Our landscape photography tutorial has taken us from Colorado to Wyoming to Montana, and we have filmed in some amazing locations along the way. Cell coverage is hard to find in this area of the country, but there is no shortage of beautiful landscapes to photograph. After packing up and heading out of Grand Teton National Park, we took a short detour through Yellowstone on the way to Montana. This was the first visit for both John and I, and it did not disappoint – I wish that we had more time to spend in such an amazing place! Still, with our filming schedule, we had to make the most of the couple of days that we had.
The day that we arrived in Yellowstone, we spent a few hours driving around and seeing the highlights. Photos can hardly show the vivid colors in a place like this – they are far more intense than you would think. As fun as it was to see Old Faithful and other dramatic geysers, my favorite sights were these colorful thermal pools. Because of the bacteria that feeds in the warm water, these pools can be bright yellow to orange in color, which is a striking contrast to the dark blue water. Places like this are made for photography, and we weren’t the only ones who thought so – some parking lots were so full that people had to walk more than a mile to reach the hot springs!
A running theme of our landscape photography trip is that we have seen a range of interesting animals along the way, too – this just as well could be a wildlife photography video! In one of Yellowstone’s orange thermal pools, a Baird’s Sandpiper started walking around and posing for some photos. We also saw a bald eagle, an osprey, and – of course – a huge number of bison. This area of the United States is wonderful for wildlife photography.
Our trip is about landscapes, though, and that’s what we saw the most. On the morning we left Yellowstone, we woke up early to photograph the sunrise at West Thumb. The clouds were incredible, and the cold air meant that we saw a lot of mist from the thermal pools. This view is not something I will forget!
And here is the Grand Prismatic Spring’s beautiful colors:
Along with the view of the Yellowstone Lake at sunset:
Now, we are near Glacier National Park to film the rest of our landscape photography tutorial. Yellowstone was a great place to visit and clear our heads, but we’re back to business for the next couple weeks. Hopefully, we will have more photos and stories to share along the way!
I worked in Yellowstone one summer while in college. I have returned twice with my family. No matter how many times you visit can never get enough. As great as all the photos are, visiting that park and Grand Teton is an unforgettable experience.
Fantastic shots, and a fascinating environment! I’ve read so much about Yellowstone, but never seen photos of this type – most of them are taken during the day and with bright sunshine and all that.
Thank you, Susanne, glad that you like them!
Is the Yellowstone region that gloomy or is it these particular images? So much has been said at this web site in regards to depth, balance, finding the full range of the histogram, message, etc. in images, yet none of this appears in these images. I am not being snarky or negative, nor am I taking negative license in making my comments. I am asking what is it that provides the merit in these images other than they were taken of scenes in Yellowstone.
Please – not nasty retorts. I am being honest here and I am curious for a polite reply that includes instructions.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration for explaining what I am missing.
Yellowstone isn’t all that gloomy! My laptop’s charger is broken, so I could only post the few photos that I had transferred to my phone already. They’re not the best shots I got there, but it was time for an On The Road post. Only the third photo is edited.
No worries about your comment – we welcome critique and questions about our photos!
I don’t know, I love the third image and it didn’t look gloomy to me at all. Maybe you would prefer the land features to be more visible? I thought it was the essence of sunrise ( no way this is sunset, right?) at Yellowstone where you can see daybreak on the horizon but still feel the dark around you and a mist curtain between the here and the there.
The others are t as interesting to me but I took the recent posts from Mr Cox to be more in the nature of travelogue than displaying the finest works from the excursion. We can in fact hope that the finest work includes the landscape instructional video being filmed. In the interim I find the posts fascinating escapism. All the best regards. Roberto
Thank you, Roberto! Very glad that you like these posts :)
Hey guys! I am the kid you met up in glacier. I too am on the road but I can’t wait to read the rest of your articles. It was a pleasure having a good chat with you all. Enjoy the rest of your trip!
It was good to meet you, Cameron! Hope you enjoy your time in Glacier!
Keep it up guys! Looking forward to the video!
Thank you, Bobi! We’ll keep posting updates along the way.