Category: Syndicated Feeds

A monthly journal of wildlife reports, scenic opportunities, and tidbits for both photographers and Teton visitors!

Recent Daily Updates Archives:
2015: Feb: | Jan:
2014: Dec: | Nov: | Oct: | Sept: | Aug: | July: | June: | May: | Apr: | Mar: | Feb: | Jan:
2013: Dec: | Nov: | Oct: | Sept: | Aug:

February Overview:

Most of the winter months offer similar opportunities for both wildlife and landscapes: In many years, Mountain Goats start becoming more dependable subjects in February and into March. Red Foxes and Owls seem to appear in random places during this month.  Jan: 2015  |  Jan: 2014  |  Feb: 2014 | Dec: 2013. Also check out: The Dead of Winter: The Cold Realities and Exciting Possibilities of Winter Photography in GTNP..

Suggested “Opportunities”: Right now, here are my top spots to check out, especially for wildlife.  Some will be a bit of a gamble, but they might also pay off in a big way if you hit it right:

• Flat Creek Observation Deck: Look for Swans Along Flat Creek, Geese, Ducks and occasional River Otters.
• Boyle’s Hill Pond: Trumpeter Swans of Boyle’s Hill: (The link includes a map)
• Miller Butte: Look for Bighorns , Elk, Pronghorns, Coyotes, Wolves, Eagles, Ravens, Bison.
• Gros Ventre River: Look for Moose , Bald Eagles, Elk, and Bison there.
• Kelly Area: Look for Mule Deer at the edges of town and around the Shane Cabins.
• Alpine Junction: Watch for Mountain Goats near the mouth of the canyon.
• Camp Creek along the Hoback River: Check out Bighorns along the road.
• Sleigh Ride on the National Elk Refuge:  Best winter deal in the valley!
• Around Town: Watch for Pine Grosbeaks & Evening Grosbeaks feeding berry bushes.

Important Winter Links

• Best of the Tetons : Start Here!: This page will give you a good overview of the earlier Feature Posts
• Helpful Links and Resources: Weather Reports, Web Cams and Ski Reports have links in the right navigation bar, but this page has many additional links.
• Winter Closures: Many areas are closed during the Winter months. Click the link, scroll to the Winter section and look for the Winter closure maps.
• Winter In the Tetons: Travel and Photography Tips: A “must read” for winter visitors.
  
• The National Elk Refuge & Miller Butte: This is one of the best areas for wildlife during much of the Winter.

Oldie But Goodie Post of the Day

January 2015 Daily Updates & Photos for Grand Teton National Park & JH: This new February Daily Updates Page won’t have many photos on it for a few days, so click this link to see last month’s entry. Check back regularly to see how the month develops!

Most Recent Feature Post: Snake River Overlook

Snake River Overlook is open to viewing and photography year-round. It gives you an opportunity to include some foreground elements into a vista view of the Teton Range. The page has a lot of images taken at SRO over years going back to 2008 and includes Ansel Adams’ iconic shot there. I believe you will enjoy the page!

February 2, 2015

Yesterday, friends from Odgen passed back through the canyon on their way home. This morning, Richard Pointius let me know they saw quite a few Mountain Goats in several different locations. I went down today, after being a “home body” yesterday. I found this Nanny near the mouth of the canyon when I first got there. Several of the goats now have either ear tags, collars or both. I could probably remove them in Photoshop but I captured enough good ones today that don’t need it.

It was a good day!

Mountain Goat Amongst Trees:

Mtn. Goat in Rocks:

Bald Eagle atop Spruce Tree:

Traversing Snow Fields:

Mountain Goat on Rocky Ledge:

Canyon Comments: It looks like February will be good in the Snake River Canyon this year. I’ll throw these comments out to you if you are planning on going down. I don’t believe the Wyoming Highway Patrol is going to be as lenient this year as in some earlier years. The road is a state highway patrolled by both State Troopers and Lincoln County Sheriffs—its not a park or refuge road! This year, I have been parking in one of the pullouts and walking/hiking to any area I want to photograph. Today, I was parked in a pullout but standing next to the highway. The trooper, with his lights flashing, pulled over and told me to get off the road. No problem! If you are going down to Alpine Junction based on my recommendations at this site, please do so in a safe manner! Without a doubt, this is a potentially dangerous setting. There are many variables including speeding vehicles, loaded semi-trucks not willing to slow down, icy roads, snow plows, limited visibility, people parking illegally ON THE ROAD, wild animals on or near the roads, and photographers that can lose all sense of their safety to get a shot. Even today, instead of moving towards the center line as they passed by, I had a vehicle move closer to the fog line as they sped by and splashed me with water from the road. It looked intentional to me!

February 1st, 2015 (Superbowl Sunday)

The Mountain Goats photo above was taken on February 1st, 2014 along the Snake River Canyon near Alpine, WY. They have been seen fairly often in January this year. Click the link to get more information and maps of the area.

Downey Woodpecker: The weather report called for clear skies for this morning. I looked out at 6:00 am and saw clear skies. I stayed home, but that was probably a mistake. By sunrise, there were light clouds turning orange all over the place. No chance to hit a home run if still sitting in the dugout! Oh well! I put out some food, then set up a couple of strobes in the back yard. Time for some experimental photography! The shot on the left was captured with an orange gel over the SB-910 strobe. The White Balance was set to a Custom setting of roughly 4750K and the scene was slightly underexposed. The settings gave me a cool background with a warm subject. The image on the right was captured a split second later, but the strobe had not had time to recharge, so it didn’t flash. The actual image was equally blue in Lightroom to the one on the left, but I used the Temperature slider to warm it back up.

Clark’s Nutcracker: Shot with a bit of fill flash.

Mountain Chickadee:

Downey Woodpecker: I photographed the male Downey earlier in the day. This one is a female with natural light.

White-breasted Nuthatch: I can usually hear this bird coming in. It sounds somewhat like a cheap “squeak toy”. Like the Chickadees, they don’t stay still long.

Hairy Woodpecker: Also a female. They are considerably larger than the Downey Woodpeckers.

Skies are getting cloudier with possible snow flurries by late evening.

February One-On-One Photo Excursions: I have several openings available for February.  Click Here to see last year’s February 2014 Daily Updates to get an idea of what you might see here. You can also book for March and other months. I have a new Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens on order. Anyone with a current Nikon DSLR taking one of my Excursions will be able to use the lens on the trip. (should be here soon) The lens has been getting a lot of positive press. I am purchasing mine from Perfect Light Camera and Supply in Idaho Falls after hearing his positive reviews following an Africa trip.

Upcoming Events:

• Bald Eagle Day: Saturday, February 14, 2015; 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. –Farmington, UT
• International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race: Races held in numerous locations in Wyoming. Click the link to view the schedule.
• Jackson Hole Shrine Club: Cutter Races (Feb. 14-15) and Ski Joring (Feb 21-22)
• WinterFest – Jackson Hole: February 13-22. Click the link for more information and schedules.

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Not Just For Macro Photography!

Humans can see with incredible “depth of field”. Cameras can do a pretty good job—especially if stopped down and when combined with short lenses. Telephoto lenses, on the other hand, often struggle with an extended depth of field. Likewise, macro photography can require numerous steps in micro fractions of an inch increments.

In reality, viewers of photographic images often “forgive” a little out of focus in the immediate foreground if major elements or subjects are sharp. And of course, we can blur or go out of focus in areas on purpose for a creative expression.

Luckily, Lightroom and Photoshop can team up to help us out on special shots. “Focus Stacking” allows a photographer to focus on two or more zones in multiple photos, then merge them into a single image. Best of all, it is relatively easy. Photoshop does all the work! Macro photographers sometimes shoot dozens or even 50 or more images to get one blended composite. If you are into this kind of photography, check out this site: How to Focus-Stack Macro Images using Photoshop.

This page at Best of the Tetons will illustrate how you can add this little trick to your skill set for landscapes. Similar to HDR sets, Focus Stack sets are easy enough to shoot in the field, even if you don’t end up needing the extra frames.

Two Zones: I typically set up and shoot with a tripod for my landscape images. It helps on a project like this one. In a nutshell, I focused on the fence for one shot and on the barn for the next one. To be specific, I set my camera to single point, single servo focusing, then did a quick composition in the viewfinder. I set the focus point on the barn, then temporarily recomposed so that focus point was on the green area of the scene (on the close fence). I pressed my Auto Focus lock button (or hold the shutter button down half way for most people) and recomposed to the original composition. With the AF Lock still pressed, I captured the first image with the sharp fence. I released the AF Lock and pressed the shutter again without moving the camera. For the second shot, the focus point was back on the barn. Click – Click! For some shots, it might be necessary to capture the scene with three or four images. I don’t think it was necessary for this image, but I could have made one more capture on the middle, barbed wire fence line. (Click on the image to see it a little larger)

Stacked: Here’s the stacked image. These images were taken in 2013 with a Nikon D800 and a Nikon 70-200mm lens at 160mm. The aperture was set to F/8. This shot took only an extra minute or two at the time of capture, then roughly 10 minutes in LR and Photoshop. (Click on the image to see it a little larger)

If you are interested in the steps for actually creating the blended image…read on!

Beginning in Lightroom:

In Lightroom, I selected the two images (Shift-Select), then did my normal adjustments to one of them. This image also had a bit of cropping to help cut down the size for the web pages.

Synchronize Settings: In the lower right corner of the Develop tab, there’s a button labeled Sync Settings. Once clicked, this box comes up. Click the Check All button and then the Synchronize button. At this point, both images have the same treatments and adjustments applied to them.

Off to Photoshop!

While still in Lightroom and with both images still selected, click Photo>Edit In>Open as Layers in Photoshop.

In Photoshop, you will see the two images, each on a separate layer.

For this screen grab, I moved the Layers tab to the lower left corner of my screen so I could include the document size info. Each of these two images are 35 megs, creating a 70 meg file (this isn’t a big deal for a two image file, but it can be for someone building a 40 shot macro composite.) In this image, only the top layer is selected. I Shift-Clicked the second layer to select both for the next step.

With both layers highlighted (selected), go to the Edit pull down and click Auto-Align Layers.

This box will appear after clicking Auto-Align Layers. The default is Auto. Click OK. The computer will process for a few seconds. This step is usually necessary even if on a tripod.

Once the Auto-Align Layers step is completed, and with both layers still selected, click Edit> Auto-Blend Layers.

This box will appear. Make sure Stack Images is clicked and Seamless Tones and Colors are checked (this is usually set as default) and click OK.

For my 5000 pixel, two frame image, it took my computer about 30 seconds to process the Auto-Blend step. Photoshop does all the work! It creates the layer masks as seen here. For most projects, all I have to do is flatten and save the image with a new file name.

Try one! While including a bunch of screen grabs might make this appear more complicated than it should, the steps are actually quick and straight forward. You’d only have to do a couple to get the hang of it. I should also mention you don’t really need to start in Lightroom. You can open two images and combine them into a two layer Photoshop document, then run the Auto-Align and Auto-Blend commands. I like the option of syncing the two images in Lightroom.

Another Example of Focus Stacking: I took this image using a Nikon 200-400mm lens at a long distance from the subjects. Much like the earlier example, I focused on the fence in one image and the barn in the other.

Box L Ranch: Results of the two blended layers.

CamRanger

A few weeks ago, I did a few test shots of objects in the kitchen so I could try out the Focus Stacking feature built into a CamRanger. For this shot, I focused on the closest part of the orange, then set the CamRanger to do a total of 10 shots. It automatically stepped the focus deeper into the scene—without needing to touch the camera again.

I initially captured 10 images with the aid of the CamRanger, but for this example, I skipped every other one and let Lightroom and Photoshop build this image with only five of the images. The steps are the same as the barn examples above, but instead of just two layers in Photoshop, I had five. Macro photographers, as seen in the link, deal with much, much more controlled steps than I did here. Here’s the link again: How to Focus-Stack Macro Images using Photoshop. They did 46 shots to capture a single snowflake! For those kinds of shots, you may need the specialty rails and attachments found at Really Right Stuff.

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A Mecca for Winter Wildlife Photography.

Located on the north edge of the Town of Jackson, the National Elk Refuge offers unique wildlife viewing opportunities during the winter months. By almost all standards, visitor access to the refuge is very limited. Of the 24,700 acres, visitors are confined to 10 feet either side of roughly four miles of roadway during the winter. Visitors are asked to park only in designated pullouts, of which there are currently very few. Work on the roadway is scheduled for the summer of 2015, including adding additional pullouts and expanding the sizes of several of the existing pullouts. Along the highway, visitors are told to pull off the highway only in one of the three or four designated pullouts and are told NOT to cross the bike path and approach the fence. I guess I could identify the issues above as the “negatives” at the refuge. It’s a refuge, not a park!

The positives far outweigh the inconveniences of limited parking, limited access, and narrow (sometimes slick) roads. The positives, of course, are the animals you might see there. The short list would include elk, bighorn sheep, pronghorns, and bison for the prey animals. Predators and scavengers would include wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, foxes, and a variety of raptors and birds. You might not expect to see all of the animals in these lists on a single drive-thru, but you “could” see several of them. That’s the beauty! You simply never know what you might find there from hour to hour, day to day, week to week or month to month. I often go back two and three times in a day!

Summer and Winter: Two worlds.

During the summer months, the National Elk Refuge could appear barren of animals. In a nutshell, you will likely travel “through” the Refuge on your way “to” something else. A few additional roads allow access to areas of the National Forest, such as Curtis Canyon and hiking trails to Goodwin Lake, Sheep Mountain, Mount Jackson and so forth. As in the winter, visitors are confined to a few feet either side of the roadways as they pass through the Refuge. Crews plant and irrigate fields on the refuge for forage for wintering elk, bison, and now pronghorns.

Fly fishing is allowed in a section along the highway from August 1st to October 31st, but only fishermen with licenses and gear are permitted to be on the refuge. In the late fall, hunting is allowed for elk and bison in some areas. Otherwise, regular tourists cannot mingle off the roadways. Elk and most of the game animals will have moved off the refuge and into their summer ranges, leaving the range mostly uninhabited. Small critters like ground squirrels, voles, gophers, and chipmonks may be taken by Northern Harriers, Red-tailed hawks, Burrowing Owls, American Kestrels, Eagles and so forth.

By late November, snows in the high country start pushing some of the large game animals to the Refuge. I start looking for Bighorn Sheep around Miller Butte on Thanksgiving. Elk start filtering in around the same time, but the big herds typically show up later. Predators and Scavengers follow the prey animals. I’ve seen wolves on the National Elk Refuge, but I’ve never seen them up close. Whether you see them or not, just know they are around! Wolves and other predators follow the prey animals out of the refuge in the Spring. Kills by the wolves, along with natural winter deaths, bring in the smaller scavengers of fur and feather. Mountain Lions have been observed on the Refuge over the years.

Bighorns and the Beginning of Winter

Around Thanksgiving, I start cruising the Refuge watching for the first of the Bighorn Sheep. Early snows prod them to move out of the high country and onto the slopes of Miller Butte. By the first week of December, I expect to see reasonable numbers of both ewes and rams. The rut usually begins around the middle of December and continues until the middle of January. This page from Best of the Tetons contains quite a bit more information and lots of photos: Bighorns of Miller Butte. The page has a map showing the roads and pullouts along Miller Butte.

Elk

Elk migrate from long distances, including Yellowstone, to winter at the National Elk Refuge. I overheard a biologist say there are roughly 5,500 elk on the refuge with additional elk around the edges. You can check the refuge’s official site for more specifics: National Elk Refuge. When driving out onto the Refuge, expect to see mostly cows and calves. The big bulls seldom hang close to the roadways, but you still might see one mixed in. For the best view of wintering elk, consider taking the sleigh ride. Sleigh Ride on the National Elk Refuge: It might be the best deal in town! Bulls can occasionally be seen on the ridge line of Miller Butte. Wolves on the refuge can greatly impact where the elk and other animals are grazing on any particular day.

Bison

Traditionally, the wintering bison hang in the northeast section of the Refuge and are not visible to the winter tourists. Occasionally, a heard will move to the southern section and even south of the road. Wildlife officials may haze them back off the road for the safety of tourists, hikers, bikers, and photographers. They are quick and dangerous! Watch for them in the last mile of the winter road section.

Pronghorns

During the winter months, Pronghorns traditionally move from the Teton valley to areas south of here—such as Big Piney, Daniel, and Marbleton. Over the past few winters, a small herd began staying in the valley. Now that herd seems to be growing in size. I counted over 45 recently along the roadway near Miller Butte. They also appear to be becoming more tolerant of the passing vehicles, hikers, and bikers.

Mule Deer

Hillside Mule Deer: I’ve seen a few mule deer actually inside the fence in the National Elk Refuge, but most are along the road and hillside West of the highway. Other than some of the commercial businesses along the road, the National Elk Refuge owns much of the land. Deer and Elk can be seen grazing along either side of the road early in the mornings and on the hillside after first light. You may also see some of them by making the drive up to the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

Wolves

Recently, the newspaper reported two packs of wolves roaming the National Elk Refuge and making kills. I’ve seen them on the hillsides before and was able to hear them howl, but I’ve never been there as they chase game into close proximity to the roads. Maybe I will be in the right spot at the right time and capture some of it.

Coyotes

Coyotes are more common on the National Elk Refuge. Most stay off the roads and scavenge on winter kills or feed on the leftovers from a wolf kill.

Foxes

Red Foxes aren’t that common on the Refuge, but I’ve seen them several times just south of the Miller House.

Otters

River Otters occasionally cruise Flat Creek in search of small fish. I’ve photographed them on numerous occasions from the observation platform just north of the visitor’s center.

Swans

Trumpeter Swans and an occasional Tundra Swan can often be seen along Flat Creek. Check out this Feature Post: Trumpeter Swans: A Family of Swans Along Flat Creek in the Summer of 2014. During the winter, much of Flat Creek can freeze over for short periods, but the Swans and other waterfowl quickly return when sections of the waterway open up again. Flat Creek runs through much of the National Elk Refuge.

Eagles

Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles can be seen on the National Elk Refuge at any time of the year, but are more plentiful during the winter months. Winter kills bring in the scavengers of all kinds. Watch for Ravens swarming, then look for nearby eagles, foxes, coyotes and magpies. During the winter months, watch for Rough-legged hawks hovering around the valley floor. In the summer, watch for Red-tailed Hawks and Northern Harriers. I’ve seen photos of Burrowing Owls taken on the Refuge.

Scenic Opportunities

The Historic old Miller House sits in the middle of the National Elk Refuge. It always makes a good subject for photography. The house and areas immediately surrounding it are closed to human activity during the winter months.

Sleeping Indian (AKA Sheep Mountain) rests on the far east side of the valley. Check out this earlier Feature Post for more locations: Sleeping Indian: A Lesser Photographed JH Icon

Scenic Comments: I typically don’t go to the National Elk Refuge “thinking landscapes”. Wildlife is usually higher on my priorities. If the light is hitting the Miller House or Sleeping Indian in a special way, I will always stop to photograph it. Access is limited, as I mentioned earlier, so we must shoot only from the roadways. A couple of distracting power lines run through the refuge and the angles are just not designed for photographers, especially while on the Refuge Road. From the highway, many more possibilities are available to viewers and photographers. On the North side, the National Elk Refuge and Grand Teton National Park are separated by the Gros Ventre River. Visitors can roam the north side of the river, but cannot cross the river to the Refuge side.

On May 1st, the roads into the interior of the Refuge open back up, allowing people to cross into the National Forests. On that morning, the road is packed with antler hunters heading into the wilds outside the refuge. Additional photographic opportunities can be found by driving up the Curtis Canyon Road.

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