Scouting The Tetons
The Fall and Spring seasons are just around the corner. With that, there are a few places I’d like to shoot that I really don’t know the exact location of. Sounds like a good enough reason to take a summer road-trip part II…!
Monument | Jackson Hole | Tetons | Jellystone
Last week’s road-trip was thirteen hours of drive time just to scout for a future trip where I’d have to drive it all again!? Well, this week’s trip was almost 21 hours of drive-time just to get there and back!
Day 0.5: Scoping out the T.A. Moulton Barn, Blacktail Ponds, and Schwabacher Landing
BTS at the T.A. Moulton Barn (Image taken w/S8)
The first day of being in the area was preceded by a 9.5-hour drive up from Monument, CO. After arriving, the rest of the day was used to orient myself to some of the known spots I wanted to shoot as well as discover a few places that were not directly on my list.
In the days leading up to the trip, I had an idea of what my mornings would be like as far as places I wanted to shoot. But, like Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Well, it’s not that much different with photography. You can have a general idea of what you want to do, but current conditions at the time may dictate a change in plans.
I counted the number of sunrises I’d hoped to see and bumped that with locations that I wanted to shoot. I had four sunrises and four locations. The locations were the T.A. Mouton Barn, Blacktail Ponds, Schwabacher Landing, and Patriarch Tree. I wanted to scout out each of these locations prior to setting up for sunrise shots as the mornings are often a difficult time to be learning about your setting and what composition you’d like to shoot.
My first stop to scope out was the T.A. Moulton Barn. I did not expect to get an earth-shattering image from this location during this time of year, but I did want to ensure I checked it off of my list as I knew I wanted to return in the Spring for when an awesome shot could be had. (See image above)
The barn, and its backdrop, was as iconic as I’d hoped. The old barn was built by Thomas Alma Moulton and his sons in the early 1900s. To me, the barn with the Tetons in the background is an iconic image and one that simply must be in my portfolio. With the location scouted and knowing I’d not be getting the iconic shot I long for on this trip, it was time to move on to the next location.
BTS at the Blacktail Ponds (Image taken w/S8)
My next location to scope out was just down the road, the Blacktail Ponds. It was here that I hoped to get a nice sunrise reflection of The Grand Teton off of the Snake River that flowed in the foreground. After being warned of fresh bear prints along the river by a local fisherman, I trekked on in search of a composition. It didn’t take me long before I found the composition seen above. While not perfect, it definitely had potential. Confident that I could relocate this area in the dark of the morning, I set off to scout out one more location before setting up camp, Schwabacher Landing.
BTS at Schwabacher Landing (Image taken w/S8)
Schwabacher Landing wasn’t far up the road. One could be excused in attempting to shoot all three locations in a single morning with them being so close together. The problem with that is first, the sunlight that I personally desire on the peaks would not be possible at all three locations and secondly, the crowds. With these locations being so accessible, everyone and their mother were sure to be there; tho I doubt any of them will be there before me. ;-)
The Landing offers up quite a few different compositions. I can think of four that I’d personally like to shoot. After scouting out the area, I was torn between two of those compositions. The composition above was one of those two. The other was a similar composition only not as wide and without the grouping of dead trees on the left. (If you continue reading, you will see this composition pictured.)
Initial View of the Tetons near Schwabacher Landing
The remaining two compositions beg for more water. I think Spring would be a great time to shoot them. The first (seen above) offers up a deeper composition with reflections of the range in the water. The second (seen below) offers up a view of the beaver dam and how the height difference can be seen between the upper level and the lower level. I like both of these compositions but, to me, the conditions just weren’t right enough to warrant any real effort on this trip.
Beaver Dam at Schwabacher Landing, Teton NP, WY
Day 1: T.A. Moulton Barn, Oxbow Bend, and the Cunningham Cabin
T.A. Moulton Barn with the Tetons in the background
I’ve wanted to shoot the T.A. Moulton Barn for quite a while. I knew that coming up here and shooting it, while knowing conditions wouldn’t be the best, would only make me want to long to come back. Well, I was right. I am really looking forward to the Spring when I can shoot the barn with snow-capped mountains and green grass!
In this composition, I was greeted with boring skies. I envy those who live close enough to look out their window and think, “Oh, the sky sure looks nice. I think I’ll go shoot the barn.” Take a close look at this image and you can see the skies are beginning to become filled with smoke. This was a fact that, unknown to me at the time, was going to have a negative effect on the rest of the trip.
BTS at Oxbow Bend (Image taken w/S8)
After shooting the barn and then revisiting both the Blacktail Ponds and Schwabacher Landing with Benjamin, it was time I made it over to Oxbow Bend to scope that location out. The scene was nice considering the sun was getting so high in the sky. The water was pretty much glass other than the occasional landing duck, jumping fish, or kayaker paddling by. Looking towards the horizon, you can see that the smoke is still slowly filling the area.
Oxbow Bend, Grand Tetons, WY
Overall, the stop at Oxbow Bend was definitely worth it. A stop here next Spring is a definite must. With that, it was nearing lunchtime and a run down to Jackson seemed in order.
Tetons from Cunningham Cabin (Image taken w/S8)
Along the way to Jackson, we decided to make a quick stop off at the Cunningham Cabin. All of the locations that I had chosen for this trip were sunrise locations and we desperately needed something to shoot in the evenings, not that the Cabin necessarily set-up well for a sunset shot, because it didn’t. Not much does on the East side of the Tetons.
What a view from the Cunningham Cabin (Image taken w/S8)
After a quick bite in Jackson for lunch and a bit of wandering in the middle of a sagebrush field looking for the Patriarch Tree, it was time to get ready for our sunset shoot at the Cunningham Cabin.
Sunset at J.P. Cunningham Cabin
According to NPS.gov, the cabin was built in 1888 in the Appalachian style, commonly called “double-pen” or “dog-trot.” John and his wife Margaret lived in the cabin until 1895 when he finished his main residence, and it later became a smithy and barn.
Day 2: Schwabacher Landing (Sunrise and Sunset) and the Grand Prismatic Spring
Morning Crowd Forming at Schwabacher Landing (Image taken w/iPhone 11)
Being quite the popular spot for sunrise photography, Schwabacher Landing can get quite crowded. If you want to get there and get a decent spot, I suggest you go early. The image above was taken well before sunrise and well before everyone who was to show up did.
Sunrise Along The Tetons Limited Edition Prints Available
The sunrise image (above) from Schwabacher Landing is very close to the one I’ve got in my mind that I want to shoot. It is merely missing snow-capped peaks and pink high-altitude clouds.
It seemed as soon as the sunrise began, it was over. It is often comical to me how I’ll spend two to three hours prepping for a 15-minute shoot. Regardless, I was confident I shot the best I could given the conditions. It was time to move on.
Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone, WY
Images of the Grand Prismatic Spring, yes, the one way up in Yellowstone National Park, often call to me. The urge to shoot this location was great enough to lure me from the Tetons. After an almost 2-hour drive, we arrived only to be, at least partially, disappointed. The colorful hot pool is definitely beautiful, that wasn’t a disappointment. What was disappointing was the fact that the conditions were such that the Spring was steaming heavily. The pool was barely visible. Darn, I suppose I’ll just have to return ;-) With that, the shoot turned into an abstract shoot (see images above) until I had walked the boardwalk from beginning to end.
The smoke from a nearby fire seemed to be getting worse. We packed up from shooting the Grand Prismatic and headed down the road and back to the Tetons and, apparently, not a moment too soon. According to NPS chatter, it seemed the road we traveled closed a mere twenty minutes after we passed. If we had not left when we did, we may still be driving!
Bacteria bed along the edge of a geothermal pool
Along the way back to the Tetons, we stopped beside a road-side geothermal pool to admire the seemingly glowing rocks within and the bacteria mats along the edge.
Sunset at Schwabacher Landing
Without much of a plan for sunsets, I reverted back to Schwabacher Landing for an evening shoot. Shooting directly into the sun is challenging to say the least. I waited for the sun to begin slipping behind the mountains before squeezing the shutter button on this image. A few minutes later, a few clouds drifted over the peaks. This image is the result of these events.
Day 3: Schwabacher, a little fox, and Hidden Falls
Sunrise at Schwabacher Landing
The next morning, itching to shoot the second of my four compositions at Schwabacher Landing, I set my destination to its parking lot and hit the cruise control. With this being a return trip at sunrise, this meant that I was going to have to cut one of my initially planned locations from my list.
I was pretty sure that I did not want to cut the Patriarch Tree off of my list. Other than staying an additional day I was left with one option. The only place left to cut would be the Blacktail Ponds. I’d just have to be okay with shooting them on the next visit. But for now, my sights were set on a tighter composition of Schwabacher Landing.
In the above composition, my goal was to ensure that the four trees (really two plus their reflections) weren’t cut from the image. I despise cutting the tops or sides off of relevant trees in my compositions. In this particular one, the four evergreens that frame the backdrop of Tetons were key. Again, plagued by an uncooperative sunrise and smokey skies, this shoot left me wanting to return for a re-shoot. My list for the Spring, once again, grew longer.
After shooting, it was time to do a little something other than shoot. We (my son Ben and I) decided to rent a couple of bikes; we wanted to do some trail riding. Well, turns out you cannot ride bikes on the trails in Tetons National Park. What a letdown. So often we asked ourselves why there were so many people biking on the paved trail along the roadside. Now, we knew why. Regardless, we went through with the rental and rode our way to Jenny Lake. From there, we crossed the lake on a ferry and hiked over to Hidden Falls. While definitely beautiful, it would have been a lot better without me and my 152 closest strangers all visiting at the same time. With that, we headed out back to the ferry. We decided not to hike back via the trail around the lake in an effort to ensure we did not turn the bikes in late. Along the way, we bumped into a little fox on the trail. Below is the grainiest video on Earth attempting to capture the occasion.
Day 4: Patriarch Tree and farewell
Sunrises on the Tetons as seen from Patriarch Tree
Limited Edition Prints Available
The following morning, Ben and I got up a bit earlier than normal. This morning’s drive would not be merely across the street and this morning’s shooting location wouldn’t be a few yards from where the car is parked. No, this morning, we decided to shoot Patriarch Tree.
The clouds on the East horizon were not very cooperative as they blocked out the morning’s sun minus the few moments I was able to capture where the sun was able to peek around the clouds. This is a definite spot that I will be returning to!
All in all this was a great trip. I was able to spend time with my middle son, scout out a few locations for a Spring return, and even do a bit of hiking, biking, and shooting. My return trip is going to be epic, I can feel it!
Thanks for the company, Ben!
