Dawn in Mammoth (Yellowstone)

coscorrosa

From my six day stop in Yellowstone in late September (more photos are coming - as I process them - this was part of the first set).

I made two brief stops (during the middle of the day) in Yellowstone when I was in the Tetons in early summer, and really wanted to go back to shoot some of the thermal features at sunrise and sunset when the colors and steam would combine in interesting ways.

I couldn't have asked for better conditions, I arrived at the upper terrace in Mammoth about 15 minutes before dawn (45 minutes before sunrise) and shortly after the colors got crazy and then went away just before sunrise. The 30 degree temperature also helped with the steam.

I saw a poor photographer arrive just then and didn't have the heart to tell him he missed the good part, though he was probably wondering why I was leaving...



Update: Here's a couple more:

#2:



#3:



#4:

cj99si

So good.

CWSkopec

Awesome shot, Ron!

It's been awhile since I've had to deal with 30 degree temps, but I'd say putting up with it was sure worth it to get this!

Brewmaster

I just got back from Yellowstone a couple of weeks ago.....got a picture of the same view, only pulled back a bit more. It's an awsome place isn't it!!

eoren1

Great shot Ron!
Love the colors, the composition. Pretty much perfect!
Is that salt or sand in the foreground?
E

kdog

Super shot, Ron. Say, what planet is that!?


Cheers,
-joel

Elaine

Wow. Amazing shot of an amazing view. Look forward to seeing more from your trip.

Scott_Quier

eoren1 wrote:

Great shot Ron!
Love the colors, the composition. Pretty much perfect!
Is that salt or sand in the foreground?
E

That's hard water deposit:D

coscorrosa

CWSkopec wrote:

Awesome shot, Ron!

It's been awhile since I've had to deal with 30 degree temps, but I'd say putting up with it was sure worth it to get this!

Absolutely - 30 degrees is no problem actually, I actually had sufficient clothing for those temperatures, and my hands don't freeze completely off (I still haven't found any gloves that are warm AND allow me to operate the camera). Now when it was 10 degrees in Grand Teton that's a different story...

coscorrosa

Scott_Quier wrote:

That's hard water deposit:D

Yep! More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travertine

coscorrosa

cj99si wrote:

So good.

Thanks CJ - I was pretty excited when I saw these come through on the LCD (it was dark - the exposures were 10-30 seconds long). Once the sun was close to the horizon the colors - while still good - weren't nearly as strong.

coscorrosa

Brewmaster wrote:

I just got back from Yellowstone a couple of weeks ago.....got a picture of the same view, only pulled back a bit more. It's an awsome place isn't it!!

Nice shot! I couldn't go that wide without getting the parking lot/fences in the shot as the steam was blowing away from them and not toward them. And yes, Yellowstone is incredible. It's one of the rare places on earth where the landscape is more active than the wildlife

coscorrosa

kdog wrote:

Super shot, Ron. Say, what planet is that!?


Cheers,
-joel

Planet Wyoming! It's weird driving around when it's pitch black and going through a random swath of steam from one of the thousands of hot springs. The ground is alive and isn't afraid of letting you know that.

coscorrosa

Elaine wrote:

Wow. Amazing shot of an amazing view. Look forward to seeing more from your trip.

Thanks Elaine, the Mammoth terraces are changing every year fairly rapidly, so who knows what it will look like next year, maybe I'll find out

coscorrosa

I fixed a minor issue with the original photo and added a few more to the original thread.

dlplumer

These are right up there with my favorite Coscorosa shots

coscorrosa

dlplumer wrote:

These are right up there with my favorite Coscorosa shots

Thanks Dan - I might get that first shot printed actually, I still have $300 of SmugMug prints I haven't used a penny of yet.

Swartzy

Yummy Yummy Yummy....hey..that's a song These are wonderful Ron. I love that first one...the colors are so.....splendid!

coscorrosa

Swartzy wrote:

Yummy Yummy Yummy....hey..that's a song These are wonderful Ron. I love that first one...the colors are so.....splendid!

Thank you - Yellowstone is awesome. I'd rather be there still than back at work :cry

dlplumer

coscorrosa wrote:

Thanks Dan - I might get that first shot printed actually, I still have $300 of SmugMug prints I haven't used a penny of yet.

Do it.