My Pix for your Wildlife Fix!

Yellowstone: Battle for Life

If your like me and you can’t always be in a magical place like Yellowstone, Grand Tetons or Banff, then you need to do something in your down time to get your fix. So I decided to start a new segment called, My Pix for your Wildlife Fix. I’ll share some of my favorite nature, wildlife and photography content.

Since our Grand Teton / Yellowstone trip is still fresh in my memory, I thought I’d start with my favorite Yellowstone film. Yellowstone: Battle For Life. This Yellowstone documentary is a BBC film by Executive Producer Michael Gunton. After doing some research I found that was a US version and a British version. The British version is broken down into individual episodes for the seasons and the US version is a single two hour special. They also have different narrators.

This film is well paced and informative. I’ve found that some older wildlife documentaries put me to sleep, but not this one. The photography is this film is stunning. If your looking for inspiration this is an excellent place to start. The film revolves around motion images that if frozen would be outstanding still photographs. During each of these sequences I couldn’t help but think, Now thats a shot. Then seemly the next scene I would repeat myself. One after another of amazing landscape and wildlife sequences.

The sound and production qualities are outstanding and the film was won numerous awards. My only nit pick might be the narrator of the US version. Jason Hildebrandt narrates with a sometimes over the top intensity but it does make for impactful narration. I can’t comment on the British narrator Peter Firth.

Wildlife mentioned in order of their first appearance. Bison, Elk, Pronghorn, Wolves, Grizzly Bear, Clark’s Nutcracker, Beaver, Moose, Big Horn Sheep, Bald Eagle, Coyote, River Otter, Red Fox, Ground Squirrel, Canada Geese, White Pelican, Calliope Hummingbird, Osprey

Hopefully this exceptional film will tie you over until you can make your next trip outdoors. Save it for a rainy day, inspiration or anytime you can’t get out to your favorite spot. The good news is either Blu-Ray or DVD can be had on Amazon for a very reasonable price. 

Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995, under their watchful gaze, no elk is safe.

As it gets colder, one animal here gets stronger.

Photographers:

John Aitchison

Jeff Hogan

Shane Moore

John Shier

Paul D. Stewart

Stephen De Vere

Areial Photographers:

Chris Chanada

Peter Davis

Gary Kauffman

Simon Werry