Light passing through clouds, trees, over mountains, and filtered by any of them can enhance an otherwise “basic shot”.
If you are lucky, and if you are patient, Mother Nature offers up occasional fleeting moments to a ready photographer. Light, gets all the attention. It’s the “star of the show”, but shadows are equally important, working hand-in-hand. The dynamic duo of light and shadows can make even a basic photo pop. This page contains just a few of these magical moments I’ve captured over the years.
John Moulton Barn: June 16, 2014. Shadow Mountain is partially lit behind the barn.
Oxbow Bend: October 20, 2009. Many people set up at Oxbow Bend long before sunrise, but on most fall days, the “keeper” shots happen when early morning light hits the bank of aspens.
Mormon Row Bison: Aug. 17, 2014. I’ve always liked this shot. Common wisdom would tell you most people will look at the object with the most contrast, but I’d almost bet the first bison you looked at in this shot is the bigger bull with the dust lit by the morning light.
Sleeping Indian: Jan. 22, 2012. I think this shot needs the band of light across the bottom. It was taken from Spring Gulch Road.
Washakie as the Fog Lifts: Sept. 19. 2014. This was taken along the Gros Ventre one morning as the fog lifted and as the sun cleared the eastern mountains.
Boar’s Tusk: July 15, 2012. The Boar’s Tusk is located northeast of Rock Springs. I took quite a few shots that day. In some, the rock was lit while the background was dark. I picked this one with the formation still partially in shadows and the distant prairie in filtered light.
The Meadows at Arizona Creek: Sept. 10, 2006. Camas grows in this meadow during the early summer. The Native Americans harvested the bulbs there from the purple flowering plants. Other bulbs in the same area were poisonous, so they knew to take only the flowering bulbs.
The Murphy Homestead: July 7, 2012. Taken on a late afternoon of the northernmost barns along Mormon Row.
Bison: Aug. 11, 2011. I took this one from the Gros Ventre Road with Death Canyon revealed behind the larger bull.
String Lake: Oct. 1, 2007. Taken very early one morning during the peak color.
Murphy Barn and Homestead: March 15, 2015. Taken from Antelope Flats Road. I waited until the clouds passed over the buildings and onto the flats behind them.
Morning Fog: Sept. 28, 2009. Gold morning light hit the area south of Oxbow Bend, allowing each layer to become more diffused. This isn’t exactly the same as some of the other banded light, but I included it here because of the layering effects.
Blacktail Butte: Oct. 1, 2013. I took this shot from Mormon Row one morning, looking West.
Bull Moose: Oct. 22, 2014. Instead of clouds, cottonwood trees cast long shadows in this scene.
Mount Leidy: Oct. 2, 2009. I took this shot from the Oxbow Bend area late one evening in the fall. “Look up, look down, and remember to look behind!”
Morning Bison: Aug. 19. 2014. I took this image early one morning looking east from Mormon Row. If there are fires in the area, sunrise and sunsets shots can be dramatic. Again, this shot is not as much about bands of light as bands of color resulting from filtered light.
Most of these images were captured either early in the morning or late in the evenings. Light is usually rich and interesting—casting long shadows onto the landscape and across the subjects. Watch for days with broken clouds and get out there!
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