La Nina Tetons

Went to the Tetons over the weekend, hoping the short break between storms would give me a great sunrise Monday. Instead, i got a great sunset Sunday, which took me slightly by surprse. When i headed out early MOnday from Taggart for sunrise, it was looking good with plenty of stars in the sky--but an hour before sunrise it clouded up fast and sunrise was a complete bust. Heres a 3 exposure/ double RAW processed monster just before peak color (peak color at ESS )

2) This is how the colors looked about 30 minutes before the crazy sunset

3) This is when i realized that sunset would be amazing

4) The sky turned crazy pink

5) Thank God for Telephotos!

6) A wider view

7) I always stop at Fremont Lake for my Tetons trips. Thats all for now

Great stuff Stan. The colors are amazing.

How long is the drive from Denver?

RV

Awesome!

Rich--its about 500 miles--how long depends on whether it has snowed or not (the section from Pinedale up was pretty snow covered on my way up--but clear on the return trip--i didnt even consider the east route without 4WD.

Great collection Stan! I like #5 the best, great variation in color in the clouds.

Wow ! great ! Amazing color .

Long trip for a weekend but looks like it panned out. Nothing nicer than when the light plays out of the tetons especially in the winter. Did you see any wildlife?

Don--well it was a long weekend so i at least got 2 days there
I did see plenty of elk, and a couple moose--but as i was just telling Dan W, my patience is low with wildlife and i they just wouildnt cooperate by giving me any poses worth sharing...

5&6 preferred for the clouds and peaks. The wind must really whip across those frontal flats.
How populated was the elk refuge?

VERY populated, Doug--hundreds if not thousands.

Really fine set, Stan! I love #6 for the grand perspective. My head spun around looking at #1! Fremont is interesting and your perspective is pretty cool. I was halfway up there one morning last week and turned around after assessing the clouds. You captured it well for the conditions.

That damn elk refuge and the false feeding...aaargh!

Thanks, Dave!

The road up Fremont was closed at the ski resort--had to ski the last couple miles.

I tend to agree about the feeding--but its the old story of blindly trying to fix what we as a species have screwed up. The whole refuge is pretty disturbing to me, seeing that big fence along the highway makes me feel like im at the zoo. They already have "Sleigh Rides"--maybe they should throw a wolf pack in there and televise the whole thing on Fox...

Great series, Stan. I really like 5 and 6. The lighting on the snow in #1 is really appealing. I think you were onto something great with #2. Did you work that scene anymore?

Those are really cool and dynamic, Stan. I could spend a long time staring at the amazing circumstances of that first one. As evidenced in a few of your shots (and countless shots of my own, I'm sure), I wish Canon would figure out a way to render yellows and oranges that didn't clip those colors so badly.

Thats only half the battle Todd--the real one is how to encompass huge DR--then again, processing wouldnt be any fun without the struggle, now would it?
Paul--i took a couple other shots, but since this was taken shortly before the others, if i had worked it too mcuh, i would have missed the sunset (since there are no good views from Taggart trailhead...)

There's actually two wolf packs on the north end of the "refuge". And sleigh rides to view the nostrils of otherwise wild animals is a nice amenity. And...they allow hunters to blow them away - bulls, cows, calves on their way to the refuge in October. What a mess.

Stunning Stan, the one on ess is especially incredible.

Great images! Really like the color in #5. Like the wide-angle and the color of the snow in the first as well.

I like the color in #6, nice set.