Tag: Yellowstone National Park

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For The Benefit And Enjoyment Of The People

photograph of the north gate into Yellowstone National Park

The North Gate to Yellowstone National Park is quite impressive.  Although I would guess most visitors no longer arrive through this gate, it struck me as a nearly perfect entrance to the park.  It’s large, rugged, and beautiful in it’s own right, much like the park itself.  You also have to love the inscription at the top “For The Benefit and Enjoyment Of The People”.  It kind of sums up the whole National Park system.

We spent a week in Yellowstone in mid-June which was a wonderful experience.  The downside was after a few days the park food starts to get a little monotonous.  On our fourth night we left through the North Gate to find pizza for dinner.  After getting our fill of non-park food, we returned through the gate and I was pleased to be able to photograph it with some interesting clouds in the sky.  Luckily the lighting at the time allowed the same exposure for the clouds and the gate so no HDR trickery was needed to make this image.

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Evening At Grand Prismatic Spring

photograph of the board walk around Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone National Park

The sun hung low in the sky as I made my way toward the Grand Prismatic Spring, in Yellowstone National Park.  I liked the strong contrast of the sun reflecting off the water and the silhouettes of the mountains and other park visitors.

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Resting Elk

photograph of three male elk resting in a meadow in Yellowstone National Park

These three elk bulls relax at the edge of a meadow.  With velvet still on their antlers they seem like three friends, just hang out together.  Once mating season begins their will definitely be more rivalry between them.

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Yellowstone Traffic Jam

photograph of a herd of bison taking up the road in Yellowstone National Park

We were traveling north from the Old Faithful area in Yellowstone National Park when we encountered three bison traffic jams in the space of about 1 mile.  The kids thought it was hilarious to watch them walking down the road, holding up traffic.  The bison took their time and would occasionally stop to look at a vehicle as if the cars were out of place.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: The Golden Hour

It’s Lonely At The Top

photograph of a single tree growing at the top of a cliff

This lonely tree grows on a rock outcropping in the Grand Canyon of The Yellowstone.  I photographed it one cloudy morning but the result was even, flat lighting, leaving the photo without much of a sense of perspective.  The next day I was lucky enough to return at just the right time.  The cliff face and tree were bathed in the warm, direct morning sunlight but the opposing canyon wall and the foreground elements were still in shadow.  As a result, the subject is literally highlighted.