Posts Tagged ‘US 191’

Oct

2012

Fall Color in Grand Teton NP

On the return from a late September visit to The Stone we passed through Grand Teton National Park. Here we found the fall color fully developed. Overall, color around the mountain west has been somewhat muted relative to last year, but one can still find pockets of pleasing intensity.

Trees and shrubs around the Willow Flats and Oxbow Bend area generally exhibit excellent color in season, and the contrast of fall color with the northern Tetons makes for respectable images. The image above of Mount Moran from Oxbow Bend was recorded at 13:00 MST on September 30, 2012, using the Nikon D800E and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED at 70mm. Exposure was f/11 and 1/500s, ISO 500 (+0.33 EV, corrected using ACR).

The image above was recorded just across the road (north side of the J.D. Rockefeller Jr. Pkwy) at the Oxbow Bend Turnout. Exposure parameters as above.

There are a number of little enclaves of fall color along the Teton Park Road (US 191/89), which is the mainline through the park. One of my favorites is located near the turnoff to Moose Head Ranch. There are several small clones/groves of aspen here that reliably produce good fall color. The image above and the two images below were recorded at around 14:00 MST on September 30, 2012 using the Nikon D800E and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED at a variety of focal lengths. Exposures were at f/11 and 1/640s, ISO 800 (+0.33 EV, compensated using ACR).

Finally below, a lovely shot of the HP and Dity (MOTHP) at the Blacktail Ponds Overlook. The image was recorded at 14:44 MST on September 30, 2012 using the Nikon D800E and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED at 32mm. Exposure was at f/11 and 1/640s, ISO 800 (+0.33 EV, compensated using ACR).

Tags: Blacktail Ponds Overlook, Dity, Grand Teton National Park, HP, Mosse Ranch, Mount Moran, Oxbow Bend, Snake River, Teton Park Road, US 191, US 26, US 89
Posted in Fall Color, National Parks and Monuments | 1 Comment »

Nov

2011

Postcards from Grand Teton National Park

On visits to Yellowstone NP, we often return through the south entrance and continue through Grand Teton National Park along US 89/191. It makes for a long drive back to Salt Lake, but the scenery is always worth the extra miles. The image above was recorded just inside the northern boundary of the park entrance, while the image below was recorded just off the Jackson Hole Highway just south of the Willow Flats Turnout, near Jackson Lake Lodge.

The color in the Tetons was amazing this fall. The Aspens did not only glow a brilliant golden yellow, but deeper shades , all the way to red, as shown above and below, could also be found.

A characteristic of images recorded in the Tetons at this time of year is that they are dominated by orange/red and blue. There is so little green around that one must be careful to avoid producing images that appear overprocessed, e.g., with too much saturation, too much contrast, and a blueish white balance. Even though I always follow my own advice, I thought these images had an almost vintage picture-postcard look – much more so in the smaller rendition of the images that appear in this entry. The image below was hot at the Oxbow Ben Turnout, with the Snake River in the foreground and Mount Moran in the distance.

Grand Teton NP is especially nice to visit this time of year. The crowds have dramatically diminished, so much so that one can spend an hour in a spot all alone.

The image above was recorded along the Jackson Hole Highway, US 89/191, just a bit south of the Moran Junction. The image below was recorded at the famous Snake River Overlook Turnout.

Images in this entry were recorded during the late morning on October 17, 2011, using the Nikon D700 and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED and AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II lens. Exposures were made at f/8 or (mostly) f/11, ISO 200. Images were processed using Photokit Capture and Output routines, a Photoshop curves adjustment layer, and Nik Software Viveza 2 and Color Efex Pro 4 plugins. It is very useful, even essential, to use the Smart Filter feature of Photoshop when applying the Nik (or other) filters, since this makes readjustment easy and provides auto-archiving of the processing protocol.

Tags: Fall Color, Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole Highway, Moran Junction, Mount Moran, Oxbow Bend, Oxbow Bend Turnout Snake River Overlook, US 191, US 89, Willow Flats Overlook
Posted in Fall Color, National Parks and Monuments | 4 Comments »

Aug

2011

Moose Jam at Jackson Lake Lodge

Animal jams are most or less a constant occurrence in Grand Teton National Park. During the high season, Spring through early Winter, one or more animal jams is in effect somewhere in the park. In these events, some animal wanders close to the road, and immediately a dozen or so cars slow or stop to grab a glance and take a few snapshots. The definition of ‘close’ varies considerably of course, but generally if a big game specimen can be seen with the unaided eye, it is close enough to precipitate an animal jam.

Bear Jams are common, and tend to attract the most enthusiastic participants, however in our experience traffic in GRTE*is most frequently disturbed by Moose Jams. This is a specific condition in the the Tetons – here there be lots of Moose.

We first encountered this Moose cow and calf at around 16:30 MDT in a small field just south of Jackson Lake Lodge and just north and west of the Christian Creek Bridge. The small ponds on either sides of the Rockefeller Memorial Highway north of the Christian Creek Bridge are prime spots for viewing Moose. The pair moved north to near the junction of Highway 89 and the turnoff to Jackson Lake Lodge, and then tracked south along the west side of the road. By around 17:00 the two Moose had crossed Highway 89 and found their way to a small pond on the east side of the highway.

Blame it on the water. Moose just love the water, and apart from the eponymous Tetons themselves, the next most salient feature of the park is the water works. From largest to smallest, the major lakes of Grand Teton are: Jackson Lake (25,540 acres), Leigh Lake (1792 acres), Jenny Lake (1075 acres), Emma Matilda (960), Two Ocean (806), Phelps Lake (750 acres), Taggart Lake (305), Bradley Lake (225 acres), String Lake (100 acres). There are also many minor ponds, including Christian Pond, a lovely shallow lake nearby. Moose travel frequently between the lakes, searching for food, avoiding predators or the persistently inquisitive Human, and thus can often be observed in the natural paths lying between lakes.

Of course, and as the images in this entry will verify, the water-rule for finding Moose is only part of the hint. The other important condition is that Moose are most likely to appear in one of three unfortunate situations: 1) at a position between the sun and the photographer; 2) in deep shadow; or 3) in deep shadow and in a spot between the sun and the photographer. Sometimes Moose make a mistake and appear in more favorable spots, but you can be certain that they won’t dally, they know the rules…

Images in this gallery were recorded between 16:30 and 17:10 (MDT) on June 3, 2011, using the Nikon D3s and the AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED lens at 400mm. All exposures were made at f/5.6, with shutter speeds between 1/500s and 1/1250s, ISO at either 640 or 1250.

A Google Maps image of the Jackson Lake Lodge area is found here.

* I have switched to the official (National Park) acronym for Grand Teton National & the John D. Rockefeller Parkway.

Tags: Alces, Christian Creek Bridge, Cow Moose, Grand Teton National Park, GTNP, Highway 191, Highway 287, Highway 89, Jackson Lake Lodge, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Parkway, Moose, Moose Calf, US 191, US 287, US 89
Posted in Moose, National Parks and Monuments, Wildlife Photography | 1 Comment »

Posts Tagged ‘US 191’

Fall Color in Grand Teton NP

Postcards from Grand Teton National Park

Moose Jam at Jackson Lake Lodge

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