Our photo of the day comes from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
Look at this magnificent creature, an American black bear, beautifully photographed by Don Quintana at Yellowstone's Petrified Tree. Don shares with us a bit of photographer backstory:
"Early mornings are the norm for photographing Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. We awoke at our campsite around 4:30 am so we could be in the Lamar Valley in time for first light. Often times that meant buying bottled iced coffees for the morning ride the night before. I can’t function without some form of caffeine pumping through my veins. On the way from Gardiner to the Lamar, there is always time to stop off at Petrified Tree to look for Black Bears. Many years ago I was successful at spotting a Black bear in this location, so as a creature of habit, I always stop when passing this way. It’s not always a lucrative venture, but on this particular morning, we had our bear. One of the best things about an early morning is that at times, it's just you and your subject. No bear jam, or hordes of tourist walking towards the animal with their smartphones, or people stepping in front of your lens. Just you and the animal doing what animals do. It’s a wonderful thing to be alone with nature."
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