Iron Spring Creek – Sunrise at Yellowstone National Park

Geyserite Mound with Runoff into Iron Spring Creek at Yellowstone
Iron Spring Creek © 2010 Bo Mackison

This mound of geyserite to the left of the creek indicates that there have been geysers in this part of Yellowstone National Park for eons.

The run off from pools and geysers in the Black Sand Geyser Basin flows into Iron Spring Creek. The reddish-brown color of the creek, however, is not from iron, but from a reddish brown algae that is present in the creek because of thermal warming.

This is another sunrise photograph.

The temperature had dropped to 28˚F on this early October morning, and so there was a magnificent display of steaming hot pools in the basin. The early light bathed the whole area in luminous beauty.

Twin Trees at Black Sand Basin – Autumn in Yellowstone National Park

Trees at Sunrise in Black Sand Basin at Yellowstone National Park

Twin Trees at Black Sand Basin © 2010 Bo Mackison

Some mornings it is harder to capture a sunrise photograph than other times.

When I’m camping and I’ve sat by the late evening campfire admiring the red embers of the dying fire and gazed at the Milky Way until the early hours of the morning, it takes extra effort for me to be ready and in the car before sunrise the next morning. But it is often worth it. It surely was a few mornings ago, when I took this magical photograph.

I was photographing the geysers along the boardwalk in the Black Sand Basin.

This basin is a smaller part of the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. It was just past sunrise. We had finished exploring this basin and were headed to the Old Faithful complex. Sherpa had already headed back to the parking lot. I was lingering in the eerie, early light.

I turned for one more look at this mystical place.

This place with such an ancient feel, with steam curling out of the earth and hovering thickly in the cool morning. (It was 28˚F, so the hot springs were steaming almost everywhere you looked in the thermal part of the park.)

Just one more look, just as the sunlight spotlighted these lodge pole pines.

I am so grateful that in my photo practice, I always make it a point to turn around to check on what is behind me before I stop shooting.

Oh, the Colors You Can See – Mineralization at Yellowstone National Park

Great Prismatic Pool

Oh, the Colors You Can See! © 2010 Bo Mackison

We arrived at Yellowstone National Park on Saturday afternoon, set up camp quickly, and went exploring.

We stopped at several geyser basins. These geyser basins just seem to call me – I just can’t resist walking on the boardwalks, gazing at the many brightly colored pools, timing the predictable (and unpredictable) gush of the geysers, watching the muddy paint pots that burp out a pop of mud in rhythmic fashion.

When we arrived at Midway Geyser Basin an hour or so before sunset, we ended up lingering there until traces of the sun had all but disappeared. The thermal features are lovely at any time of day, but at sunset, everything is bathed in warm light and the oranges and yellows deepen. I couldn’t stop looking and I took way too many photographs.

This shot is one of my favorite from that evening. The Grand Prismatic Spring, seen steaming in the background, is the largest hot spring in Yellowstone, measuring over 250 by 300 feet. It is a brilliant icy blue in the center, and then turns bluish-green on the edges. But the parts that so attracted me were the rays of oranges, yellows, and browns that radiated from the spring as runoff.

As a bonus, the reflections in the pool and runoff waters are spectacular, as seen by these reflections of white clouds and blue sky.

Ah, glorious nature. What a show she puts on!

Wyoming High Range – Cross Country Travel

High Plains ©2010 Bo Mackison

Traveling from the Badlands in South Dakota to Yellowstone National Park, we traveled through western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. In Wyoming, the landscape changed rather suddenly from irrigated farm fields to sagebrush high range.

It was one of only a couple of times that we pulled the car over and I took a few photographs. I learned the hard way how difficult it is to try to travel 2o hours with a minimum of stops. I passed by hundreds of places I wanted to photograph, but knew I couldn’t stop we would never get further west than Iowa. It was a long two and a half days to get to Yellowstone.

Moment in Time

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

Robin (from Wisconsin) wrote this response.

I would first like to thank Bo for the opportunity to be a part of her “Why Photography” series.

Photography has brought immense joy to my life.  Every photo captures a moment that can never again be repeated.  Each is one of a kind.  Every image is unique or “peculiar” to a moment in time that is captured forever.  Every day I learn something new; every day I’m challenged just a little bit more; every day I’m motivated to try, try again.

Photography has certainly made me more visually aware of my surroundings.  And it is not always the most obvious subject that catches my attention.  Sometimes it might be a blade of grass, or a clump of weeds that might otherwise be overlooked.  But that’s the wonder of photography.  It’s the opportunity to take the ordinary and make it extraordinary.  Or then again, to take the extraordinary and reduce it to its simplest elements of line, texture, light, or color.

One of the most beneficial compliments I ever received was from an experienced photographer who told me that “technically your photos are awful; but I can’t stop looking at them.”  I smile whenever I think of that statement.  Because in the end, photography not just a photograph of a subject, but is a very personal expression of the photographer.  Most anyone can learn the technical aspects — exposure, rule of thirds, and so on.  But it’s the story and the emotion that I most desire to convey through an image.  Every day I study dozens of photos from professionals and amateurs alike.  And I find that the best photos are those which evoke the strongest emotion: joy, anger, laughter, wonder, awe, a smile, a gasp, a sigh.

Life moves by us at such a rapid pace.  Photography slows that pace down and stops it in its tracks, even allowing us to relive a moment whenever we want.  Whenever I download a set of photos off my camera for the first time I fall in love with photography all over again.  I am usually pleasantly surprised what the camera has captured. Sometimes it’s exactly what I wanted to capture and sometimes it’s totally unexpected.  But it’s always, always exciting.

I am very much a beginning photographer and so I have much to learn.  And at the present time, macro photography gives me the greatest satisfaction.  But short term goals also include branching out into abstract photography, and in particular macro flower abstracts.  And since winter in Wisconsin tends to curtail outdoor photographic opportunities just a bit, I want to use the upcoming winter months to put together an indoor area for flower photography.  I also want to use this winter for learning better post processing techniques.   My long term goals include figuring out how Bo achieves that beautiful texture on her flower photos.  🙂

Robin photographs in the Ocooch Mountain region of Wisconsin. (Ocooch Mountains is a term that’s applied to the unglaciated, driftless area of southwestern Wisconsin.) She publishes her nature photography on her Peculiar View Blog.