The Grand Prismatic Basin in Yellowstone National park

When most people are asked to pick the most iconic feature in Yellowstone National Park they are going to say Old Faithful Geyser and it would be very difficult to argue against that, it is far and away the most famous geyser in the park.  I might argue though that The Grand Prismatic Basin should rival Old Faithful for that honor.

Grand Prismatic Basin is a true wonder to behold and is a location in the park that should be visited more than once.  The colors are stunning and varied and depending on the direction of the wind you will either be rewarded with a jaw dropping scene or a face full of steam.  That is why I suggest visiting more than once.  :-)

I made this image back in June of 2016 during our family vacation to Yellowstone, and as a point of reference, I was standing very close to where the park ranger is standing in an image I have previously shared.  

A coupe in front of the Washington State capitol building just before sunset

Ok, instead of Coupes and Captials it is actually one coupe infant of one capitol, but you get the idea.

As some of you may know, I love cars, always have and always will.  I love driving them, looking at them and watching shows about cars.  The old Top Gear and more recently The Grand Tour are not to be missed in the Wood household.  In the world of love for hybrids and Teslas, I love the internal combustion engine, and something tells me that I am not alone, even if fewer and fewer people will admit to it.

I captured this image last summer in downtown Olympia just as the sun was setting.  I hope you enjoy it, and since I haven’t reminded everything in a long time, please click on the image to see a larger version.

A lone bison in Yellowstone National Park

People tend to visit Yellowstone National Park for one of two reasons, to experience the geothermal attractions in the park to to experience wildlife what they would not be able to see where they are from. I tend to believe that it is actually a combination of these two things that bring millions of people a year to the park.  Regardless of which group you are in, the American Bison, or buffalo to some of us, is always a crowd favorite.  Most people tend to gravitate towards the herds of bison, I found myself more interested in the lone bison.

I have already shared an image of a lone bison in a stunning landscape, today I am sharing one a from a little more close up perspective.

I hope you enjoy this image, and before you ask, no, I really was as close as this image might seem, I was using a longish telephoto lens and was at a safe distance.

A red barn in a winter wonderland of Northern Idaho

In my opinion, any photographer “worth their salt” will have an idea for an image that they want to make before they head out the door with their camera gear. In the modern age there are a numerous apps that will help you plan where the moon or sun will be at a certain time and location.  There are apps that will help determine how impressive a sunset or sunrise will look and there are a tons of sites that help you determine what location to shoot.  With all of that, sometimes the best images come from simply turning around.

I created this image after climbing up a snowy hill over the Christmas holiday in Northern Idaho.  The same hill that I created this sunset image that I shared the other day.  I did the shooting that I had planned on while on the hill and turned around to walk back down the hill to go inside and get warm when I saw the scene in this image.

I sort of forgot about everything else I was shooting that afternoon and made this image when I saw that red barn in the distance.  This is not a selective color image, it was simply that the red of the barn was the only real color in the wintery scene and provides a nice contrast to everything around it.

If I hadn’t been paying attention to everything else around me while I was out shooting I most likely would not have seen this as it wasn’t what I was going out to shoot, it was a happy accident.  Sometimes there is nothing better than a happy accident and who knows what will happen, in the case of this image I shared in on Flickr and so far it has had over 11,000 views and has ranked very high in their “Explore” section.

So to recap, TURN AROUND :-)

A wintery sunset over fields of snow in northern Idaho

Contrast in images can come from a lot of different things, far to many thing to actually list in this post, but to me this image just “screams” contrast. For me, that contrast in this image is the sky that caught on fire during a wintery sunset.

I captured this over the Christmas holiday while spending 10 days with family in Northern Idaho.  It was really cold that day and we were enjoying some cocktails just as the sun was starting to set.  I noticed the sky started to get a little hint of orange so I grabbed my camera, a coat and climbed up a nearby hill to get this scene.

I really wish that any image could have captured what this really looked like while I was standing there, the color in the sky reflecting in the field of snow was jaw dropping.