I woke up just before 5 AM today so I could get out there and do some sunrise shooting. It was a great morning and I found all kinds of interesting spots. I drove by a bank of trees that had some steam from a nearby river flowing through them… and it looked so cool that I hiked around the forest to find a nice configuration of trees and steamy fog.

I was exhausted after shooting most of the day. I drove over the the Firehole River to have a swim. There was no one else around, and I didn’t have a swimsuit, so I just went in my undies. This seemed like a great idea until my underwear ripped on a rock. This, combined with very sensitive feet that make me look crazy when walking on a rocky shore, made for quite a scene.

There is a perfect stream here on the edge of Montana that backs onto a ranch where I have stayed a few times. At night, you can hear the stream rushing by while you sleep. Sometimes, in the morning, you can see a bit of steam coming off it as the air adjusts. In the middle of the day, the fish are biting and there isn’t another fisherman for miles.

It looks like it might be easy to cross, but, believe me — it isn’t. There’s a few deep pockets in there that you won’t find until you’re one step too late. I’ll never forget the time my chest waders started filling up with cold river water. Once a little bit starts, it’s a slippery slope!

I also ended up doing a bit of tubing down this river too… which I’m sure was completely confusing to the fish underneath.

Every time I go to Yellowstone, I see something different. There are hundreds of great locations, each one of which should be visited for at least an hour during three different times of the day.

This is a new area I visited on my most recent trip there. I don’t think it is always this steamy, since the air temp has to be a certain delta to the water. I don’t know why, but it’s always fun to sit there and watch the boiling water. I don’t enjoy watching boiling water in my kitchen, but the sight there is always mesmerizing.. There is also the strong smell of sulfur carried through the area. It wasn’t repulsive at all, but it did give me the just-took-off-my-helmet-on-an-away-mission feeling.

The Rockies are the source of a few rivers, and here is one of them. I can’t remember the name of it for sure (although I am sure some of my smart readers can), but I am pretty sure this is the Yellowstone (or maybe the Madison?) river, flowing westward out of the park. This part of the river is impossible to see from the road. I had to pull over and then walk over a tiny little hill/mountain to get there. I stayed at the top, listening to my ipod, waiting for the sun to set… It was all quite serene, as you can see! 🙂

These old tractors are always interesting to photograph. I don’t know why! I really have no penchant for tractors one way or another, but they have a nice feeling about them for some reason, especially with a pastoral scene in the background… like a cabin with smoke coming out of the chimney. And just in case that chimney runs out of firewood, there seems to be a bit extra right around here somewhere…. now where did I put that extra bolt of wood?

Wow I have a lot of reading for you today! I hope you have a coffee, a stiff drink, and/or some good music to accompany you!

First, my new photo today is entitled “The Verdant Bough”. The photo was shot at this really cool place in Wyoming I found while running around Yellowstone with my rig. I’m glad I didn’t fall down that cliff while shooting, but I guess that goes without saying.

Second, I had an article posted today in Smashing Magazine. It was originally titled 10 Principles of Beautiful Photography. That links here to my website, or you can visit the Smashing Magazine as well, although it’s filled with a negative nancies down at the bottom with their own flavor of commentary. No worries… I have a thick skin and I enjoy all kinds of feedback. Both articles are the same, but I like the one here on the site a little since I think the photos are best appreciated in their larger size. The eye needs to surf across them to accept all the light levels and not let your brain reject them. It’s a longer diatribe… but part of the reason this blog is soooo wide… 900 pixels across for each shot.

Oh, also, you can DIGG the article here! 🙂

And here are a few photos from the article that you may never have seen if you are new to the blog!

My shoes have never been the same since I started tromping through this muck. That part didn’t bother me so much, but I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be able to make a hasty escape if something started running after me. I didn’t see anything that would start a chase… there was a herd of about 14 elk about 300 meters away. I had never seen them stampede randomly in the direction of a photographer, so I felt kinda good about that. Remember, all of these were just half-fleeting thoughts that were only half-baked… I was mostly just peacefully staring at the sunset and listening to my iPod alone in the wilderness.

It’s always a challenge to shoot in a forest! They are so interesting while you are there, but the frustrating thing is trying to capture the moment to show others. I don’t know why forests are harder to shoot than other things, although I have a few theories. Perhaps it has something to do with how we "feel" in a forest compared to what we are actually seeing. When we lay down these memories in our brains, the imagery is tied into the feeling, and the "feeling" part of it is very difficult to capture with simply the imagery in a photo. Anyway, this all gets a bit cerebral into some crazy thoughts about photography, but you get where I am going!

These rivers always seem to have a nice sense about them. Meandering about the meadow by day and then heading into the narrow canyons at night. It seems like a peaceful existence…

This comes from my textures tutorial located right here.

This is the Mammoth area of Yellowstone. It’s in the north, up near the Montana Wyoming border.  The whole area is very alien with that acrid smell and the crystallizing trees…