A grand time in the Tetons

Well, what can I say.... 18 pictures for one blog entry is waaaaaaaay too many, but I can't help it! Grand Teton National Park and the town of Jackson, Wyoming have quickly become one of my favorite places. I spent two very productive days in the Tetons, with lots of different light and atmospheric conditions. Fog, frost, moonlight, stars and storm clouds all played a part in giving me two very incredible days of shooting.



After my long drive from Yellowstone down to the Tetons I arrived in the park just in time to catch the last bit of light from the setting sun.



Above: This image of Mt. Moran at Oxbow Bend was captured about 45 minutes after the sun went down. There was still quite a bit of color left in the sky, and it was already dark enough and the moon was light enough that the mountains were lit up from the rising moon.



After the sun was long gone I spent some time along Jackson Lake making images of Mt. Moran and the Teton Range, then I drove further south along the range to capture the image below of Grand Teton mountain in the moonlight.



After a long day's drive and a couple of hours in the cold shooting the moonlit mountains, I was really longing for a hot shower and a warm bed so I headed to Jackson to check in to my hotel for the night. But, along the way I drove past the Elk antler arches in Jackson and saw that they were all lit up with christmas lights.... so, my hot shower was put off a little while longer while I made some images of the antler arches :-)



The next morning there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, which made it perfect for watching the light creep down the mountains as the sun rose behind me. To make things even better, there was a fog bank at the base of the mountains!



As the sun rose higher and higher the fog seemed to intensify...



Once the sun was up high enough so that the "warm" light was gone, the fog bank took on a very dark, ominous look....




After a while I drove up to Oxbow Bend and the view of Mt. Moran, then I realized that the fog was being generated by Jackson Lake. Since the lake wasn't frozen, all the warm air rising off the water was meeting with the cold air left over from the night, making for lots and lots of fog.



Another benefit of the fog was that all the trees and shrubbery had become encased in frost. What a beautiful morning! And, a photographer's dream :-)



Above: This image is one of my favorites so far from this trip. There is a large hillside behind these trees, which was in shadow as the sun was above and behind this hill. The sun being behind the hill made a big dark shadow on this side of the hill, yet the trees and fog were far enough away from the hill that they were backlit from the sun. This is the sort of image that photographers live for!



Above: Mt. Moran, fog, and frosted trees





Driftwood and (perhaps fox?) tracks on the shores of Jackson Lake. Mt. Moran is in the background.



Above: Mt. Moran and Jackson Lake after the fog had lifted.



After the fog lifted I spent part of the afternoon looking for a good spot along the river to shoot the sunset with the mountains in the background. Once I found a spot, I returned there about half an hour before sunset and sat on the river bank waiting for the sun to go down. Once it dipped below the mountains, the sky just lit up with this awesome orange glow. The tallest peak in the background is Grand Teton mountain.



The next morning was a totally different situation from the morning before. No fog, but there were lots of dark, ominous clouds looming over the mountains. Just as the sun broke the horizon behind me, the clouds parted for a few minutes around Grand Teton and the tip of the peak was catching the sunlight. A few minutes later and the clouds were hiding the peak once again. What a great ending to my time in the Tetons! Now I'm going to hit the road once again and make my way towards Washington.