Frozen Solid At Jackson Hole

We headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming looking for snow.  We don’t get much snow in Houston so we traded in some airline miles and headed west.  And we found it along with some record breaking cold weather.  Coldest unofficial recording we had while there was -17F.    Snow has been falling at a record breaking pace this season.  At least until we arrived.  It stopped on Friday and we arrived on Saturday.  It didn’t start again until the day after we left.

But we weren’t to be disappointed.  The lack of falling snow didn’t matter with the temperature never getting out of the teens and a partly cloudy sky keeping sun’s warmth from melting it.  Piled up several feet high.  Since neither of us ski we booked the trip to focus on photography.  It was a fabulous experience.

The vistas were magnificent.  And the wildlife sightings were great for both professional and amateur photographers. 

It seems that most visitors to Jackson Hole in winter came to take advantage of the excellent ski conditions.  Auto access into the national parks is limited as most roads are closed for the season.  We encountered very little traffic or people on our trips out to the elk reserve, Grand Teton National Park, and looking for moose over to Utah.

There was little to no competition for space to set up a tripod to catch a family of Golden Eagle working over the carcass of a goat.  The elk heard had migrated close the access road into the back side of the reserve and only a handful of cars sought them out.  For a patient photographer with a patient wife the setting was perfect.

In researching the trip we found several guide services.  We selected one and it worked out extremely well for us.  Our guide knew where to find everything, including recluse moose and eagles. 

Connecting the dots.

West Texas in January reveals thousands of acres of cotton fields that have been picked and ready to go to the market.  Unless you've seen this temporary method of storing a large compressed cotton crop with a tarp, a picture of that alone may not tell the story.  But finding one abandoned cotton plant to become the focus of the picture explains the barren field between it and the cotton modules.

Reflect upon the moment.

I've always liked images that used reflection to tell the story.  Sometimes you can anticipate the reflection, like on the beach when the wave is receding.  As a result I've trained myself to look for reflections in and around the location.  Some are quickly obvious while others reflections take a while to be discovered.

Back light to high light!

I learned more by accident than by plan how to use back lighting to high light my pictures.  Subjects in nature like butterflies don't pose and let me control the lighting.  Often, when photographing the combination of butterflies and flowers, I'll watch the activity for a while and then choose a flower on which to focus.  Then I'm ready when a butterfly comes along to load up with pollen.  The more translucent the butterfly, the more interesting the picture can be.  The butterfly, as beautiful as it is, doesn't contrast as well with the lighting from the front.

Look for patterns that fit your trip, your lens, and your story.

Patterns are everywhere.  They are on plants, landscapes, architecture, animals; just about everything.  How you recognize and photograph them is what makes your photo more than a snapshot.  In Tuscany, Italy a villa is perched at the top of a hill.  Using my 500mm lens shooting from a mile away I was able to compress the serpentine driveway that led from the highway to the house into a tight zigzag pattern.

In Beijing, China I was fascinated with the centuries old shingles that brought art and utility together as one.  I used my 75-300mm zoom to take several pictures of the patterns and their irregularities until I found one that left an impression of place and purpose.

Costa Rico, as are all tropical locations, is a feast of photo opportunities for both flora and fauna.  Patterns are everywhere, from every angle.  This fern was taken from above while I was dangling in a tree top tram.  He I was using my 18-85mm zoom lens.

Climb a ladder or lay flat but don't just stand there!

This red clover type plant is really not all that tall.  The rolls of hay in the background dominated the picture from just about every angle I had.  But my Sony A-58 view screen has the ability to position it to several angles and that lets me get a new perspective on the subject.  I was able to get within a few inches of ground level to make the flowers the focal point of this picture.  This was taken in Tuscany, Italy on a rural road on a cloudy bright day about 10 a.m.

Flash! Heck yes. Making a summit sunrise pop!

I'm usually a no-flash type guy but there are times you just have to use it.  I wanted this photo to tell a story of more than just a fabulous sunrise.  I experimented with what little available light I had but the sign in the foreground just didn't snap.  So I turned to the flip-up flash on my Sony A-58.  It was quickly evident that the flash Haleakalā National Park sign brought the sense of place into play.  

Sunrise viewing at the summit of Haleakalā is a top visitor attraction on Maui. Pre-dawn through sunrise is the busiest time of day and there is an ongoing, steady, and significant increase in sunrise visitation. 

You'll need to get up early to drive to the summit and there are few stops on the way.  My suggestion is you take your a supply of hot coffee with you.