royinidaho
Well-Known Member
Since his wife works at the Old Faithful clinic and Alex Wypyszinski, 63, works at the
Old Faithful post office, he always has a couple of hours after he drops her off to shoot
photographs. He's never without his camera.
That's a good thing, because on May 24 Wypyszinski shot a series of photos any
professional photographer would give their eye teeth to have. As Wypyszinski stepped
out of his car to shoot some scenic photos of the steam rising off of the snow-shrouded
banks of the Firehole River near Fountain Flats, he heard a strange sound - galloping.
It took a moment for the source of the sound to appear - a grizzly bear chasing a wounded
bison right down the middle of the paved road.
"At first I couldn't figure out what it was," he said in a telephone interview Friday from
North Carolina where he was visiting family. "That bison was so beat up I thought that
that bear had been munching on it awhile. But it had to be going 25 to 30 miles per
hour when it went by me."
Wypyszinski said he thought about jumping on top of the car so he could keep shooting
as the animals drew near. Instead, he hopped inside and shot through his car window
as they raced past, seemingly unaware of his presence. Then Wypyszinski jumped out
and shot more photos with a small Sony point-and-shoot camera.
"It was a heart thumper," he said.
Thankfully, he had proof of the unusual encounter or no one would have believed him.
He printed up copies and hung them up at the post office in Old Faithful. Interpretive
rangers told him the bison must have fallen into hot water, burning its skin and
causing the large bare patches of skin.
Later, Wypyszinski entered one of the series of 14 photos in the employee photography
contest and won first place, naturally.
"The young people are always telling me you have to go into the backcountry to get
good photos, but that's not necessarily true," Wypyszinski said. Sometimes, all you need
is to have your camera ready at just the right time.
Old Faithful post office, he always has a couple of hours after he drops her off to shoot
photographs. He's never without his camera.
That's a good thing, because on May 24 Wypyszinski shot a series of photos any
professional photographer would give their eye teeth to have. As Wypyszinski stepped
out of his car to shoot some scenic photos of the steam rising off of the snow-shrouded
banks of the Firehole River near Fountain Flats, he heard a strange sound - galloping.
It took a moment for the source of the sound to appear - a grizzly bear chasing a wounded
bison right down the middle of the paved road.
"At first I couldn't figure out what it was," he said in a telephone interview Friday from
North Carolina where he was visiting family. "That bison was so beat up I thought that
that bear had been munching on it awhile. But it had to be going 25 to 30 miles per
hour when it went by me."
Wypyszinski said he thought about jumping on top of the car so he could keep shooting
as the animals drew near. Instead, he hopped inside and shot through his car window
as they raced past, seemingly unaware of his presence. Then Wypyszinski jumped out
and shot more photos with a small Sony point-and-shoot camera.
"It was a heart thumper," he said.
Thankfully, he had proof of the unusual encounter or no one would have believed him.
He printed up copies and hung them up at the post office in Old Faithful. Interpretive
rangers told him the bison must have fallen into hot water, burning its skin and
causing the large bare patches of skin.
Later, Wypyszinski entered one of the series of 14 photos in the employee photography
contest and won first place, naturally.
"The young people are always telling me you have to go into the backcountry to get
good photos, but that's not necessarily true," Wypyszinski said. Sometimes, all you need
is to have your camera ready at just the right time.
