December 12, 2011 in Black and White, Grand Teton National Park, Mountains
This is an image from about a year ago that I took in August while in Grand Teton National Park. Taking photographs of the Cathedral Group of peaks (Teewinot, Grand, and Mount Owen) never gets old. This particular image has the Grand to the left, its highest peak with clouds clinging to it, and Mount Owen in the center.
March 26, 2010 in Grand Teton National Park, Mountains, Wyoming
For my spring break instead of going to someplace warm, I decided to head to the Tetons for a few days. Photographing the tetons in winter is a totally different experience than photographing them any other season. The bitter cold and snow brings a whole new dimension to the environment, and seeing all the animal tracks in the snow really reminds you that life in the winter in this place is a much different story than the busy tourist season you may be used to. Seeing all the animal tracks allows you to see exactly where the coyote cross the frozen rivers, and make you wonder about what a disorganized mess of tracks and imprints meant for perhaps an animals last minutes of life as prey.
Photographing sunrise on the tetons in the winter is more spectacular than summer. The Snake River is still frozen, but the fog and mist that accumulates over the snow makes you feel as if you are truly in a winter wonderland. All the bare trees are coated in hoar frost and there are no other photographers or tourists out; it is just you and the mountains and the howling coyotes. My non-photography friend sat in the warm car to appreciate the sunrise while I stood outside in the bitter wind chill and watched the sunrise progress (unaware that my fingers were frozen.. I had more important things to worry about!). To anyone afraid of the cold: go get some excessive warm gloves and hats, and brave the wind chill and frozen mornings, because it is 100% worth it! By 1pm that day, we were walking around in t-shirts along the snowy trails.
The tetons still bring me such peace, and the tetons in winter seem to have a whole new level of peacefulness and silence.
Even us people who live in wyoming enjoy a break from the cold though. A few days later I did escape the wyoming cold a by rock climbing in Sinks Canyon State Park: another place in Wyoming worth exploring, and a story for another day!
September 21, 2009 in Grand Teton National Park, Tips and Tutorials, Wyoming
When I was in the Tetons, I insisted that we wake up at 5am to head out to the Mormon Row barns for sunrise. My family, who I dragged out with me, moaned and groaned and didn’t understand WHY photographers had to get to these places so ridiculously early. Although I didn’t get the best light, the difference between the photograph I took that morning, and the one I took later that afternoon convinced them that getting up at 5am is definitely worth it. You may have visited the barns mid afternoon, and took this second shot and thought it was still pretty good, however you may not realize the shot and colors you COULD have gotten if you had just mustered up the strength to unzip that sleeping bag in the early morning.
I still like the second shot that I took the same day but later in the afternoon, but the mood is totally different than the morning shot. The colors are saturated, the red wood of the barn is front lit and the details really come out.The afternoon shot has a much moodier feel, and really accentuates the fact that this is an old, shadowy barn.
So next time you are in a beautiful place, and know of somewhere you really want to photograph… re-think that afternoon visit that works with your schedule for the day, wake up before dawn, make a large pot of coffee, and try to beat the sun. Not only will you probably meet some pro photographers there as well, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much a difference that golden hour around sunrise will make!
