Shoshone: One of my favorite GTNP Moose

By August each year, many of the bull Moose have developed their antlers to a point I can start identifying many of them. As a bull nears maturity, they’ll add an extra tine or two and their paddles gain more size and mass. Interestingly, their antlers grow in a very similar pattern from year to year. Shoshone in Velvet Shiras Moose, the smallest of the three Moose species, can be found in most areas of Grand Teton National Park. Moose are high on my “favorites” list, along with Wild Horses and Mountain Goats. I’d probably include Wolves and Bears, but both involve and incredible amount of time and dedication. Moose are more plentiful, and generally less elusive in the Park. Continue reading "Shoshone: One of my favorite GTNP Moose"

November 2018 Daily Journal for GTNP & JH

A month filled with numerous photographic opportunities!

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November 1st, 2018 – Thursday

Resting Bulls
Resting Bull Moose: Seen in the sagebrush north of Kelly.
Elk Hunt

Important Information!

The Elk Reduction Program Began Saturday, October 27th in GTNP. Click the link to get more details. Consider wearing orange when in the hunt zones! The Elk are not trying to cross the valley floor to start the month of November, but with each new snow, expect more movement and more hunters. Continue reading "November 2018 Daily Journal for GTNP & JH"

Capturing the Last of the Fall Color in Jackson Hole

Late Season Photographic Opportunities!

Gold LeafFall happens—but not all at one time! Fall is more of a chapter within a book than a specific story in the daily newspaper. Colors don’t begin as wave of spender at one end of the valley that slowly advances across the region. The leaves, even within a single species, don’t change colors at one time. Instead, the phenomenon is more like a Jackson Pollock painting. Constantly changing splashes of color “splattered” across the valley occur over a period of about a month. Credit Mother Nature as the artist at this time of the year! Continue reading "Capturing the Last of the Fall Color in Jackson Hole"

Old and New Photographic Technology in One Challenging Shoot

A few days ago, I took a quick photo of the T.A. Moulton Barn along Historic Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park. I included it below. Clouds weren’t exactly inspiring, but there were at least a few low clouds in front of the Grand. It wasn’t much of a photo, I readily admit! I think of these kind of images as reconnaissance photos or record photos. I make a mental note of the spot, then plan on going back when conditions are more to my liking. Over the years, I’ve taken thousands of photos of the Mormon Row Barns. It’s a challenge to photograph them differently than the thousands of photographers that have stood in the same spots over the past 75 years!  I am always looking to photograph them at different distances or different angles. An irrigation ditch runs under the road, through a head gate and then diagonally across the pasture in front of the T.A. Moulton Barn. A few times a year, water in the ditch is high enough to offer unique opportunities if you set up just above water level. TA Moulton Barn The photo I took earlier was okay, but it needed some extra time at the point of capture. I focused on the close bank, and even at F/11, the barn was slightly out of focus. If I had focused on the barn, the water, reflections, and close leaves would have been out of focus. Lastly, I was there a little too early in the day. Early morning shadows from the cottonwoods stream across the foreground and across the left half of the barn. Like I said earlier, was a reconnaissance shot. Continue reading "Old and New Photographic Technology in One Challenging Shoot"