August 2016: Landscape photography project in Yellowstone National Park
In August 2016, we stayed in Yellowstone National Park in the state of Wyoming, USA for 10 days. The purpose of this landscape photography project was to create several collections of fine art photographs.
We have stayed in this huge park several times. It covers 2,219,789 acres and is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. Yellowstone National Park is unique because it has a wide variety of landscapes and unusually abundant wildlife, including deer and herds of bison. Bears and wolves can also be observed, but photographing them means waiting in a blind for hours in a very remote area.
Taking pictures in Yellowstone is very difficult because it is so immense. It can take hours to get from place to place. Over time, we have learned where to place our tripods based on the position of the sun.
This landscape and wildlife photography project started several years ago. During 2016, we have chosen to take pictures of waterfalls, Lamar Valley, and the wetlands around the Yellowstone River. We were able to observe bison crossing the Yellowstone River. For this project, we wanted to photograph the morning mist above the lakes and rivers. Every day we arrived at the site we were going to photograph at 5 in the morning to set up our cameras. We started taking pictures at 5:45 am. During the day we toured the park in search of the best places to photograph.
August is a popular month with tourists. We definitely wanted to avoid the lines of cars, so we searched out small roads in remote areas. We were very cautious because bears live in these areas, and they can be very aggressive.
Oddly, the mornings are very cold in Yellowstone. It is not unusual for the temperature to drop below zero at night. We wore tights under our pants, gloves, hats, and something to cover our noses. We had to be careful to avoid getting frostbite as we waited for daybreak.
Yellowstone is one of the best places in the US for landscape and wildlife photography. But it is also one of the most challenging. We still need more time to get to know the area better.
The photos that we propose in this news are raw and come directly from the camera. They will be used to create fine art collections.
