Looking for wildlife usually involves getting up early to catch the sunrise, taking a break mid-day and then staying out late until after sunrise.

Some days you wake up in what feels like the middle of the night, put on some clothes, take breakfast to go and head out. Hours pass without seeing a single animal - or at least in a situation you want to photograph - and you go home disillusioned ... only to repeat the same pattern the following day.

On this occasion, I had woken up early in freezing temps during Jackson Hole's fall season. I headed out and after only a few minutes found a bison, all by himself in front of a beautiful backdrop! He was well away from the main roads so I was all alone with the bison. What a start to the day!

As he grazed in front of me, seemingly undisturbed by my presence (remember to keep a safe distance of minimum 25 yards at all time), I waited for the sun to rise behind me. The Teton mountains run north-south so the valley floor which contains much of Grand Teton National Park gets flooded with sunlight each morning; or at least when there's no cloud cover which often times happens.

This particular morning, I got lucky. The bison posed beautifully with both him and the Tetons illuminated by the rising sun. What I especially like about this picture is that I didn't have to use my high frame rate action camera - the bison didn't particularly move fast - so I got to use my high Megapixel camera body. Even though it doesn't translate well to the low resolution of the internet and social media, the detail is amazing: I love the frost on the bison's back (the temperature was well below freezing) and the subtle catch light in his eye.

And, yes, after photographing the bison, I did head out for the day looking for wildlife to photograph in and around the national park ... but I didn't see another single thing. I should have just turned back to spend a relaxing day at home after this bison: save myself 12 hours of looking and a tank of gas!

Interesting in ordering this image as a wall print?