I had the great pleasure of arriving in the Grand Teton National Park at the absolute peak of fall color. Of the many fall color images I made during the trip, this is my favorite. I love the strong horizontal layers. The topmost layer is a product of the smoke from a nearby controlled burn. Be sure to click on the image for a larger version.
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Mount Moran with the oxbow bend of the Snake River in the foreground, fall. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.
This is another view of Mt. Moran from Oxbow Bend. I captured this just a few yards and a few minutes from the image I posted last week. It’s remarkable just how different the two images look. I tend to favor the first image — I am a fan of “quiet” and subtle shots. This one has been popular with folks, however, and I do like the intense fall color. Please take a moment to post a commend and let me know which you prefer. Please don’t forget that nearly all of my images (including this one) are available as a fine art print, greeting card, or for license.
Mount Moran from the Oxbow Bend of the Snake River on a foggy morning just before dawn. Teton National Park
I’m ambivalent about photographic icons. Iconic places get that way because they photograph beautifully. But, it’s fiendishly hard to make an image of an icon that says something about it that hasn’t been said before. Mostly, my images of icons look like everyone else’s. Thus, it was mixed feelings when made the early morning drive from my hotel to the Oxbow Bend on the Snake River. Would I get a pretty photo? Probably. Would it look a whole lot like a thousand postcards for sale in nearby Jackson Hole? Probably. I traded my ambivalence for excitement as soon as I pulled into the parking lot. Fall color was at its absolute peak. And, even better, the Snake river was cloaked in early-morning fog. Though the place was mobbed with icon-seeking photographers, I found a perfect location right on the water’s edge. (Remarkably, having traveled thousands of miles to see the icon, most of the photographers shot it from the parking lot!) As soon as I tripped the shutter for this image, I knew that I captured an image that transcends the icon. Not only did I capture the beautiful and unusual conditions, but I managed to capture at least a little of my experience as I watched the the color slowly build in the the western sky. Note: rather than my usual practice of posting the majority of images from a “shoot” in one big post, I’m going to try more frequent, small posts. Stay tuned for more images from my recent trip to Tetons and Yellowstone.
A bull elk rests in an aspen grove during the fall rut, Rocky Mountain National Park
A fair bit of wildlife photography is spontaneous. The animal does something interesting (or just makes an appearance). I put the autofocus sensor on the eye (or at least try to), place the animal in a pleasing composition (if there’s time), and then blaze away at eight frames a second. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, the challenge of catching the decisive moment — shooting the animal — is one of the great pleasures of wildlife photography. But, I claim previsulation credit for this elk (Cervus canadensis) (a.k.a. wapiti). As soon as I saw this large bull in this grove of aspen, I anticipated this shot. Big bull, resting after a hard day defending his harem during the rut. Framed on all sides by aspen. I really like this image a lot. (Troublingly, my wife, and number one photo critic, is not as enthusiastic.) Please let me know what you think in the comments. And be sure to click on the photo for a larger view. This is definitely a photographic cliché – even on Monday morning, when I captured this image, there must have been fifty photographers waiting for dawn. But it is a popular for a reason: it’s beautiful (and easily accessible). This is a stitch of three vertical images. By combing several images in Photoshop, I’ve created an image with lots of resolution — this will print 26″ wide at 300 dpi. Be sure to click on the image for a larger version.
Believe it or not, I shot this from the same spot as the image above; I just turned about ninety degrees to the right. Truly a beautiful area to photograph.
This is a close-up of the aspen grove in the image above (shot with a different lens, obviously). I am really drawn to the look of these aspen groves – I love the symmetrical, repeating pattern of the trunks. I definitely want to spend more time shooting aspen.
Here’s a slightly different composition of the classic scene. The morning was too breezy for the classical reflection shot, but I like the texture of the water in this long exposure.
Finally, here’s an image that I captured just fourteen minutes after the top image. It’s remarkable how fast the light changes, and what a difference in “feel” different light can make. I’m posting images out of order again — I still have many from this summer to edit and post — but I wanted to put these up while the fall leaves are still on the aspen. More animal images from the summer soon. I captured this image of an aspen leaf on a recent trip to Lake City, Colorado. I was struck by the way that the back lighting highlights the veins and other detail in the leaf. A quick monochrome conversion in Lightroom, a bit of subtle platinum toning in Photoshop, and voila. |
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Copyright © 2012 Andrew Kelley Photography, Ltd. - All Rights Reserved |
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