Panoramas

Aspen Panorama

The area around Jackson Lake Junction has so much to photograph...and that's just the abundant aspen trees. The area offers a beautiful view of the Tetons over Willow Flats and Jackson Lake. A cloudless sky at sunset had me searching for something else to photograph when I saw this small stand of aspen right at the junction. When I first stopped, they were side lit by the setting sun. Once the sun went behind the mountains, the light softened and this was what I saw.

Lonesome Lake Panorama

This is an 8 photo panorama of Lonesome Lake and the Cirque of the Towers. This area is a 15 mile hike (or horseback ride) from the nearest trailhead, and is well work the sore muscles to get here. The conical shaped peak is Pingora Peak (a popular peak to climb). It was once again windy this morning so I used a long exposure to smooth out the water of the lake a bit. This was just before first light hit the peaks.

Electric Peak Fog

Fog envelopes Swan Lake Flats on an early May morning. It has drizzled the day/night before, and I knew with the clearing skies overnight that the sunrise could be a good one. It was a cloudless sky and I wasn't very hopeful as I drove up from Mammoth. It wasn't until I came out of Golden Gate that I saw the low fog bank clinging to the alpine valley. I was worried that the fog covered the whole valley like a wet blanket. By the time I reached the south end of the valley I had emerged from the fog to a pastel colored sunrise.

The Misty Mountains

A fall storm envelopes the Grand Tetons. Like the Misty Mountains from J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings", low clouds cling to base of the Tetons while tops of the range are hidden. It can be difficult to grasp the sheer size of the mountains with nearly 7,000 feet of vertical rise right there in front of you. The yellow cottonwood trees at the base of the mountains add a sense of scale to an immense scene.

Old Faithful Bison

A bull bison grazes on golden autumn grasses while Old Faithful Geyser steams in the background. Bison like to hang out in the geyser basins both summer and winter. The geyser basins provide food, warm ground to nap on, and some shelter. The steam clouds, from left to right: Old Faithful Geyser, Daisy Geyser, Riverside Geyser, and Lion Geyser. Daisy and Lion are erupting.

Morning Walk

Two visitors walk along the Madison River on a cool August morning. The warm colors are from the sun being filtered through smoke from nearby wildfires.

Orange Mound Detail

Orange Spring Mound, along Upper Terrace Drive at Mammoth Hot Springs, has always been a favorite of mine. I have always loved the diversity of details on this feature. As the thermal water, which can be in the 160s F at the vent, flows down the feature, hot water loving bacteria thrive in the runoff channels. Different color bacteria thrive in different water temperatures.

Old Faithful Moonset

As the sun slowly rose over a sub-zero Old Faithful, it tinged the high wispy clouds shades of red and pink. The moon was setting behind the pink colored clouds as Old Faithful Geyser steamed. Winter is a magical time to visit Yellowstone. Only a small fraction of the total visitation occurs in the winter. In the summer, there would have been a number of photographers out photographing this scene. In the winter, there could maybe a handful at most, and on this particular morning there was no one else around.

Willow Flats Autumn

Clumps of aspens and willows showing off their beautiful fall colors with a pink tinged Mount Moran looming in the background.

Temple Mountain

Temple Mountain emerges from the clouds. I converted the images to black and white to show the variety of layers exposed. Temple Mountain is part of the San Rafael Swell. The San Rafael Swell is large landform (75 by 40 miles) called an anticline, which is a fold in the crust shaped like an arch with the oldest rock at it's center. Water has relentlessly eroded the Swell into the forms we see today.

Prismatic Detail

I had the opportunity last September to hike out to Fairy Falls and Imperial and Spray Geysers. On the way back, I hiked up to the new Grand Prismatic Overlook. It affords a very nice view of the largest hot spring in Yellowstone. This is a part of the runoff channel. The colors are thermophilic bacteria (hot water loving bacteria) . The colors also show the temperature of the water; the darker the colors, the cooler the water.

Electric Sunrise

Electric Peak peeks between low morning clouds showing off the dusting of snow the mountain received the day before. Early morning light dapples the slopes below the peak.

Flow

Thermal water flows over the edge of a terrace at Jupiter Terrace. This was taken just before sunrise so I was able to use a long exposure to give the water some soft motion.

Joshua Tree Panorama

Clear, hazy skies in Joshua Tree looking towards the San Bernardino Mountains.

Tree Abstract

I decided to have a little fun with the bobby socks trees near Fountain Paint Pots.

Moulton Barn Panorama

This is one of the two Moulton barns on Mormon Row. I was one of only a couple of photographers who ventured out this morning.

Moulton Barn in Black & White - Panorama

What do you do when you wake up for sunrise and you have no sunrise and you can't see the tops of the mountains? Everyone else went in for breakfast. Me...I do this. I've always loved this barn, but until now had never gotten a photo I liked of it. This photo was awarded a 2nd place and People's Choice for the Black & White Division at the Wild West Winterfest Photography Contest in Bozeman, Montana, 2011.