One minute at Grand Teton National Park

coscorrosa · February 17, 2011

I was looking to break a dry-spell (no natural landscapes in over a month), and decided to make the 15 hour drive from Seattle to Grand Teton last weekend (the forecast looked more promising there than anywhere else I looked in WA, OR, CA, ID, MT, and UT - all within the same driving distance), plus it would be covered in snow.

I was rewarded with the best color I have ever seen in Grand Teton, here are two shots from the trip (I might post some others later):

30 seconds at dusk:

30 seconds at dawn:

chrisdg · February 17, 2011

Wow. Gorgeous. Very nice.

#1 would be hanging on my wall as a large fotoflot for sure.

Marc Muench · February 17, 2011

Ron,

You need a automotive company as a sponsor:D
Great Shots!

ront · February 17, 2011

Just beautiful Ron!!!! I like them both a lot! The reflection in the first one is incredible, and the lighting in the second one is sensational. I really like the light on the barn! Very very nice!!

Ron

kdog · February 17, 2011

Pretty awesome, Ron. Looks like a very successful trip.

TreyHoff · February 18, 2011

Really nice job. The second photo is a majestic scene and very well captured.

Roaddog 52 · February 18, 2011

Gorgeous images Ron. The second one is stunning with that great light adding a little warmth to the barn and the wind blowing the snow on the peaks.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
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I have had a long dry spell myself and hope to hit the road for about a week to points south next Thursday.<o:p></o:p>
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Look forward to seeing more from your trip. <o:p></o:p>

Phil

dlplumer · February 18, 2011

They look better here than on FB

jdryan3 · February 18, 2011

Fantastic shots, especially that second one.

nazquel · February 18, 2011

wind blowing the snow is amazing..!

squirl033 · February 18, 2011

excellent, Ron... then again, I've come to expect no less from you. not many folks would jump in the buggy and drive 15 hours one way just for a weekend, just to break a month-long "dry spell"... i wouldn't want your gas bill!

coscorrosa · February 18, 2011

chrisdg wrote: »

Wow. Gorgeous. Very nice.

#1 would be hanging on my wall as a large fotoflot for sure.

Thanks! It was a tough spot to get to, even with snowshoes I post-holed a bit and getting your self out of those holes can be an adventure sometimes

Marc Muench wrote: »

Ron,

You need a automotive company as a sponsor:D
Great Shots!

Thanks Marc! Toyota - are you listening???

ront wrote: »

Just beautiful Ron!!!! I like them both a lot! The reflection in the first one is incredible, and the lighting in the second one is sensational. I really like the light on the barn! Very very nice!!

Ron

Thanks Ron, we (dseidman@ was with me) got out to the barn about two hours before sunrise (since we had to snowshoe a mile down the road), once there was a bit of light we could tell the clouds were going to be good, and the horizon was clear to the east. Things did work out quite nicely. So good in fact that we knew conditions were unlikely to repeat so we headed up to Glacier NP the next sunrise

kdog wrote: »

Pretty awesome, Ron. Looks like a very successful trip.

Thanks Joel, it seemed like forever since I was outside taking photos. Winter is going by too quick, hopefully I'll have at least once more chance to get some snow before it all starts melting.

TreyHoff wrote: »

Really nice job. The second photo is a majestic scene and very well captured.

Thanks Trey!

Roaddog 52 wrote: »

Gorgeous images Ron. The second one is stunning with that great light adding a little warmth to the barn and the wind blowing the snow on the peaks.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I have had a long dry spell myself and hope to hit the road for about a week to points south next Thursday.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Look forward to seeing more from your trip. <o:p></o:p>

Phil

Right on - I did a 10 day trip to the Southwest a little over a year ago, I had a great time. Nothing like getting on the road with no obligations. There's some snow in CA too if you're going that way.

dlplumer wrote: »

They look better here than on FB <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/bowdown.gif" border="0" alt="" >

Thanks Dan - you should definitely do the Tetons in winter, a lot of scenery with not too much effort.

jdryan3 wrote: »

Fantastic shots, especially that second one.

Thanks!

nazquel wrote: »

wind blowing the snow is amazing..!

It was pretty cool, the wind was blowing pretty heavily on the ground too and the powder was moving along the ground like a sand-storm.

squirl033 wrote: »

excellent, Ron... then again, I've come to expect no less from you. not many folks would jump in the buggy and drive 15 hours one way just for a weekend, just to break a month-long "dry spell"... i wouldn't want your gas bill!

That's too bad because I was just about to send you the bill

The good thing about credit cards is they abstract the concept of how much things actually cost until you have to pay them. Fortunately I have mine paid automatically every month so I don't even have to see it then!

Qarik · February 18, 2011

awesome shots ron. but you are one crazy SOB..15 hours? WTF!

Cameron · February 18, 2011

Great shots - love the soft color and the look of the undisturbed snow. I'd call it a success! Did you have those locations identified before you went or did you just go exploring?

clickin girl · February 18, 2011

Wow! These are beautiful! I'd say the 15 hour drive was worth it. Great job!!

coscorrosa · February 18, 2011

Qarik wrote: »

awesome shots ron. but you are one crazy SOB..15 hours? WTF!

Thanks! In total I did about 40 hours of driving during an 80 hour period with 10 hours total of sleep (started at Palouse Falls, then Grand Teton, then a sunrise at Glacier, then a sunset at Steptoe Butte, then back to Seattle).

CSwinton wrote: »

Great shots - love the soft color and the look of the undisturbed snow. I'd call it a success! Did you have those locations identified before you went or did you just go exploring?

The barn shot at Mormon Row is a common (cliche?) shot so there was no scouting for it. There aren't a lot of shots with it in snow, and you have to snowshoe about a mile from the end of the road to get in a good position.

The other shot we scouted earlier in the day, trying to find a spot with a reflection in the Snake River. For that one we had to park a mile away and walk along the road, and then post-hole our way to the river.

clickin girl wrote: »

Wow! These are beautiful! I'd say the 15 hour drive was worth it. Great job!!

Thanks!

ashrugged · February 19, 2011

Beautiful shorts Ron, Worthy of such a drive.

lnorm · February 19, 2011

I like number 1 too. The colours are beautiful, and I really like that you haven't pushed the saturation up too high, especially in the sky - this would destroy the calm and relaxed feeling it gives off.

SYMPL · February 19, 2011

Good images.
The second of course is lovely, cliche or not. I'm glad to see you cropped or composed that hideous tree out to the north.
I was surprised to hear the old road doesn't get plowed, as I thought it went over to another small town and ranger station.Hmmm.
Question for future reference if I may. Is the river open during winter in the Oxbow Bend area?
Glad the drive payed off for you.

coscorrosa · February 19, 2011

ashrugged wrote: »

Beautiful shorts Ron, Worthy of such a drive.

Thanks!

lnorm wrote: »

I like number 1 too. The colours are beautiful, and I really like that you haven't pushed the saturation up too high, especially in the sky - this would destroy the calm and relaxed feeling it gives off.

Thanks, this was about 15 minutes after colors were at their peak - I have some shots of that too, probably the most intense sunset I've ever seen, golds, reds, pinks... but that first shot I think I like the best even though it's not as intense.

SYMPL wrote: »

Good images.
The second of course is lovely, cliche or not. I'm glad to see you cropped or composed that hideous tree out to the north.
I was surprised to hear the old road doesn't get plowed, as I thought it went over to another small town and ranger station.Hmmm.
Question for future reference if I may. Is the river open during winter in the Oxbow Bend area?
Glad the drive payed off for you.

The north/south Antelope Flats road is open (and you can reach it going through Kelly), but the west-east Antelope Flats is closed a few miles in (because of snow drifts). Oxbow Bend right now is completely covered in ice. I was in Grand Teton mid-March last year and Antelope Flats Rd was open then, and Oxbow Bend was just starting to melt a little bit but mostly covered in ice.

sapphire73 · February 19, 2011

Both are amazing shots, but I am especially drawn to the serenity and rich colors of the first. Very glad that you have the vision and energy it takes to capture these images and are kind enough to share them here! Thank you.

SYMPL · February 19, 2011

coscorrosa wrote: »

The north/south Antelope Flats road is open (and you can reach it going through Kelly), but the west-east Antelope Flats is closed a few miles in (because of snow drifts). Oxbow Bend right now is completely covered in ice. I was in Grand Teton mid-March last year and Antelope Flats Rd was open then, and Oxbow Bend was just starting to melt a little bit but mostly covered in ice.

Thanks Ron.

Logic 7 · February 19, 2011

Incredible shots. You should be blowing them up big to hang on yours or someone elses walls.

schmoo · February 20, 2011

I'm partial to the second, despite the cliched perspective. What makes yours totally new is the light and the action in the snow. Whoah!

jsrucci · February 21, 2011

Beautiful shots...
Great job Ron, I love both of those shots. We were there in May '09, and had one reasonable weather day and a couple of terribly rainy ones, so I'm jealous.

Mitchell · February 22, 2011

Nicely done. I was just there last month and got rewarded with 3 days of low lying clouds. I could barely see 10 feet in front of my camera, let alone the Tetons. I didn't bother to snowshoe out to Mormon Row.

The skiing was great above the clouds!

shniks · February 22, 2011

Great job as usual Ron. 15 hours you say? Boy I thought I was pretty crazy for driving long distances for overnight photography trips- but you take the cake, pastry and pancake!!!

Cheers,

GOLDENORFE · February 22, 2011

superb shots Ron, worth the drive then!

schmoo · February 22, 2011

shniks wrote: »

Great job as usual Ron. 15 hours you say? Boy I thought I was pretty crazy for driving long distances for overnight photography trips- but you take the cake, pastry and pancake!!!
,

Seriously, and SoCal to Yosemite is nothing to sneeze at.

annnna8888 · February 22, 2011

Both are gorgeous, but I can't stop looking at #2.

Oh, and have I told you yet you're crazy?

Ana

coscorrosa · February 22, 2011

sapphire73 wrote: »

Both are amazing shots, but I am especially drawn to the serenity and rich colors of the first. Very glad that you have the vision and energy it takes to capture these images and are kind enough to share them here! Thank you.

Thanks, this was definitely one of those trips that makes it all worth it.

Logic 7 wrote: »

Incredible shots. You should be blowing them up big to hang on yours or someone elses walls.

I might have to do that

schmoo wrote: »

I'm partial to the second, despite the cliched perspective. What makes yours totally new is the light and the action in the snow. Whoah!

Hey! Just because I call my shots cliche doesn't mean you get to too!

We couldn't see the barns and could barely see the mountains when we were there in the morning, we overshot the barn by a hundred yards or so, but once there was a little light the clouds looked like they were going to be great and they were, and we had plenty of time to get to our spot.

There was some post-holing around the sage-brush once we got off the road.

jsrucci wrote: »

Great job Ron, I love both of those shots. We were there in May '09, and had one reasonable weather day and a couple of terribly rainy ones, so I'm jealous.

Thanks, that's one of the benefits of driving, you can make last minute decisions based on the forecast, and it's a lot cheaper, even with gas (last minute flights and 4WD rentals get really expensive). The forecast called for 50-60% cloud cover which is about right to get light like this, as long as the horizon is clear enough to allow some of the setting/rising sun light through.

Mitchell wrote: »

Nicely done. I was just there last month and got rewarded with 3 days of low lying clouds. I could barely see 10 feet in front of my camera, let alone the Tetons. I didn't bother to snowshoe out to Mormon Row.

The skiing was great above the clouds!

I've been checking the webcams and not being able to see the mountains at all is not uncommon. Jackson was pretty deserted when we were there, I figured there'd be a bit more people around because of the skiing.

shniks wrote: »

Great job as usual Ron. 15 hours you say? Boy I thought I was pretty crazy for driving long distances for overnight photography trips- but you take the cake, pastry and pancake!!!

Cheers,

Thanks - I've done this trip before to the Tetons - twice last year - with nothing to show for it. I've also driven to Arches NP, Yosemite (twice!), Death Valley, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to Seattle - all of which are further than Grand Teton. My photography might suck but I'm pretty good at driving long distances with no sleep

GOLDENORFE wrote: »

superb shots Ron, worth the drive then!

Thanks!

schmoo wrote: »

Seriously, and SoCal to Yosemite is nothing to sneeze at.

I think I managed to put 500 miles on my odometer for that Rainier trip last year and that's basically in my backyard!

annnna8888 wrote: »

Both are gorgeous, but I can't stop looking at #2.
Oh, and have I told you yet you're crazy?

Ana

Thanks! And crazy is all relative, I think it's crazy to plan 3 months in advance instead of waiting to the last minute when you have more information

At least I feel that way when I only have a limited number of vacation days, when I retire in 35 years the opportunity cost won't be quite as high.

One minute at Grand Teton National Park

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