Yellowstone: the introspective landscape Part XX

from the new book on Yellowstone NP-

Chapter 9-Chased by Maidens- ...continued

It was a beautiful July day; the wildflower bloom was at its height. Carpets of Elephant Head, Shooting Stars and Blue Irises blanketed the wet areas and Lupines, Balsam Leaved and Mule-Eared flowers covered the dryer locations. After scouting out the hillsides above the valley floor, I found a thick group of Elephant Heads perfectly positioned with the Bison herd below me. Happily, I began to set up my 4X5 camera. This can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes depending on how close my foreground subject may. In this case the flowers were fairly close being within 24 inches. Elephant Heads are not very tall nor are they large; some were 18 inches or shorter so the camera was positioned close to the ground. So close, I was sitting on the grasses with my focusing cloth over me.
After doing this for about 10 minutes or I peered out from under the cloth to take a scan of my surroundings. Off to my right, I could see that a group of 3 maid bison were walking on the valley floor towards me. They walked with a diligence much like the diligence of Tim Cahill.

to be continued...