Premier Interpretive, Scenic & Wildlife Photography Tours in Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole, WY 

Daniel Muscatell

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Hello:

My name is Daniel Muscatell and I am the owner & a guide for Jackson Hole Grand Expeditions. I have lived in Jackson Hole for the better part of 23 years now. I have been a nature photographer for approximately twenty-eight years. In late March of 1999, I witnessed and photographed my first grizzly bear at Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park, when grizzly bears during those days were a rarity to be seen at all in the park. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was wearing sandals while standing in six inches of snow. The bear wasn't wearing anything. It was soon after I was told by local photographers that I actually saw and photographed the first grizzly bear ever roadside in Grand Teton National Park. I like to think the image was of the planet's most famous bear, Grizzly 399. For she was roaming solo at this time at four years of age. I can not prove that, but just the idea that it could have been her is a very scintillating thought.    

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I began photographing nature with a Minolta 5000 film camera and a few respectable lenses that covered most of my range of subjects. The lenses back then were very noisy, sounding much like a dentist's drill while focusing automatically. It was to my delight when Canon came out with the USM lenses that provided silent operation. It was to an even greater delight when the digital revolution replaced slide film and everyone and their brother could afford a decent DSLR camera and travel the deep woods in search of their subject. 

 

When I arrived here in this valley in November of '98, within three months,

a mountain lion and her three cubs camped out in the rocky outcrops of 

Miller's Butte on the National Elk Refuge. This family of cats resided there

for forty-two straight days. It was a natural spectacle I had never imagined

I would have the opportunity to witness in the wilds. Over time, I began to

realize this valley of Jackson Hole and the Yellowstone Ecosystem 

encompassing it, was a naturalist's dream and nature photographer's

paradise. And over time this led me into the realization that Jackson Hole

Grand Expeditions would become an avenue to express my experiences

and my passion for this paradise onto others. 

 

I have hiked the many trails and mountains of the Adirondacks, the Smokies and the Colorado Rockies... but it wasn't until I visited Jackson Hole that winter of 1998, that I knew I wanted to live here for the rest of my life. There are no bad days here. That is the beauty of this land. And that is why many are drawn to this place. 

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Maybe this is Heaven. Maybe it isn't. All I know is, those who live here or simply come for a visit, this ecosystem instills into them a better understanding of the miracles of nature and the sincere necessity for her preservation.