Todd Pearce Photography

10/15/2026

I hung a screech owl box in our backyard 2 years ago. This morning we finally saw a little screech owl visit it. It’s been in there all day today. I sure hope it decides to visit more often, or maybe stay all winter.

10/14/2026

10/13/2026

Most mornings the light doesn't work in your favor. This was one of those mornings. I still enjoyed the ducks swimming around the oxbow with the Tetons towering in the background.

10/06/2026

Mormon Row is one of the most iconic and most photographed areas of the Tetons. That is for good reason, it is absolutely beautiful! I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to visit it and snap a couple of pictures.

10/02/2026

I got several elk images that are classic examples of why you wake up early, find the subject, and wait for the light. This is one of those images. As I watched the morning progress and the fog was sticking around, I moved to backlight the elk which made the fog a massive part of the images. It tells a major part of the story.

10/02/2026

Last year while shooting the elk rut I used an elevated position to see more of the elk. Even though I got some shots I was really happy with, I felt like not being eye level to the elk made me feel less connected to them in the pictures.

This year I shot from the ground, and I am much happier with the feel of the images. Some of the pictures were even taken crouched to get the antlers more into that dark background. The tradeoff is that many of the pictures I got have obstructions in front of the elk's face. Photography is all about compromise I suppose 🙃

10/01/2026

This bull is able to determine when a cow is in heat by lip curling and sampling the air. He had a field full of cows and was actively breeding as the foggy morning broke into blue hour.

09/29/2026

I'm not sure there is much in this world that I have seen that is more majestic than elk in the morning mist. The misty mornings of fall coupled with the beautiful fields in the GSMNP are quite the sight to see.

09/27/2026

Yesterday went pretty well in the Cataloochee Valley. I took almost 800 pictures. Now I have to filter through them and find the 3-4 keeper shots.

The highlights were:
A cow elk took my hoodie off the tailgate of my truck. Because I was keeping my truck between the cow and me, I wasn’t able to get a picture of it. She did drop it so I was able to recover it 😂.

And, I saw my first bobcat in years yesterday. It ran right out in front of my truck outside of the valley. I missed it thanks to some vehicle evasive maneuvering.

Today my wife and I are off to see the Walker Sister’s cabin on the other side of the National Park. I’m hoping to see a bear. And if we do, I hope it doesn’t take an article of my clothing.

I should have some pictures up in the next few days.

09/26/2026

Last year around this time I headed out to the Cataloochee Valley for an all day elk shoot. I was plagued with horrible abdominal cramping if I ate or drank anything. About a month or so later I learned that this was colon cancer.

Today I am headed back to the same spot. My resolve is just as high as a year ago, but I am feeling so much better. I hope to bring you guys a week of elk pictures of all goes right!

Until then, enjoy a couple of images from last year.