About the Photographer

My name is Brooke Kapalka, and I am a Photographer based out of Bozeman, Montana. I primarily photograph the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, with the bulk of my focus on Yellowstone National Park itself. I am mostly a hobbyist, spending my weekdays putting my Bachelor’s of Science in Microbiology to work in a laboratory setting, but most weekends in Yellowstone.

I moved to Bozeman in 2013 to attend Montana State University. Despite being only an hour and a half from the North Entrance of Yellowstone, I only visited the park twice in the first 7 years I lived here. That all changed in September of 2020. Midway through the month, I detoured through West Yellowstone into the park on my way back from visiting family. I didn’t see much, but since the entry pass was good for a whole week, I decided to try again the next weekend with an earlier start. That was a truly life changing decision. On September 20th I loaded up my roommates and headed to Gardiner. We started our trip on the Northern Road. In the Lamar Valley, we were lucky enough to stumble upon a Wolf Jam. The Junction Butte Wolves were clear across the valley up against the hills- I was ecstatic. My brother was less than impressed. His words were- “Imagine something as far away as possible, and then put it twice as far away- that’s what they looked like”. Nevertheless, I was thrilled. We continued onwards, turning and looping south. As we got closer to the Hayden Valley, we encountered dozens of vehicles, with people streaming down the road towards a mass of photographers shooting across the Yellowstone River. As we slowed down, I got my first look at a Grizzly Bear. A few days prior, Grizzly 791 killed a bull elk, and then set up camp with his carcass across the river. He quickly became a phenomenon. The sheer number of people was astounding. We weren’t able to stop, but that quick glimpse started an obsession that keeps me going to this day. I returned a week later, and found the carcass now in the custody of a new Grizzly- apparently bear 881 fought 791 for the right to the elk and won. I was able to stop this time, and spent hours with just my binoculars watching him nap on his prize.

Following this crazy week, I borrowed a cheap scope from a friend, invested in a $30 tripod and $10 phone adapter, and set off on weekly adventures to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. I joined multiple Facebook groups dedicated to the parks, read articles on where to find wildlife, and focused on finding the best places to spot bears and wolves. I took many blurry and oddly colored pictures through the scope, and started to dream bigger.

I had for years been saving for an overseas vacation, but by November of 2020, the world was deep in the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. It seemed like my dreams of global travel were unreachable. By chance, someone on Facebook asked about a good starter point and shoot camera, and one of the top answers was the Nikon P900. I wandered over to my local camera store the weekend before Thanksgiving. The didn't have the P900, but they did have the more powerful P1000, used at a great price. This point and shoot has a 24-3000mm equivalency, allowing for 125x zoom. I snatched this up and spent the next few weeks learning my new investment. While the picture size doesn’t allow for very large prints, this camera does a fantastic job at capturing wildlife on a budget. I gained experience shooting early morning moose, midday fox, and mousing coyotes near sunset. I spent Christmas and New Years in Yellowstone that year and loved every minute of it.

It’s been years since I acquired my camera, and since then I have spent most weekends in Yellowstone. Spending so many hours in the Park started paying off with amazing experiences. I have watched Otters play in -14F temperatures, observed Wolves feasting on bison carcasses, and Grizzlies grubbing in thermal areas. I’ve played hide and seek with Pine Martens, hit the brakes hard for a Porcupine, and bore witness to coyote puppies nursing. I’ve watched Red Foxes mousing, Bighorn Sheep careening down hillsides, elk bugling, and Black Bear cubs frolicking in wildflowers. I’ve spent hundreds of hours caught in Bison jams. Every moment has been fantastic and I am so excited to finally be able to share my printed works!

These days I shoot mostly with a Canon R7 and 500mm EF lens. I have come a long way from where I started and can’t wait to see where the future takes me!