Canary Spring at Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park

Canary Spring © 2010 Bo Mackison

Not all of the terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs are chalky white and dry. Canary Spring at the top of the Lower Terrace flows with heated water that has been moving underground for many years. The vibrant colors – oranges, yellows, dark reds – are caused by cyanobacteria and algae mats. They depend on a stable flow of hot water to stay alive. When the water flow decreases or stops, the micro-organisms die and the colors turn into stark white travertine which covers much of the terraced landscape.

Canary Spring is near the top of the Main Terraces, reached by walking a series of boardwalks and stairways through the Mammoth Hot Springs or by driving the Lower Terrace Overlook Road just south of Mammoth.

Just one more thermal feature photographed in Yellowstone National Park.

Lodge Pole Pines at Celestine Pool in Yellowstone National Park

Lodge Pole Pines at Celestine Pool © 2010 Bo Mackison

Celestine Pool, a hot spring pool at Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, has repeatedly overflowed into this stand of lodge pole pines. The minerals in the pool were absorbed into the trunks of these trees and will eventually turn the trees completely white.

Terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park

Lower Terraces at Mammoth Springs @ 2010 Bo Mackison

The Mammoth Hot Spring Terraces in the northwestern corner of Yellowstone National Park are easy to drive by. They look like large terraced white rock. Nothing spurting hot water, no geyser countdowns, no bubbling pools. You only get the rewards when you walk up and down the many planked steps and boardwalks. Then the beauty of the hot springs, often a rugged beauty, can be seen.

The terraces are formed when hot water carries dissolved calcium and bicarbonate to the surface of the terraces. The carbonate and calcium combine to form a hard rock known as travertine. The abopve photo features a large terrace of travertine — bright white steps which turn a greyish color as they weather. In other areas of the terraced hot springs, water is running and it changes the colors of the white-gray rock.

Not all areas of the terrace have water flows. When we were there a week ago, there were only two areas that had pools. Most of the hot springs were the whitish-gay dry travertine.

Emerald Pool at Yellowstone National Park

Emerald Pool © 2010 Bo Mackison

Emerald Pool is sometimes a lovely shade of green. That makes sense when you consider the water is a deep blue and the lining of the pool is a bacteria-laden yellow. However the pool has been decreasing in temperature because of a combination of natural debris and materials thrown into the pool by visitors. This is causing the rim of the pool to darken to a brown color.

I photographed this pool with and without a polarizing filter. Usually I preferred the photographs of the hot springs and geysers with the polarizer to cut the reflections from the surrounding features and sky. Not so this time. When I used the filter, the reflection of the sky and trees disappeared and the pool was partly a dark brown and partly a lighter muddy color. I preferred the photographs of Emerald Spring with the added colors from the reflections.
This hot spring is part of the Black Sand Basin located near the Old Faithful Complex in Yellowstone National Park.

My Bliss – A Guest Post by Debi Bradford

This is the fifth and last of the guest posts from some of my blog visitors who  answered the question “How has photography, no matter your expertise or experience, had a positive impact on your life?” (This was a question I’ve been exploring in my recent series Why Photography?)

This guest post was written by Debi Bradford and accompanied by two of her favorite photographs.

American White Pelican Flying © 2010 Debi Bradford

Long ago I fancied myself as an amateur photographer.  As a young lass armed with a 35mm Yashica I dabbled in nature photography and took portraits of friends and family.  Tons of early, mediocre images lie fallow and fading in Tupperware boxes on a shelf.  My hobby took a backseat first to career and then family before being forgotten altogether over time.

Quite unexpectedly interest sparked once again when we moved to the lake away from subdivisions and concrete, traffic and rush hours.  Suddenly, I was exposed to fantastic sunrises and sunsets, wild storms and wildlife.  Simultaneously  I discovered the immediate gratification of digital photography.  Hooked, I began exploring the wilds of our area and discovered the joy of writing about my experiences.  Sharing about nature in blogs and in magazines I have found a joy, my bliss.

However, as to Bo’s Question, “Why Photography?”  some points come to mind:

Photography is an activity within which I can both find myself and lose myself at the same time.

Literally focusing on something other than myself opens my mind toward reflection of larger things.   Contemplation of nature and its creatures, its cycles, its seasons, observing the earth and the heavens keeps me grounded.

Sensory Experiences

The peace and quiet; sound of water, wind, insects and birds; smell of woodsmoke and flowers, riverbanks and mosses; observing the  intensity of clouds and storms, enjoying a golden late afternoon light playing across bark and leaves, diamonds of light twinkling on water; the joy of discovering creatures and places.  In nature all my senses come into play for there’s no competition.  Have you ever watched a praying mantis hunt?  The mantis slowly begins to sway in tune with the surrounding foliage, becoming one with the leaves and branches, matching the natural movements around it.  It blends in; becomes part of the scene.  That’s what I do, oftentimes walking and sitting for an hour before ever picking up the camera.  Soak it in and breathe it, become it, enjoy it, embrace it before trying to capture that special feeling given by Spirit creates a visceral memory with each frame.

Solitude and Spirituality

It’s very Zen and meditative; calming.  When my soul is at its most restless and unhappy I seek being outdoors by myself, just me and my camera.  For it is there, outside, where  I feel great peace and the full measure of Spirituality flows through me like warm honey.  Disengaging from the mindless busyness of the day-to-day and engaging in the clear, focused reality of Life through photography is when I feel Spirit intensely.

Atkeson Cypress Trail © 2010 Debi Bradford

Magic and Joy

The normal person might see a white pelican and simply be gladdened by the experience, if that.  However, when I see a white pelican I want to capture the experience, record the bird’s essence, upload it, look at it a thousand times and broadcast it to the heavens.  It’s my way of shouting for joy … Look!  A WHITE PELICAN!  Isn’t that amazing?!  It’s photographing frame-by-frame the immersion of a butterfly from its cocoon and feeling that wonder deep, deep inside every time I see those images.  Photography is sheer magic to me.  It’s the joy of sharing the wonder of our earth and its creatures.   It’s a visual journal of a life experience.

Photojournalism

Photography has become even more than just capturing an image.  It’s sharing it with others of like minds through my other two passions – computers and writing.  Blogging combines all three and connects me with other like-minded individuals around the world.  Many photographers are content to let the photograph tell the story as that’s what works for them.  However, describing nuances that the photo simply cannot convey – how I found the shot, sharing about a particular place or telling the story of how the event changed my life – fulfills me.  There’s a story to every photograph, and those are the details that make the image rich and meaningful.

Giving Back

It is through my photography of nature that I give back to non-profit organizations whose mission it is to preserve wild spaces.  Nature preserves and wildlife refuges are important to me.  Photographs taken on nature preserves and/or wildlife refuges grace the cover of greeting cards and I give a percentage of sales to the corresponding non-profit.  It’s my way of saying Thank You, my way of helping and giving back.

So for me photography isn’t just a hobby, it completes me and takes me full circle.  I take pictures because I cannot NOT take pictures.  I am simply, blissfully, a photographer.

Debi Bradford lives in Alabama and is a photographer, blogger, and lover of nature. She shares her photography and writing on her blog Giraffe Head Tree.