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By far, fewer tourists and photographers visit Jackson Hole in the Winter! Winter begins in the high country in late October and by Thanksgiving, Winter is usually is evident on the valley floor. By mid-December, the ski lifts open and an athletic group of visitors flock to the valley again. The entire valley and surrounding mountains are usually blanketed with snow in late December and through much of April. Winter still has a strong grip along the base of the mountains through early May. That’s “my” Winter window!

Grand Teton National Park is a natural for panoramic images! It is too big and two beautiful to try to capture it in a single photo—even with a wide angle lens.(Click this Pano Image to see it much larger!)

Some Winter photos look great in color, but Winter lends itself well in black and white as you will see on this page. This classic shot was taken at the pull-out along Jackson Lake. Reflections on lakes and slow moving water requires catching the scene just before the lakes freeze, or after they thaw again in the Spring.(Click this Pano Image to see it much larger!)

The Teton Park Road closes from the Taggart Lake Trail Head to Signal Mountain from November 1st to April 30th, cutting off vehicle access to areas like Jenny Lake and String Lake. Hardy souls can still hike, snow shoe, or cross country ski to the areas. (not me!)

The Old Patriarch Tree is in the Winter road closure section of the Teton Park Road. I try to catch it just before the road closes, or just after it opens.

Much of the Snake River bottom is closed to all human activity from December 15th to around April 1st. This zone includes Schwabacher Landing. Several pullouts along the highway are plowed for vehicles during the Winter months, including the large one at Snake River Overlook.(Click this Pano Image to see it much larger!)

By late November, the still water at Oxbow Bend freezes solid. Otters, coyotes, and foxes can occasionally be seen on the ice there, but most of the large mammals will have moved south.

Some photos like this panoramic image at the Willow Flats Overlook might take a pair of snow shoes. Snow can be three to four feet deep in the north country. (Click this Pano Image to see it much larger!)

Highway 89/191 passes through Grand Teton National Park. With the occasional exception following a severe Winter storm, highway crews keep it open all year. Pull outs are limited, but with less traffic, you can usually pull over for a few quick shots.

A few locations take a little hike.

Most tourists will never see this set of Dude Ranch cabins at Elk Ranch. The access road closes early each year.

The historic barns and homesteads along Mormon Row are open to intrepid visitors with snow shoes or cross country skis. It takes a 3/4 mile venture from the parking area to Mormon Row Road.

The “Shane Cabin” is accessible throughout the year (Luther Tayler cabins). As the season progresses, snow shoes might be required.

The Shane Cabin offers up quite a few Winter Photo opportunities.

It’s hard to beat the Teton Range when they are visible!

There will be days when the Teton Range is not visible. There are other alternatives for photography like these buckrail fences at the Shane Cabin.

You can count on thousands of photographers taking photos at places like Schwabacher Landing, Oxbow Bend, Snake River Overlook, and the Mormon Row homesteads. You have to work pretty hard to take a “unique” photo at any of those locations, considering people have been doing it since the mid-20s! I’ve lived here over 35 years now, so I’ve had ample time to capture those photos alongside everyone else. I spend a lot of my time watching for “interesting” subjects, even if the Teton Range is not in them. This scene is along the Gros Ventre Road.

The Other Stuff!

The rest of this page will be featuring non-standard shots from around the valley.

For me, the most exciting aspect of “the other stuff” is there is so much of it! And, I like the “freedom” in post processing to give an image some soft glow or possibly push sliders in extreme directions for “the look”. Black and white images are often more interesting.

Again, I look for anything “interesting”.

This old barn door has a lot of character and texture.

I stepped a little closer and zoomed in a little tighter to pull out these two elements from the previous subject.

Jackson Hole has a long and storied past. Remnants of the settlers activity are still around.

I look for simple subjects like this. Others have much more going on, but both can be interesting.

Nature can pay off in a variety of ways—some planned and some unexpected!

Details, textures and patterns are always on my “watch list”. This was taken at String Lake just after it closed in November.

These ice patterns were taken in early Winter. The same zone is frozen and covered with snow now.

They say there no two identical snowflakes. That’s totally amazing considering how many flakes fall in just my front yard each year!

Like I said, there is interesting “stuff” everywhere! 

Some subjects are more interesting one some days than others.

If you are visiting Jackson Hole, remember to capture everything from the big vista views to the simple and mundane. You’ll be glad you did! Shots like this “complete the story”.

Most tourists spend their precious time “inside the Park”. For the group looking for alternative photos and locations, many of our county roads have little gems like this one.

Occasionally, I take a day and head south into Star Valley, or head west over Tetons Pass and photograph their old barns, structures, and rusting vehicles.

Snow Days!

And when it snows, the odds are pretty good I’ll be out trying to capture shots other fair weather photographers are not getting.

Snow changes the overall look in Winter, and while it’s snowing, the look changes drastically.

Winter—I love it! By April, I am ready for Spring, but for now, it’s winter at it’s best.

Falling snow creates noticeable “layers”. Close objects can still be dark, while every 50 feet into the scene gets softer and less defined.

This distant, simple cabin would be easy to miss, but stop because I like the varied possibilities in the winter. Even tough I converted my RAW file to black and white, it looked essentially that way in the original capture.

Change the angle a bit and change the scene! I typically take a variety of angles for most landscapes.

I also like to keep an eye out for “simple subjects” against a big backdrop. This one is on the National Elk Refuge.

The hardest part of a post like this one is knowing how many images to include! I could easily triple the size of this page with images all taken in 2019 and 2020 alone. Hopefully, you will enjoy a few of them! If you are interested in taking a photo tour with me, check out the links below and I can help you find and photograph some of these locations (some are closed in the middle of Winter).

About the Photos

A lot of these photos were taken with a Nikon D5 and a Sigma Sport 60-600mm lens (the most recent ones anyway). Most of the panos were taken with a Nikon D850 and Nikon 24-70mm lens or a Nikon 70-200mm lens. Some of the tight detail shots were taken with a Nikon D500 body and a Tamron 18-400mm lens. All were converted to black and white in Lightroom, even though I own several third party Photoshop Plugins for converting to B&W. If I were planning on printing any of these images, I’d probably process them both ways and pick the results I liked best.

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I have numerous tour openings available in January, February & March

The photo tours help me pay bills and continue to add content to this site. Keep me in mind if you are going to be in the valley! My tours are licensed by the National Park Service and National Elk Refuge.

I offer year round photo tours in Grand Teton National Park. Seasons are changing! Book now! Click the image for additional information.

Client Comments: “As a published and passionate photographer, I recognized Michael Jackson’s extraordinary skills as a photographer. Today I learned more about composition and creative technical ideas than I ever could have imagined.” G.S., Jackson Hole.