Yellowstone National Park

Sunset at Lower Geyser Basin

Although I had been to Yellowstone several times previously, I had never spent the night inside the park before, so my access to early morning and late evening light had been limited by the logistics and size of the park.  Therefore, I resolved to camp inside the park during a recent visit.  While I normally consider early October to be the prime time for photography there, during my recent visit I planned to sleep in the back of my pickup in an unheated camper shell in the Madison Campground, and I was concerned about my tolerance for cold October nights. Therefore, I decided to make my trip during the last week of August. 

Before my trip, I had admired some images by others of steam from geysers and thermal features backlit by the sun.  I decided to try to include similar subjects in my photos during this trip.

Clepsydra Geyser near Sunset

Clepsydra Geyser is a predictable subject for sunset images because it erupts almost continuously.  All images on this trip were made with a Canon 5D2, typically using a 24-105 L lens.

Grotto Geyser- Upper Geyser Basin

My first full morning in the park, I decided to head to Upper Geyser Basin.  The hike to Morning Glory Pool is a little over a mile, via one's choice of either boardwalk or paved walkway.

Morning Glory Pool- Upper Geyser Basin

Lower Yellowstone Falls from North Rim

Another morning, I drove to the Canyon area of the park to photograph the falls.  Copious volumes of mist were coming from the base of the lower falls in the cool morning air.

Lower Yellowstone Falls from Artist Point

I hurried over to the South Rim Drive to Artist Point, hoping to catch some good early light.  Unfortunately, a thin cloud covered the sun as I took this image, and an even heavier bank of clouds covered the sun after that.  Still, I like this spot, in any light.

 Bison Grazing

On the way back from Yellowstone Falls, I came across this bison grazing at the edge of a clearing.  I kept my distance from him- this image was taken with a 400 mm lens and was still heavily cropped.

Bison and Steaming Geyser

Since I had no cooking provisions at my campground on this trip,  I drove to the cafeteria at the Old Faithful Inn in order to eat meals.  On one such trip, I saw this young bison with the lower geyser basin in the distant background. 

Emerald Pool

Riverside Geyser

Riverside Geyser erupts on a frequent, regular schedule, shooting hot water high into the air, and landing in the Firehole River.  During the middle of the night after taking this photo, I was awakened in in my campground by the sound of an Elk bugling in the distance.  Then, before I fell back to sleep, a pack of wolves began howling.  A memory I will not soon forget!

Steaming Pool at Morning Light

Old Faithful

I guess one of the first things most people think of when they think of Yellowstone is Old Faithful geyser.  For some reason, I never did get around to photographing Old Faithful on this trip.  Perhaps it was because I knew that I already had the above image of it, which was taken during an earlier trip in 2010.  Yellowstone is an immense park, filled with many natural wonders, and I believe that one could spend decades there and still not see it all. Still, I'm grateful to be able to see some small part of it, and to be able to share these images. 

-Bill