After leaving Yellowstone, I haven’t had a lot of time to sort through my images. I had to leave one trip and go straight to another. I’m on the plane writing this blog post while heading home for three days before leaving for my Greece photo tour. I have lots to do, since I, and many of my clients have had flight changes, Covid testing issues, etc.…
While home I’ll see my family, unpack, wash laundry, pack another suitcase, update spreadsheets, get my mail, go to bank, send out bills, and answer emails. AND sleep in my own bed.
I probably won’t have time to sit and look through photos, so I’m doing it now. I picked these images as my second round because they are the ones that mean something to me, and I don’t want them to get forgotten in what I refer to as hard drive heaven.
To create the in-camera pan blur of the stand of Lodgepole Pines shown above I handheld my camera; my shutter speed was 1/6 second and I was shooting in manual mode. I moved my camera at different speeds in an upward movement. Hoping to leave a bit of detail in the background trees. I wish Sony had multiple exposure capabilities so that I could have captured an in- camera multiple exposure but they don’t and so I worked on a pan blur instead. I’m glad I did, I like this one very much. The soft color palette appealed to me too.
A classic shot…
This close up shot of a bison was taken at first light was captured while on my belly rolling in the snow to try to get a low angle for this very beautiful bison that stepped away from the herd. I loved seeing all the snow on him and the dark background looked nice.
The walking bison with the blue strip of water at the top of the frame looked incredible with all the caked-on snow. The composition took some getting used to…
This high key tree shot became art once I overexposed the background on purpose and increased the green tones. After all, photography is much more than just trying to get the correct exposure in-camera. This look appeals to me very much.
Our early morning sunrise shot at the thermals was beyond what I could have hoped for as far as color and layers. I decided to capture a vertical to take advantage of the sky, yet keep a tight frame on the thermal area.
My favorite bison was one that was laying in the snow, covered with frost and ice. He looked so cold. My RAW file shows a totally blue scene as this was captured before first light. I tried over and over again to commit to the blue cast but in the end I have chosen to share this scenic view (below) taken a little later that morning instead. I am still working on the blue bison. I left some of the color cast in my scenic shot and loved the way he looked like a small part of a winter scene.
I loved this stand of tree bones that stood at the top of a hill and couldn’t help but think they reminded me of that saying - “the dead of winter.”
All of my Yellowstone images in both of my posts were captured with my Sony A1. I used a variety of Sony lenses: 200-600mm, 70-200mm, 24-105mm and my 16-35mm. I used manual mode for all, evaluative metering, natural light. Almost all were handheld.
I’ll be returning to Yellowstone in 2024. I have a sold-out trip but plan to offer another one. Should Yellowstone in winter be on your bucket list— absolutely! It is an amazing experience and to think it is one of our most treasured National Parks. Yes, a return to Yellowstone… I can hardly wait.