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Where the Buffalo Roam by Deby Dixon

Bison scattered along Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park

And sometimes up close and personal along the roadway

And in the roadway, creating endless traffic jams and photo ops

Baby Bison resting amongst the sagebrush near Mammoth

This bison ran the coyote off so that they could have a moment of silence for their fallen friend

Everywhere in Yellowstone National Park, the buffalo roamed

And so did the wildlife photographers...

The sun rose behind a full night of driving as we sped home from Yellowstone National Park for a 6:30 a.m. flight out of Spokane. My shooting buddy heading back to New Jersey and me, back to school.

When my friend, Tom, told me that the babies were wandering around Yellowstone and that this was the second best time to be there for photography, I didn't know what we would find. Musings about wishes to find wildlife and would they be there in sight or would we have to hike off deep into the forest to find them. More than anything was the excitement of the unknown.

I didn't realize that "Jersey Boy" had never experienced the landscape of the west and was quite amused by what I termed, his "drive by shooting." He oohed and ahed over the mountains, the sky, the clouds, and everything else that crossed our path. I pretended not to be impressed but the truth is I've never quit being in awe of our landscape.

There was no shortage of wildlife in the park and the photo ops were endless. From early morning until after dark each day, we roamed and shot, filling endless gigs on flash cards and bogging down our computer hard drives when we returned at night. Sleep, some eating, driving, shooting, downloading, a few edits and crashing, were our days and there were no complaints, just desires for more.

On the last day, we'd planned to make one last, quick trip into the park before heading towards home at around noon but bison, elk, bears, antelope, coyotes and moose kept popping up along Lamar Valley, along with other enthusiastic photographers. The sun was once again setting when we finally headed west and back to our real lives.

Now, it is time to play catch-up, as deadlines loom near but the excitement of wildlife and landscape photography in the country's first national park, still dance in the crevasses of my being.

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