GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK
You wanna know what makes taking photos of the Tetons difficult? BEARS. Shit, let’s throw Moose in there too! The one summer morning I managed to wake up at 4am for sunrise photos, I almost hit one driving through the pass on my way out there. That same morning, I get out to the spot I had scouted before, the sun still isn’t up and I’m walking through the yellow balsamroot flowers when I look over and see a dark blob moving slowly towards me. It takes me a second, but I realize it’s a bear, maybe 25 yards away from me. Cool, can’t stay here! It walked by my truck on the side of the road and I’m pretty sure it was just a Black Bear, but you don’t take chances when there are Grizzlies out there too.
Cut to 15 minutes later, I’m racing around like a contestant on Guy’s Grocery Games, frantically searching for a new spot as the Sun is just sliding over the hills across the valley. The couple other spots I’ve moved to so far have had a low bank of clouds roll in and block the view. I’m soaked from running through sagebrush, I’m out of breath, and out of time. Finally, I see a hillside along the road with a perfect overlook if I can get up there. I quickly park at a pullout nearby, sprint across the road, and begin flailing up the steep slope. I find what I think is a game trail going exactly where I need to be and as I walk around a tree at the top, I come nearly face-to-face with another bear. We’re staring at each other, both surprised motionless. I shit-you-not this bear is maybe 20 feet away from me. I reverse quickly back around the tree and gallop down the slope, looking back over my shoulder to make sure I’m not being chased, hand ready on the bear spray. This bear was brown, but again, I wasn’t sticking around to find out if it was a Grizzly or not. Fortunately I survived these harrowing encounters, and thanks to the image stabilization on my camera I was still able to get some great photos despite the adrenaline in my veins. (Those would be photos 5, 6, and 7)
Honestly, after the sunset pics I took in March last year, I kept saying I was done with the Tetons, at least for a bit. They’re very picturesque in person, but a bitch to get a good photo of. Besides the dangerous wildlife for example, there is only one photo in this whole set that has clouds in it. When you’re driving hours away hoping for clouds and you strike out 4 times in a row, it’s more than a little frustrating. It pisses me off, really.
But hot damn I did good anyways! Sweep your little peepers over these absolutely fantastic shots of the Tetons and take in the colors from mid Spring to mid Fall. My goal was to get some good non-traditional photos of this range, because in my opinion the T.A. Moulton Barn and Ansel Adams Snake River viewpoint shots are way overplayed. The other classic is Schwabacher Landing, which is always a madhouse of photographers trying to get the same fucking photo. I mean they’re popular for a reason, but come on…
So are these photos as good as I think they are, or am I just an uppity asshole?
