Montana Photo

25K. ©Jason Savage

I was visiting the town of West Yellowstone yesterday amongst the hundreds of others who were competing in the annual Yellowstone Rendezvous Ski Race. Racers come from all over to compete and some as far from Alaska were there.

The atmosphere is definitely festive as skiiers from all age groups compete in different length races. The 2k race which features ages 6-9 was fun to watch as the kids were detemined and full of energy to get underway. Lots of fun to watch.

Helena’s own Randy Beckner finished 16 out of 130 in the Men’s 50K freestyle(Way to go Randy!). Bozeman’s Leif Zimmerman took first with a time of 2:13:02.3. To see the rest of the results in all races you can visit at the Yellowstone Rendezvous Ski Race Results page.

If you are interested in this race it’s open to all levels, pros and beginners alike. It’s one way to sign off on the end of winter in one of Montana’s longstanding traditions.

Little Bison Racer 2K. © Jason Savage

Classic Skiing. © Jason Savage

25K Classic. © Jason Savage

Missouri River. © Jason Savage

If you happen to be in Western Montana lately, you may have noticed that there’s almost some sort of  spring like thing happening here. The snow is melting quickly and we are now above freezing!

It should be noted that our warm up and melting snow happened to coincide with my purchase of a new set of cross country skis. So you can thank the Murphy’s Law Gods for this one! Oh well, the spring like weather is still awesome.

When I say “spring like” I am however referring to temperatures in the 40ish’s . So it’s not like the flowers are blooming just yet. Although you’d think they were judging from people’s behavior yesterday. The sun was out and it had warmed up to 35 and people were out on their motorcycles cruising around town!

Crazy. But this being Montana, we still have March and some of April to go, so who knows I may still get some skiing in if I’m lucky…

Missouri River. © Jason Savage

Sled Dog. © Jason Savage

Montana’s 350 mile sled dog race got off to an exciting start on Saturday with warm temps and some anxious dogs. Race to the Sky is Montana’s premier winter event highlighting some of the country’s top mushers and is a qualifier for the Iditarod race in Alaska.

The race’s official start is near Rimini just outside of Helena. This year the weather was much warmer than previous races and by the afternoon it was blue sky and sunshine. This of course kept the Racers having to constantly monitor their dogs for overheating. Overall though, the course was in good shape and riders were in high spirits.

You can check the stats of the race at The Race to the Sky  homepage.

That’s it for now, here’s to more snow and a couple more months left of winter!

On the Trail. © Jason Savage

Sled. © Jason Savage

Sled Dog. © Jason Savage

Sled Dogs. © Jason Savage

Mallard Drake. © Jason Savage

Thought I would post a few pics of our local Mallards here in Helena. I think if someone can photograph birds in flight, they can photograph just about anything! These guys are hard to track and always keep you on your toes, especially when they come dive bombing in for a landing. I don’t consider myself that much of a wildlife photographer, but I do enjoy photographing birds in flight as it’s not only challenging, but very exciting when there’s some action.

If you do get into bird photography, it helps to have a longer lens and something in the 400-500mm+ range. Not only that, but with today’s newer cameras incorporating some amazing auto focus tracking technology, your odds of sharp photos has never been better. But beyond the equipment, it helps to get out there, day-in and day-out, getting used to anticipating their movements, studying behavior and getting in the habit of following a fast moving subject.

Mallards on Ice. © Jason Savage

Mallards. © Jason Savage

Mallard Drake Landing. © Jason Savage

Mallard Hen. © Jason Savage

Mule Deer. © Jason Savage

Thought I would post a few pics from Canyon Ferry a couple weeks back and other spots nearby. Lately I’ve been spending more time  scouting around the north side of the lake and surprisingly, there is always something to photograph if you look hard enough. The wildlife around the lake includes Mule Deer, Mountain Goats, Big Horn Sheep, Pronghorns and an array of waterfowl.

This time of year it can be tough to be inspired when things get gray and cold, but if you get out there and really start exploring you will usually run across something worthwhile to photograph.

But it does help to go where the action is and planning your photography accordingly can deliver more exciting and dramatic images. I usually find that bodies of water during the winter are good places to check out as not only do they provide interesting subjects for landscape photos,  but being a source of survival for wildlife, you will find them congregating nearby.

Canada Goose. © Jason Savage

Mallards. © Jason Savage

In case you missed my first installment of Subaru vs. Deer a couple months back, I thought I would post the follow-up, Subaru vs. Truck!

I was hoping to have some awesome winter Yellowstone Photos for everyone this weekend, but we had a slight change of plans yesterday afternoon. A guy driving a pickup truck decided he needed to turn at coincidentally the same time we happened to be driving by.

My friend John and I were heading to Yellowstone for a few days of photography and instead we’re at home popping Ibuprofen. Thankfully everyone was OK.

Unfortunately(fortunately) this will conclude the Subaru collision series.

In case you didn’t notice, for the last couple months there has been a cool little icon on the sidebar of my blog titled “Blogging for Hunger”. The World Food Programme has initiated new tools for us bloggers to get in on spreading the word for the Hunger crisis going on around the world. “A Billion for a Billion” is a new campaign designed to harness the social network of the internet to spread the word about what’s really happening, and how we can help. If everyone donates a $1.50 a week, there can be tremendous changes made. Seriously, $1.50 a week.

Check out the link.

http://www.wfp.org/1billion

Thompson Lake. © Jason Savage

Happy New Year to everyone-Hope 2010 brings you the best and many new adventures!

Bitterroot Valley. © Jason Savage

I was up in Hamilton over Christmas and went out for a brief shoot on Saturday. Of course the gorgeous light we had on Christmas day was nowhere to be found. But you make the best of it.

I’ve been on a black & white kick lately and given that we actually have no color this time of year, it sometimes works best. Will have some more pics soon. Hopefully with some snow.

Blodgett Canyon. © Jason Savage

Curious Deer. © Jason Savage

Country Road. © Jason Savage

I’ve just realized that’s it’s been a few weeks since my last post(hand-slap to forehead) and thought I should at least make an effort to get some new images up. I’ve been busy with a lot of projects lately so I apologize for falling down on my blog duties.

These images were from a trip I took a couple weeks back up in the Smith River area, east of Cascade. And fortunately my bumper and I managed to escape anymore encounters with the local deer.

The country out in this neck of the woods is awesome and reminds me of what someone would envision if they pictured Montana and were not from here. It’s still vast and open, with rolling hills, mountains in the distance rising up from the plains, with a real wildness about it. Lots of ranchland and wildlife.

Hopefully I will be spending some more time here in the future, especially next spring and summer.

Enjoy.

Square Butte. © Jason Savage

Shot Sign. © Jason Savage

Old Homestead. © Jason Savage

Cow. © Jason Savage

Mailboxes. © Jason Savage

Sheep. © Jason Savage