Yellowstone National Park thumbnails only

Old Faithful Geyser erupts promptly on schedule. While not the largest geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful is very regular and provides a spectacular display. Also spectacular were the clouds on this day. A circular polarizer filter enhances the appearance of this shot.

This bull Moose was feeding primarily on Fireweed as I stalked it in this Yellowstone valley. A good position for an animal portrait is broadside with the head somewhere between straight forward and looking your direction.

Yellowstone National Park is ablaze. A huge heat-formed cloud rises above the smoke from this lightning-started forest fire across the beautiful Yellowstone Lake. A thermal feature (they are everywhere in YNP) is visible at the waters near edge. Closer in the picture are white trees - killed by the minerals they have absorbed. A circular polarizer filter was used to reduce glare and increase contrast in this picture.

A male Pronghorn stands above the Sage Brush. Pronghorn are one of my favorite Yellowstone animals. They have a beautiful coloration. Pronghorn are often referred to as Pronghorn Antelope, but are not a member of the antelope family (Bovidae). Instead, it is the only species in its family (Antilocapridae). The Pronghorn is the 2nd fastest land animal after the Cheetah.

Lower Falls puts a lot of moisture in the air - moisture that delivers a beautiful rainbow at the right time of the day under sunny skies. The moisture also enables plant life to live on the harsh rock face of the canyon. A slim circular polarizer filter was used to reduce reflections in this shot. Lower falls and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone are located near Canyon Village. The canyon itself is mostly inaccessible but the park has a handful of viewing locations.

Active flow areas in the foreground are rich in color while the inactive (dry) areas in the background have turned white. Mammoth Hot Springs in located in the northeastern secton of Yellowstone National Park.

The alert Mule Deer buck is sporting a huge set of still-in-velvet antlers. This shot was taken just after sunrise - a time when the sunlight is very warm colored.

This beautifully-colored hot spring is located in front of an inactive-at-the-moment geyser and under a partly cloudy sky. A circular polarizer filter was used for this picture.

A Mule Deer fawn steps into a sunlit opening in the forest of Yellowstone National Park. I didn't need a shutter speed this high and could have reduced my ISO setting for even slightly better image quality. But, it had been raining moments before making the forest much darker.

Old Faithful erupting is an amazing site, but Beehive, an at-least-as-large geyser, and Old Faithful erupting at the same time is even more incredible. Beehive Geyser is the closer one in this picture. A circular polarizer filter was used to deepen the blue sky showing between the clouds. A filter of some form is a very good idea when shooting near active geysers as the spray can damage your glass.

This very-round-shaped and emerald-colored hot spring is located in the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park.

Undine Falls is one of many beautiful waterfalls in Yellowstone National Park. To create the motion blur, I selected a time of the day when the falls and gorge would be evenly lit (mid day with cloud cover) and used a 6-stop neutral density filter and ISO 50 to reduce my shutter speed. A casual photographer can be seen at the top of the falls, giving scale to the scene.

The photo opportunities in the Yellowstone Grand Canyon are endless. The canyon is full of color and rock formations. The Yellowstone River can be seen at the bottom of this gorge. Be aware: Walking along the rim of this canyon is potentially very dangerous - especially for children.

This Hayden Valley Bison has just stood up after having a good roll in the dust.

Dead trees form artistic shapes in the unusual landscape at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park. A forest fire burns in the distance.

A view of burned-out pine trees is very common in Yellowstone National Park. So fitting is the smoke-filled sky helping to create layers of mountain clarity behind the closer standing tree remains. This view is from near the parking area at the end of Chittenden Road at the base of the trail leading to the top of Mount Washburn in Yellowstone National Park. Winds in this area are very high. Image stabilization or a solid (and weighted) tripod is very helpful here.

Beauty Pool, located in Yellowstone National Park's Upper Geyser Basin (along with Old Faithful) is a remarkably beautiful hot spring. A circular polarizer filter was used to cut reflections on the water and deepen the blue sky.

A heard of Elk, closely followed by a heard of people, walk past the long-inactive Liberty Cap geyser. A very large heard of Elk has taken up residence in the little village of Mammoth Hot Springs, location of the Yellowstone National Park headquarters. They were usually found eating or bedded down on the green grass in town. On this hot day, they left for the mountains.

A geyser splashes water and generates lots of steam in the Old Faithful area of Yellowstone National Park. A slim circular polarizer filter makes the clouds pop.

A large waterfalls sends a mist into the air which separates the colors in the light. This view can be found in the Grand Cayon of Yellowstone Canyon

The Lower Falls can be seen in the distance in this Grand Canyon of Yellowstone picture.

This Coyote was hunting in the marsh in the early morning sunlight. It was amazing how little cover it needed to be completely hidden.

Steam vents from the ground in Norris Geyser Basin. This is a very common sight in Yellowstone National Park.

This was the view from near the North entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Clouds shading the low-in-the-sky sun created streaks of shadows and light far into the sky.

A small geyser located in the Old Faithful area of Yellowstone National Park puts on a great show under dramatically-clouded skies. A circular polarizer filter was used for this shot. This area of YNP provides a great thermal feature viewing experience. Long and mostly level board and asphalt walkways lead visitors around to the best sites. Of course, you must decide if the walkways and people on them enhance or hurt your images.

A mother Bison and her calf cross a Yellowstone National Park roadway. In the background, a famous yellow Yellowstone tour bus waits for a clear road. Bison crossings and the traffic jams they create are common in the larger valleys of the park - Hayden and Lamar Valleys. It is not unusual to have to wait for 30 minutes while a large heard of these large animals take their time crossing the road. It was great fun to watch and listen to the animals interact with each other. I never minded the wait.

The Beartooth Highway leads through a spectacularly beautiful area of the country - through Wyoming and Montana. This is the view from the Colter Pass area of the highway.

Thermal features including steam vents and hot springs in the foreground, a deep blue Yellowstone Lake in the middle and a raging forest fire providing background interest in the sky. A slim circular polarizer filter was used for this shot.

A Bighorn Sheep ewe watches over her young lamb. This shot was taken handheld in a light rain. Getting a decent composition was challenging as there were a lot of obstructions between us.

Active areas of the Mommoth Hot Springs are full of color.

This point on the Yellowstone Canyon rim is near Canyon Village.

Fireweed is a favorite food of the Mule Deer in Yellowstone National Park. This velvet-antlered buck is enjoying an early morning breakfast.

A rain-wetted road winds through the Lodgepole Pines in Yellowstone National Park. While the roads in the park are currently in good condition, vehicle travel can be dangerous. Sharp roadside drop-offs become and even greater challenge when approaching motorists (some in large motorhomes) are looking at sites other than the 2-lane roadway. A surprise summer hailstorm coated the road in a layer of ice balls on this trip.

This picture was captured near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. A slim circular polarizer filter was used to enhance this image.

Yes, I was in an SUV for this close-up. Bison are noisy with their deep grunts. This bull was tending a cow in Hayden Valley in Yellowstone National Park. At times, herds of these massive animals could number 800 (only a guess) or more and could be seen as far as the valley was visible.

Visitors stand in the steam on the boardwalk overlooking Black Pool - which not too long ago was black. Many photo variations of these large hot springs can be had by simply waiting for the steam to reposition itself.

Steam rises from a large hot spring located near Mud Volcano in Yellowstone National Park.

A Raven perches near the top of an inactive mineral flow that forms a waterfall-like appearance. Forest fire smoke in the air gives a layered look to the mountains.

Old Faithful Geyser lives up to its name - it erupts right on time and with relative frequency. This shot utilizes a circular polarizer filter.

A young Mule Deer buck appears very fuzzy in his late summer velvet antlers and shedding summer coat of hair.

Another thermal feature found at the Mud Volcano area of Yellowstone National Park, this hot spring was constantly very active.

This is the view of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone from Uncle Tom's trail (could also be called Uncle Tom's Stairs). Cloud cover evened out the lighting in the canyon for this shot.

Named for the seemingly bottomlessness of the water, Abyss Pool is about 53' deep. This hot spring is located in West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. Once again, a slim circular polarizer filter was used to cut reflections on the water surface.

White mineral deposits give sharp contrast to the deceased trees on this Mammoth Hot Springs terrace. Background interest is the work of a forest fire above Jardine, Montana.

The sun rises over a forest fire smoke-filled sky at Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone National Park.

A young Bighorn Sheep ram follows a Bighorn ewe up the mountain after drinking in a stream below. The rocks and steep mountains are very characteristic sheep habitat. They were finding plants to eat as they moved upwards.

Brightly-colored thermal pools such as this one are not hard to find in Yellowstone National Park, but creating good images takes more work. Keeping man-made objects (signs, walkways, ...) and unknown people out of the picture is the first challenge. Of course, either or both can add to a picture at times. A circular polarizer filter cuts reflections from the water which lets the natural color come through.

While I spent a lot of time in Lamar Valley looking for wildlife, the scenery is very worthy of photographs as well.

Multiple hot springs splash up from the ground under a circular polarizer-enhanced partly cloudy sky.

A small geyser puts up a lot of steam in this vast thermal area of Yellowstone national Park. A circular polarizer filter was in place for this picture.

The canyon walls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone hold unlimited framing possibilities. The colors and rock formations are beautiful.

A Pronghorn watches for signs of danger. He is also watching his harem that has moved on without him.

A cloud hides the sun over a burned-out but re-growing landscape so common in Yellowstone National Park.

The weather is not this cooperative very often. A circular polarizer brings out the best in this picture. Hot springs must not be confused with hot tubs - they are actually very dangerous. The temperature burns flesh instantly, acid levels in some are extremely high and the ground around them is unstable. Stay on the walkways and you will be fine.

This is the most beautiful and most active area of Mammoth Hot Springs. A forest fire contributes to the background in this picture.

The remains of a tree, filled with minerals absorbed from the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, lies in the center of a no-plant-growth area.

This Bison calf is feeding under the close watch of its mother this early morning.

This Bison (look closely - you'll find it) is not actually pushing the rock, but is certainly finding something fascinating about it. The sun is rising over this Yellowstone National Park landscape located between Tower-Roosevelt and Mammouth Hot Springs.

Yellowstone Lake provides the backdrop for the Black Pool hot spring in West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park.

Twin dead trees curve synchronously beside the colorful hot spring runoff. A circular polarizer filter was used to cut the reflection on the water.

Some days, there is as much beauty in the sky as there is on the ground (or more). Constantly changing clouds make every picture unique. A slim circular polarizer filter was used for this capture.

These mountaintops are located near Mammouth Hot Springs and the North entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The very large clouds are the result of heat from an also-very-large forest fire beyond Jardine. This shot was taken from the banks of the Yellowstone River.

Fireweed lives up to its name as it abundantly grows in the charred remains of a forest fire. It adds great color to the blackened trees. This shot was taken on a heavily overcast day.

I found this big old monster Mule Deer buck in velvet feeding in a wooded valley early in the morning (very warm light). You will notice that the dimensions on this picture are larger than a single Canon 1Ds Mark II frame size. As I was slightly too close to the buck and did not have the flexibility of a zoom lens, I managed to get two shots that could later be stitched to add slightly more to the vertical dimension of this image.

A weathered tree clings to the rim of the Yellowstone Canyon near Canyon Village, Yellowstone National Park.

This colorful hot spring is located in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park.

This is what all of the trees look like that have the unfortunate rooting location of a hot spring flow in Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone national Park.

A forest fire rages across Yellowstone Lake while a flock of ducks search for their dinner (sorry - hard to see the ducks at this resolution). The pine tree hangs on the cliff above the lake.

There are few animals more dangerous than a mother Grizzly Bears with cubs. Lots of focal length is really helpful for safety reasons when not in the protection of a vehicle. In this case I added a 1.4x extender and still cropped to get this framing. My understanding is that it is rare for a Grizzly to have four cubs. This family was at Dunraven Pass.

Well, it isn't really chocolate of course - not is that its name, but it has the right color. When shooting these hot springs, watch the wind direction and time your shot to get the water in action with the steam not obscuring the scene.

A Bighorn Sheep ewe watches for danger from an open but wooded area.

A hot spring bubbles beside the vast Yellowstone Lake. Those attractive clouds in the background had just delivered the worst hail storm I've ever been in. The roads were covered in marble-sized ice balls.

The remains of trees stand in contrast to the colorful hot spring-deposited minerals. Smoke from a forest fire can be seen in the distance.

It is not unusual to find a rainbow present over the beautiful Lower Falls near Canyon Village, Yellowstone National Park

Clouds block the sun from lighting the top of this rocky mountain resulting in an unusual (reverse-normal) shading in the picture. This mountain is located in the northern area of Yellowstone National Park.

A baby Mule Deer stands in a grassy clearing. It was lightly raining when this shot was taken - which yielded a soft light.

Steam rises from thermal features along the Yellowstone River. The early morning haze causes a layered look to the mountains.

Yellowstone National Park is full of thermal features such as this small, clear hot spring.

Near the North entrance to Yellowstone park is a small parking lot. A trail from this lot leads to hot spring flow from Mammoth Hot Springs. Swimming is permitted here (as of summer 2007 at least). The water temperature ranges from hotter than one can stand to cold. Move around until you find the temperature right for you. Montana mountains can be seen in the distance.

This dry terrace was near the top of the Mammoth Hot Springs. The most-distant clouds are the result of the heat and smoke from a forest fire.

A Hayden Valley Bison licks its lips after drinking from the Yellowstone River.

The Yellowstone River runs through the bottom of the deep Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The Canyon walls provide lots of interesting twists and turns and rock formations.

Clouds hang low in the valley over the Soda Butte Creek in northeastern Yellowstone National Park.

The sun sets behind a mix of mature standing, falling over and young growth trees in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

A steam vent provides the foreground and distant Yellowstone mountains take care of the background.

Water falls from a small pond in Mammoth Hot Springs. But, this is not your typical water as can be seen by the deposits and living organisms in the water - giving it the color. In many of these shots, I am tweaking a manual exposure to put the brightest area in the picture very close to RGB 255,255,255 - pure white. If the shot becomes slightly brighter, highlights will lose their detail.

A pair of cow Yellowstone Elk stand alert in the early morning sunlight. Finding animals in Yellowstone (and most other places) is easiest early and late in the day.

Fisherman's Cone is actually in Yellowstone Lake - and was once the place to parboil the catch without removing the fish from line. Fisherman's Cone is inactive and located in the West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park.

These mountains are located just outside the North entrance to Yellowstone National Park in the Western town of Gardiner.

Upper Falls, near Canyon Village in Yellowstone National Park, is one of the must-see attractions in the park.

Terraces of white mineral deposits are prevalent at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. These areas were full of color while water was actively flowing over them.

Hot spring run-off is generally colorful. This scene is in the West Thumb Geyser Basin - beside the Yellowstone Lake.

A very large Mule Deer buck tests the wind as the early morning sunlight reaches him through the woods.

This beautiful hot spring is located in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park. A circular polarizer filter makes the clouds pop.

This is a very windy place - and the trees look like they've been struggling. However, the forest fires that went through the park did much more damage to this area than the wind has done.

Unique rock formations are abundant on the Yellowstone Canyon walls. This shot was taken near Tower Falls.

Access to the rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone in Yellowstone National Park is generally unfettered - making it a potentially dangerous place for kids or careless adults. The views, however, are breathtaking.

A female Pronghorn seems surprised to see a big white Canon Lens pointed at her. It looks like she wants to tell me something (see picture below).

A Bison cow leads her calf across a road in Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park. This pair was part of a very large heard that was feeding and moving toward the water in the Lamar River.

A bull Moose keeps watch while feeding in this Yellowstone valley.

Clouds cause the sunlight to play across the Yellowstone Canyon walls which are already filled with patterns, lines and interest.

On this particular morning, the heard of Lamar Valley Bison went on far beyond what you could see from any one location. And there were far more than I could count - possibly 700 - 800 animals.

Apparently this Bighorn Sheep didn't think too highly of me as it is sticking its tongue out at me.

The Yellowstone River snakes around, defining the bottom of the canyon.

This Bull Snake was about 5-6' long and was determined to go where it wanted to go - unphased by me being there.

This location on the Boiling River is near the Yellowstone National Park North Entrance. The rocky cliffs in the background are home to Bighorn Sheep.

The Morning Glory Pool, located in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park, really looks this amazing. A circular polarizer filter was used to cut the reflections on the water. I could have used a slightly wider lens at this location, but much wider than this will start to include the fenced walkway. Steam from another hot spring can be seen in the backgrouund.

The sun sets, reflecting in a bubbling hot spring. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.