Autumn full moon in Yellowstone Park

When it comes to the moon, I am very lunar. I feel the moons and I love them all. Is there anything prettier than a crescent moon with Venus as an accent? The right setting can make any of them exceptional, but for me I especially like it when a full moon falls at an equinox or Solstice.

When we knew we'd be in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone for the autumn equinox and a full moon, I knew where I'd want a photo. It would be above Slough Creek where I might also hear a wolf howl. How perfect would that be?

Just before first light, as we drove down through the Lamar Valley, from where we had camped the night before, we saw the buffalo in the dark. They were right alongside the road and it made a photo quite simple if not exactly state of the art. You have to be there to hear their grunting, the bulls butting heads, the calves calling to their mothers. Sound is so much a part of a buffalo herd that I should have brought the little video camera and might have if I had ever learned how to operate it properly. As it is, one camera is enough for me to figure out.

When we got down to where I had hoped for the best full moon shot, we walked out on a ridge overlooking the creek. There were wolves on the other side, a few hundred feet away. They were the main attractant for most of those on a higher ridge with their cameras at the ready. I was as thrilled by the wolf pack as they were; but at the moment, for me, it was all about that full moon and hopefully reflections in the water. I didn't have any control over the water being so still but I knew it would be what would make the shot.

I kept on with the moon shots, changing my angle, moving to where I could see the moon reflected best. How could any full moon photo in Yellowstone not be great! Add that it was also at the fall equinox, a time when the park would soon be closed to most tourists at least for awhile, where a seasonal change was coming for the animals, and it made it perfect.

Blogger's new system for putting photos on here is driving me nuts. Basically I can no longer use Mozilla to put up any photos even though I prefer writing the blogs using Mozilla. I hope they get it fixed as even using Explorer, it's not working right and makes blogs like these a lot more work than they used to be!