Naval Air Station at Lamoore, CA it was loud and its roar vibrated through our bodies but it was good vibrations!

Off they go, into the wild blue yonder! US Air Force Thunderbirds epitomize the lyrics of the official Air Force song. I am awestruck at their precision and amazed that they willingly do this. In this diamond formation, they fly a mere 18 inches apart. It gives me goosebumps! What a spectacular feat to witness.

The U-2, known as the Dragon Lady, is a high-altitude intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft that has been flying for seventy years. Sixty-six years ago, both a U-2 and its pilot, Francis Gary Powers, suddenly became household names when they were shot down over the Soviet Union, causing an infamous Cold War incident. Today, most of the fleet is based locally at Beale AFB so it was a short trip from Beale to Mather. This Dragon Lady took off at sunset escorted by two F16s at the California Capital Airshow. I’d never seen one before and those long-ago memories instantly returned. Read about it here.

The final public performance of Canada’s Canadian Forces Snowbirds in their CT-114 Tutor jets took place at the California Capital Airshow, marking their last U.S. appearance on October 11, 2026. What a spectacular show they put on. According to the announcer at the show, their jets are now up for sale and it will be about 5 years before the Snowbirds are back. Watching them roll over as the sun was setting, lighting up the undersides of their jets was nothing short of spectacular.

The 2026 California Capital Airshow ended yesterday with a spectacular display from the USAF Thunderbirds. It was only the second airshow I’ve been to, the first in 2009 in Redding before I took up photography seriously. What a show it was! I was awestruck by the precision performance of these pilots. The Thunderbirds rock!

My favorite shorebird, the Sanderling, seems always to be in a hurry, but there always seems to be an abundance of them on the beach to replace the ones that hurry off. However, on my recent visit to Folly Beach in South Carolina, we were disappointed that we saw just a handful of Sanderlings on only two of our four days there. We didn’t have the normal experience of knowing that when one Sanderling scurried away, another would immediately show up to take its place. On our last morning there, the sun had just come up and we found a couple of Sanderlings but they were determined to hurry off just as we got down onto the sand. I was pleased that I got a few shots in the few seconds this Sanderling was in my viewfinder before it hurried off and disappeared.

Mama Kodiak Brown Bear spent lots of time snorkeling for salmon. When she emerged, the fur on her head was slick with water. Every so often when she came up for air, she also shook off the water, creating a huge halo of droplets around her head that spread out drenching everything that wasn’t already wet.

The three Kodiak Brown Bear cubs seemed like typical kids. One was afraid to leave Mom’s side; one was confident but not completely independent; and then there was the rebel, always wandering off on its own. But for some reason, they all three decided to join Mom in the river as she fished, no longer content to watch from the shoreline. It was obvious they weren’t used to entering the water from that part of the river’s edge, a couple of feet up and covered in slippery grasses. The first cub to start down was hesitant but determined. Then the other two, probably suffering from FOMO, began to slide down too. Finally, the first cub plunged ahead of the other two who seemed more hesitant to venture down the slope. Once in the water, they anxiously began to search for Mom. Ahh. There she is! We’re safe.

There’s sunrise and then there’s SUNRISE! When we arrived at Folly Beach on our last morning in South Carolina, there was a bank of clouds the hugged the harbor and fringes of color defined the clouds. Pelicans swooped across the tangerine sky, silhouetted by the orange backdrop. It was gorgeous, but when the sun actually rose above the clouds, wow! It’s a sunrise I won’t soon forget.

The Carolina Wren! South Carolina’s state bird! Photographed at Stono River County Park on John’s Island in South Carolina! I love it when I can photograph a state’s bird in that state and I did that just last week. And, it’s a three-fer! Not only is it Carolina’s state bird, it was the first time I’ve photographed a Carolina Wren, and the bird is perched in a native tree, a Yaupon holly.