Front or Back?

I have been to and around the Teton Range many times over the span of about a half century (that sounds worse than it really is). This is the view that is most familiar to me from the Idaho side in Ashton. All of these images are composites from multiple images and this one is obviously taken from much farther away, but to me, this represents the "front" side of the Tetons.

Front Side?

Teton Range, Ashton, Fremont County, Idaho, USA, May 11, 2017, Nikon D90, AF-S Nikkor 70-300, f/4.5-5.6 at 70mm, Manual Exposure mode, f/16 for 1/60 second, ISO 200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC.

Now, obviously, the more familiar view from the East that those who live or work or play in and around Jackson see as the "front" side, would be the "back" to me.  I like it equally well, so in that regard, my feelings are much like Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken," probably my favorite poem of all time.

This image was taken this past January from Teton Point Overlook on the first day of Nature in Focus' Grand Teton Winter Photography Workshop. It was the first and only time we saw the mountains until the last morning of the Workshop, but that is another story.

Back Side?

Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park, Moose, Teton County, Wyoming, USA, January 9, 2017, Nikon D90, AF-S Nikkor 70-300, f/4.5-5.6 at 70mm, Manual Exposure mode, f/8 for 1/3200 second, ISO 200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC.

In mid-May Lauri and I spent a night in Jackson on our way home from Yellowstone and I made this image from Elk Ranch Flats Turnout as we came into the valley from the north very late in the day.

Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park, Moran Junction, Teton County, Wyoming, USA, May 13, 2017, Nikon D90, AF-S Nikkor 70-300, f/4.5-5.6 at 70mm, Manual Exposure mode, f/4.5 for 1/800 second, ISO 200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC.

The next morning, after a very cloudy non-sunrise, we drove over to the National Elk Refuge and found a big group of Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep rams and made a bunch of images there.  Afterwards, I made this image from the northeast side of the refuge. 

Teton Range, National Elk Refuge, Jackson, Teton County, Wyoming, USA, May 14, 2017, Nikon D90, AF-S Nikkor 70-300, f/4.5-5.6 at 70mm, Manual Exposure mode, f/13 for 1/1600 second, ISO 200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC.

One of the very nice things about a forty-mile long, very rugged range of mountains is that you can view them from so many different angles and see similarities and differences based on location and time of year.  So, perhaps it doesn't matter which is the front or the back, just enjoy them from all sides and all angles.

Zion Night Skies

We passed through Zion National Park on Friday evening after sunset - much later than anticipated. We left in plenty of time, but dilly dallied around in several places along the way and turned a 3-1/2 hour drive into about a 12-hour one. To be fair, we avoided the Interstate and took back roads, stopping at several small towns and locating ancestor's graves and just generally enjoying not having a deadline or set timeframe.

As we were passing through the park in the dark, I decided to check Sky Guide and sure enough, the Milky Way is high in the sky and the moon doesn't rise until very late. A perfect setup for some good night skies images. We are both beat, however, so we decided to sleep in the next morning and have our little photography experience the next night. The downside of that is the show we are here to see at Tuacahn won't get out until around 11:30 pm on Saturday, on the other side of St. George.

By 1:30 am we were set up at the "Bonsai Tree" waiting for some vehicles to provide a little light painting for us. Never happened, so we did a little painting ourselves and made some dark images as well.

"Bonsai Tree," Zion National Park, Kane County, Utah, USA, June 18, 2017, Nikon D90, Tamron SP 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical IF B001N at 10mm, Manual Exposure Mode, f/3.5 for 30 seconds, ISO 3200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC.

The Watchman was well lit by the lights of Springdale as usual. I wanted to get a little reflection off the Virgin River, but that didn't turn out so well. Not enough reflected light from the sky and light painting catches more than the river, so. . . . I do have some ideas to try next time.

The Watchman, Zion National Park, Washington County, Utah, USA, June 18, 2017, Nikon D90, Tamron SP 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical IF B001N at 10mm, Manual Exposure Mode, f/3.5 for 30 seconds, ISO 3200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC.

The Milky Way was too far up in the sky by 2:30 am to get the Meeting Hall and the Milky Way in a single image from the West side.  As I was experimenting, however, with various angles and set-ups, the moon began to rise in the East. That created the perfect light painting scenario for an image from the East of the Hall rather than the West.  This is one of my favorite images of the night!

Grafton, Washington County, Utah, USA, June 18, 2017, Nikon D90, Tamron SP 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical IF B001N at 10mm, Manual Exposure Mode, f/3.5 for 30 seconds, ISO 3200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC.

As we were leaving to head back to St. George about 3:30 am, I wanted to stop and make a few images of the Rockville Bridge with the Milky Way behind and above and the tiniest amount of light painting from the moon.  Also one of my favorites.

Rockville Bridge, Rockville, Washington County, Utah, USA, June 18, 2017, Nikon D90, Tamron SP 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical IF B001N at 10mm, Manual Exposure Mode, f/3.5 for 30 seconds, ISO 3200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC.

Temper Tantrum

This young Osprey is a character! I first shot him about 5-6 weeks ago in the nest. Lately, he has taken to hanging out in this tree about 80-yards from the nest.  I was here shooting him when an adult began approaching carrying a fish.

The background is that there are a number nests and nesting pairs in a very small area here. Anyway, he was sitting peacefully in the tree waiting for his parents to come and feed him when this other adult flew past.

He went berserk! He flapped and hopped around and called and squawked and just made a ruckus. All because he got passed up and someone else got the fish!

This is part of a sixteen-shot series of the encounter.

Osprey, Midway, Wasatch County, Utah, USA, June 10, 2017, Nikon D90, Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 at 600mm, Manual Exposure Mode, f/16 for 1/400 of a second, ISO 200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC. (All images.)