Otters in the Lamar

There are certainly more majestic animals to fit into a landscape composition in Yellowstone, but I was happy with this opportunity, because I can’t remember ever having a good chance to shoot an otter “animalscape” before this. This encounter occurred during my excellent trip to the park back in January. We had these two North American river otters hanging out in the creek near the road for about an hour. After snapping plenty of tight and medium shots, I did keep an eye out for an opportunity to frame the pair with the cottonwoods and willows on the floor of the Lamar Valley. Fortunately, they came out on land for a potty break, which presented the perfect opportunity just before they returned to the water.

Canon 1DX
Canon 100-400
ISO 400
1/1000th
f/7.1

Max

1 Like

Max: Going to Yellowstone in the winter is high on my bucket list and images like this only make me want to go more. The otters are the perfect complement to this wonderful scene. Most excellent. >=))>

Max, the otters are a great addition to this fine Yellowstone scene. The hints of red and yellow in the willows and cottonwoods add a nice warm contrast to an otherwise chilly scene.

A wonderful image showing the world they live in. Such a powerful story to see all of this in one well composed image. Love it.

Beautiful scene, well framed with that patch of rocks pointing right to the otters.

A very nice animalscape, Max! It captures the otters in the context of their natural environment and happens to include a very nice landscape! The large version is particularly nice as it has much more presence and shows more details on the otters. A very pleasant scene!

This is excellent work, Max. This is basically an abstract, wildlife and intimate scene all rolled into one. No critique from me.

Excellent composition, Max. I really like the placement of the otters in the frame and the curved leading lines.