In mid-May, we found ourselves in Badlands National Park.
My goal was to capture its breathtaking beauty and uniqueness. That one shot, one magic moment that encompassed all that the Badlands represents. That’s what I was looking for.
Having just gotten some wonderful long-range shots of a mama Bighorn sheep and her babies using my Sigma 600 lens, I saw some storm clouds gathering in the distance and coming our way.
The clouds started rolling overhead, and it got very dark, even though the sun had not set.
The wind started to howl, and the Park Rangers began moving us towards the exits to get out of the park before the heavy rains hit us with their full force.
As our line of cars rounded a bend, a traffic jam occurred and we suddenly came to a dead stop. Looking to the left through the driver’s side window, I saw the most brilliant orange glow of the setting sun under the storm clouds that filled the air. I had Brett open his window so I could capture this.
While I was l getting the perfect shot of the storm clouds, a dark figure moved into the right side of my viewfinder. It was Big Daddy, a huge male bison that had walked in and stopped right across from us on the embankment from the road.
I still had my long-range lens on and knew if I took the time to get a different lens out, he would move on.
So, in less than a second, I smashed myself all the way against the passenger side door to get back far enough to capture this magnificent beast, standing as a silhouette against his lands as the acknowledged King of the Badlands.
As quick as King Bison was there, he was gone, and I got the shot!
Suddenly, the heavens opened up above us into a full tornado type storm.
In silence, we followed the line of cars out of the park totally in awe of the incredible symbol of the Badlands we just got a brief glimpse of.
We were euphoric, beaming ear to ear over our chance encounter with Big Daddy Bison, the King of the Badlands.
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