rust Archives - Teton Photography Club

January 7, 2020

A Bounty of Winter Landscapes in Black and White

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.

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.

November 6, 2019

Americana: Find it in Star Valley

Head south through the Snake River Canyon and eventually you’ll find yourself in Alpine, WY. Continue south from there and you’ll be in the heart of Star Valley. For a photographer, the area is rich in vintage subject matter. Sure, there are towns and subdivisions packed with new houses, but you don’t have to look too hard to find old barns, homesteads, vehicles, and structures. Typically, I don’t drive there just for this gritty slice of Americana, but instead fill some time while waiting for Lewis Woodpeckers, Barn Owls, or Mountain Goats to appear. While driving around looking for the historic or grungy subjects, I keep and eye out for coyotes, foxes, eagles, mule deer, and hawks.

In reality, Star Valley is not unlike most of the west, east, north or south.You can find barns, farm houses, windmills, silos, and rusting vehicles everywhere. If your “stutter finger” is twitching, or if you simply want to practice, jump in your vehicle and drive around the back roads in your area! Stated another way, there is ALWAYS “something” to photograph!

Once you find a worthy subject, work it! I look for interesting, distinctive elements and then try to find a workable composition.Of course, many of the subjects will be on private property. Instead of trespassing, shoot from the road or right of way and try out your telephoto lenses. If you are up for it, knock on the door and ask permission to go on their property. You’ll likely get a puzzled response like, “Why do you want to take photos of that old junk”? They’ve seen it for decades and see no value in their rusting and deteriorating vehicles and buildings. Of the ones I’ve asked, most have said okay.

I photographed this old truck, including the details, from the road. If the land owner gives you permission, you could use any of your lenses, including macro/micros.

The Tetons have been photographed heavily since 1927, or longer. It’s difficult to take a photo that dozens, hundreds, or thousands haven’t already taken. The photos have been in books, calendars, and on sites. A lot of photographers come here to recreate a photo they’ve already seen. In an area like Star Valley, those preconceived images are not necessary. Everything is fresh!

This set of structures are the same as the ones in the previous image. They are similar, but completely different!

A few weeks ago, I bought a Sigma Sport 60-600mm lens. For the past few years, I’ve often used a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens. I like both of them, but I really do like the extra 90mm on the wide end for the typical “landscape” look as seen in the previous image. The image above, and the previous image, were taken from the window of my truck. There’s not a lot of traffic on the back roads, so temporary “parking” isn’t a problem. The previous image was taken at 68mm while this one was taken at 170mm. The zoom let me isolate just the barn.

From the same spot, I was able to zoom in on some of the barn’s details. This one and the image below were taken at 600mm.

I was able to do this texture shot of just the failing shingles from the same spot as the previous two images.

I am not positive, but I believe these tanks are alongside an old creamery. I was able to shoot this one at 60mm (and I could have backed up a little). This image might be a little tight on both edges, and definitely so if I were going to print it as a gallery wrap. Just to be safe (and without changing lenses) I also shot it as two captures. While in the field, I gave myself several options. I could have also turned the camera to portrait mode and taken five or six pano parts for an even larger file.

I shot this one from the road in front of the old creamery.

A lot of the images were taken at 1/1250th second since I had plenty of light. Most of the time, I was shooting hand held out the window or over the bed of my truck. This shot was taken in the shadows so I dropped the shutter speed to 1/320th second and turned the vibration reduction option to ON on the lens. This new Sigma lens does a great job when the vibration reduction is turned on, and not on a tripod.

I took a lot of images at the old creamery. This is part of an end cap on another tank. Grunge textures abound in many areas of an old structure like this. I always like going to towns with a railroad running through it. Often the tracks are a block or two off the main road. Main Street in many towns have had many facelifts, but a block away, I can usually find a variety of subjects. The town of Jackson never had a railroad, though there was a temporary railroad when crews were building the Jackson Lake Dam.

I took this interesting barn in both landscape and portrait mode. In landscape mode, I had to deal with a few distracting elements. The vertical shot worked fine, even though I liked the square crop here.

The old town of Freedom is very interesting. The Wyoming and Idaho state line runs down the middle of town. These old structures are on the Idaho side.

I took this one out the window, as with the previous image. I also took a lot of texture photos of the corrugated metal and peeling paint.

Again, the flexibility of a good zoom lens gives me a ton of options. I took this one at 420mm. Often, there is a lot of clutter and distractions (like a new car) near a subject. The zoom lets me isolate the cleanest parts of the scene. I could have used the rest of the 600mm reach to isolate other interesting details, or pull back to get the entire piece of farming equipment. I am always looking for broken patterns. I think this one would be less interesting if the wheels went all the way off the right side.

What the heck! When I saw this telephone pole and transformers, I thought it needed to be photographed! I think every image today was taken at F/8. You’ve probably heard the expression, “F/8 and be there!” This one is amazingly in focus in almost every area of the photo.

There were so many options for photographing this scene. The barn and corrals are next to a road, so I was able to walk up to the edge of the fence and shoot over it. When I looked at all of the images on my computer, I liked the diagonal fence and partial road.

Of course, this is the same barn taken from another position. I captured another half a dozen versions and liked most of them.

I opted to process the photos from today with sepia toning. I have a “sepia preset” loaded in Lightroom, so all I have to do is click one button and it does all of the heavy lifting in seconds. Afterwards, I can tweak the image as necessary. The newer versions of Lightroom temporarily apply the preset as I roll over my presets. This is a great feature for anyone wanting to quickly experiment and check various presets. Thousands of Lightroom presets are available, both for purchase for free download. Any preset can be tweaked and saved as a new preset with the name of your choice.

I originally drove to the mouth of the Snake River Canyon hoping to find Mountain Goats. I got there at 8:30 am and didn’t see a single goat—even up high! Lacking furry white mammals, I spent two hours driving around Star Valley. At 10:30 am, I headed back to the canyon and came up empty. Even so, I came home with 500 images, plus I gained even more confidence in the new Sigma Sport 60-600mm lens.

About the Photos

All of the images on this page were taken on November 5th, using a Nikon D5 and Sigma Sport 60-600mm lens. They were all hand held, usually supported over the window of my truck or over the bed. Most were taken at 1/1250 second at F/8. I was using Auto ISO all day.

Area History and Cultural Events:

Check out these Feature Posts.

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

January 11, 2019January 17, 2019

Nostalgic Captures of the Northern Rockies!

…and Comments on Disappearing Americana

Cross country travelers merge onto an Interstate Highway, then speed along at 70-80 mph to get to their destination. That’s easy to understand knowing highways are usually more efficient—and for some, “time is money”. For others, slowing down or taking the side roads has intrinsic value—even if the benefits are less obvious. It is easy to observe how our modernized world is becoming more and more homogenized. One highway exit often resembles the last highway exit, often consisting of one or more chain gas stations, at least one convenience store, and several fast food restaurants. Businessmen and administrators at forward thinking towns tear down the old to make way for the new, but in doing so, strip some of the local character and ambiance away. They do it in the name of progress. At 65, I admit I am a bit nostalgic about where we came from and how we got here, and I am not as much enthused as I should be about where things seem to be headed. Still, I realize the benefits of change. I wrote this post on a state-of-the-art computer and posted it to the Internet over a high speed Wi-Fi connection. The pages and photos will be sent from servers to satellites circling the globe and beamed to readers using a variety of high tech devices. It is easy to be conflicted!