Prime Time in the Tetons! - Teton Photography Club

2016 Foliage Photos

Few places in the lower 48 can rival the Tetons in the Fall. I’m highly prejudiced, of course! Lots of states offer great foliage opportunities in most years, but Northwest Wyoming has the Teton Range as a backdrop for cottonwoods, aspens, and willows. Colorful mountain maple along the Snake River are also a big draw, as seen above.

This page will feature a few of the photos I’ve taken this year, and the page should grow as I capture more. (*Click this image to see it much larger)

Foliage Reports September/October 2016: contains general information and status information, but many of the images on that page are simply “record shots” showing patches of color. September 2016 Daily Journal of Photos & Comments for Grand Teton National Park & JH: contains some of the photos included on this page, but it will also have images I didn’t feel I had room for on the other pages.

I took this image with a Nikon D810 and a Nikon 14-24mm wide angle lens, pointing straight up. I waited for a few fluffy clouds to go with the cobalt blue skies of fall.

The Tetons make great panoramic subjects. You can always simply crop a wide shot, but I prefer to take multiple images and stitch them into a single large image using Lightroom CC. (*Click this image to see it much larger)

Not all trees change colors at the same time. The aspens above Oxbow Bend usually change color before the aspen stands close to the actual “bend”.

The stand of aspens at the upper parking lot at Oxbow Bend are known to turn orange in most years. This image was taken on September 19.

Camas Meadows, or Arizona Meadows, is located just off the highway near the north end of the park. Native Americans dug up Camas bulbs during the spring, identifying them by their purple flowers. They ground the bulbs to use as a form of flour, as stated on the information plaque. Similar bulbs grow in the same meadow, but the ones lacking the purple flowers are poisonous. A beautiful stand of aspens line the back side of the meadow.

Mt. Moran usually gets all the attention at Oxbow Bend, but if you work a little, you can also include the top of the Grand.

The Red Hills of the upper Gros Ventre drainage make great backdrops for changing aspens. I drove out one morning after an early season snow.

It’s easy to get caught up doing the big vistas in Grand Teton National Park, but there are abundant small subjects worthy of a photo.

By Fall, the green grasses morph to pale yellow and rust.

I captured this large pano at Schwabacher Landing a bit before the cottonwood began changing. I’d love to get a similar experience during peak color!

Berries are a feature of fall, attracting birds and bears. Robins, starlings, and crows often team up to clean a heavily loaded tree in only a couple of days.

Black Hawthorn berries attract black bears, capable of climbing high into the trees to get them.

Moose feed on willows in the river bottoms. Fall is the time the large bull strip their velvet in preparation for the annual rut.

Aspens and willows in the north end of the park are particularly colorful this year. I took this image along Pacific Creek road.

As of September 20, Oxbow Bend is looking good. A few of the aspens at the right of the bend are still green, while the trees at the south end are already prime. The remnant full moon can be seen near the top of this image.

I’ve been going “down the canyon” for many years to photograph this particular grove of mountain maple, aspens, spruce, and lodge pole pine trees. At this time of the year, it seems there so many opportunities and so little time!

It’s hard to beat bleached white aspen trunks against a dark background, and accented with jaw dropping color!

Cottonwoods line both sides of the Snake River in most areas of Grand Teton National Park. This was taken at the iconic Snake River Overlook, accented with a setting full moon. As of September 20, most cottonwoods in this section of the park are yellow, or well on their way to yellow!

Even with all the screaming orange trees on the north side of Oxbow Bend, expect to find other stands of aspens only half way turned. By the time aspens get to this stage, it usually only takes a couple of days to reach prime or near prime.

I took this image at Arizona Meadows using a wide angle lens, stopped down to F/22.

Opportunities like this one should be even more common and dramatic as the foliage season progresses. Wind is the devil at this time of the year.

Fall color makes a great backdrop for many of the animal subjects. More of this, please!

Currently, Oxbow Bend and the area around Jackson Lake Junction is close to prime. This stand changed considerably in just one day.

Oxbow on the morning of September 20.

Oxbow on the morning of September 21. If we are lucky, we get one really good morning at Oxbow during the prime period. On this day, we had calm winds, nice distant clouds, and a drifting rain cloud float by. It is also important to have relatively clear eastern skies to light the western skies and mountains.

These aspens will be prime in the next day or two. Check back on this page off and on over the next week or two. Other areas, like trees along Mormon Row are just now beginning to change. I’ll add a few as I get something of interest.

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