Yellowstone National Park

Icy Undine

Every November/December the cold of winter starts to set in and ice forms anywhere this is cold water. It is fun to watch the ice form on Undine Falls as it slowly creeps down the falls like a slowly falling curtain. Eventually, the ice will completely cover the falls and quite it's voice until the spring thaw comes.

October Snow

A mid October snow blankets the small canyon that Lava Creek flows into. The waterfall, Undine Falls, is a 3-tier plunge approximately 60 feet tall. It is just off a large pullout east of Mammoth Hot Springs.

Gardner River Gold

The Gardner River winds it's way through Gardner Canyon near the north entrance to Yellowstone. The bushes and trees along the river turned lovely autumn shades.

Wapiti Walk

The Wapiti Pack walks along the top of a hill near the road in Yellowstone National Park. There was a winter killed bison in the area that they were travelling to. If you look closely, you can see 15 wolves.

Old Faithful Curves

Toward the end of this pre-dawn eruption, a slight breeze pushed the column of steam into this graceful curve.

Ghosts

A small stand of pine trees is shrouded in steam/fog from an erupting Grotto Geyser (behind the camera).

Old Faithful Blues

Old Faithful Geyser erupts in the blue early morning before sunrise.

The Devil's Thumb

Some scraggly plants cling to life amidst the thermal waters of the Mammoth Terraces. The steam from the water coats the plants in hoar frost which gives the scene an otherworldly feel.

Owl Be Watching You

A Great Horned owl watches me in a heavy snow squall. Owl sightings are rare in the park and to have one so calm so close to the road is a sighting one talks about for years.

Lower Falls Ice

Ice forms along the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone. Water finds a path and flows over the ice.

Undine Flow

Undine Falls in late November as the ice of winter starts to form around the edges.

Winter Dawn

Soft winter light is reflected in the warm pools of Upper Canary Spring.

Sunrise

This was one of the most vibrant and beautiful sunrises I have ever seen at Old Faithful. The colors in the clouds were so intense that I had to slightly desaturate the image. I love the long exposure and the little bit of water in the runoff channel that reflects the intense pinks and reds of the sunrise.

Ruddy Regalia

On a snowy May morning, a Ruddy Duck, floats in Floating Island Lake showing off his turquoise blue bill in hopes of attracting a mate. There were several males and females floating about edges of the lake occasionally diving under the surface for a tasty treat.

Lower Falls

A breaking spring storm dusts the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with a coating of snow. As the storm breaks, the morning sun spotlights the canyon and waterfall.

Beehive Rainbow

Beehive Geyser erupts in the early September light, the spray creating a large rainbow. Located on Geyser Hill behind Old Faithful Geyser, Beehive erupts on average once day.

Lower Falls Detail

The last of winters ice and snow tenuously clings to the walls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The ice cone at the base of the Lower Falls can, on a good winter, reach 200 feet tall. The Lower Falls thunders 308 feet to the canyon floor. It can be hard to visualize how tall the Lower Falls truly is. The trees in the bottom left are over 50 feet tall and are dwarfed by the waterfall and ice. There is a bit of photographic compression going on here. I am using a telephoto lens which compresses the whole scene. The waterfall and ice are closer together than the trees are to the waterfall and ice.

Grand Geyser in Black and White

Grand Geyser erupting in the winter morning light. The bursts from Grand were beautifully backlit which showed the beautiful texture in the eruption.

Frosted Geese

The Canada Goose. Not normally an exciting bird to photograph, but when it's double digits below zero and the geese have been resting along the Gibbon River, magic happens. The geese are frosted which shows off their feathers.

Canary in Black and White

No beautiful sunrise colors? No problem. The soft diffused light of early morning let me focus instead of the patterns and textures of Canary Spring at Mammoth Hot Springs.

Mammoth Morning

Morning light tinges distant clouds over the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. Low clouds have settled in the valleys near the community of Jardine, Montana just outside Yellowstone. A cool morning has come to the Mammoth Hot Springs area. The only sounds heard are the chirping of small birds and the soft babbling of water as it flows almost lazily down this section of the Mammoth Terraces to disappear into unknown depths.

Rustic Falls

Rustic Falls is a 47 foot tall waterfall along the road south of Mammoth. It is a nice, short stop as one heads deeper into the park.

Undine Falls

This lovely little roadside waterfall can be easily missed, but is worth the stop. Is it a 109 foot triple plunge waterfall on Lava Creek set in a steep canyon. In the winter, Undine Falls can ice over so no flowing water is visible.

Jupiter Detail

As thermal water flows over the terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs, hot water loving bacteria called thermophiles thrive in the hot water. These thermophiles are photosynthetic, which means they need sunlight in order to survive. These thermophiles are responsible for the colors in this photo. Where hot water has recently flowed, the limestone terraces are white. As they age, the limestone turns grey and starts to slough off. I shot this photo with a telephoto lens to focus on the patterns and pale color.

Jupiter Dawn

On a cool late autumn morning, the Mammoth Hot Springs terraces peek out from the steam. The steam acts as a giant softbox casting the golden glow over everything. The terraces are a travertine limestone deposit. Scientists measure deposition in feet per year whereas the Old Faithful area is measured in feet per century. This was taken with a telephoto lens to get in closer to some of the details that might be lost in the larger picture. Telephoto lenses (a 100-400mm lens in this case) aren't just for wildlife photography.