06/09/2026
The first photo of my wildlife photography journey.
May 2018 I was moving to Alberta and while driving down the road Spotted what I thought was a Mountain Goat on the tracks. When I stopped to take a photo with my very basic camera I realized it was a white grizzly who was later given the name Nakoda. A train was coming and Nakoda was on the track eating grain on a corner so we started shouting for her to get off and made horn motions to the train conductor so that he would blow his horn. Luckily he did and Nakoda was able to get off the tracks. That video ended up going around the world and little did I know at the time it made her famous in a bad way. People came from all over to try and get photos of her. She became way to comfortable with cars and people and unfortunately on June 8th 2024 she was struck and killed by a car. Just 12 hours earlier her 2 cubs were also struck and killed in a seperate incident. Unfortunately this is what happens way to often because of unethical behavior with animals. Just a reminder to slow down and to not try and feed or bait animals. I will always be grateful that Nakoda lit the fire in me to get more involved in photography. This photo will always be a special one for me even though it isn't my best one.
