Paradise Valley and Yellowstone Photography

Paradise Valley Buckrail Fence

They don’t call it Paradise Valley for nothing, this gem on the northern border of Yellowstone received It's named “Paradise Valley” for good reason, this premier Montana vacation spot has perfect summers and mild winters with spectacular views of the Absaroka and Gallatin Mountain Ranges under the famed Montana big sky, and it a photographers paradise as well

Emigrant Peak casts a broad shadow over the valley and is the dominant presence in the Lower valley and has been the focus of many a lensman. The scene of such recent movies as “A River Runs Through It” and “The Horse Whisperer”, Paradise Valley has its unique share of both trophy homes and deep-rooted ranches and farms. Much like Pikes Peak on the front range of Colorado, Emigrant Peak is often framed in the large living room windows of the homes belonging to those lucky enough to live or visit such a wonderful place. Climbing Photographers find a world of wonder in the neighboring peaks in the Northern Absaroka Mountains including Mount Cowen, Black Mountain, the Pyramid, Crow Mountain, Chico Peak, Marten Peak and Mount Wallace.

Paradise Valley is situated in southwestern Montana. It is located just north of Yellowstone National Park in Park County, Montana, which lends its name to the county. Mule deer enjoy the open range and grasslands available to them in Paradise Valley. Paradise Valley extends from the Yellowstone gateway community of Gardiner at the south end, to historic Livingston on the north. Appropriately named, this region is a "paradise" to Montana and to the Rocky Mountains. Providing a unique backdrop of snowcapped peaks, the valley features beautiful ranchlands, flowing rivers, spring creeks and abundant wildlife.

Mt, Sheridan's reflection in Yellowstone Lake at daybreak.

Yellowstone National Park has been a photography destination ever since Henry Jackson took the first photos of Yellowstone in 1872, Yellowstone's plethora of nature demands documentation from all who visit this world treasure. Yellowstone National Park welcomes photographers from across the country and from around the world to photograph its embarrassment of riches of natural wonders. Photographers come to document its pristine beauty and seasons of breathtaking contrasts: Scenic photographic opportunities abound, the wide-open grassy valleys, the perpendicular peaks of the Gallatin, Beartooth and Absaroka mountains. Yellowstone has hundreds of waterfalls, rivers that both gently meander through big valleys and writhing thorough whitewater canyons. This high mountain plateau attracts violent weather which makes wonderful accents too our earthly objects. More geysers than anywhere else on earth are here in Yellowstone waiting for the creative photographer capture eruptions of water at sunset. Colorful red and ocher mud pots, hot springs the deepest of blue outlined in orange and odd fumaroles dot the landscape of Yellowstone beaconing photographers from the other side of the world to take their story home.

Yellowstone has also been referred to as America’s Serengeti because of the tens of thousands of elk, thousands of bison, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, the hundreds of wolves, bighorn sheep, and grizzly bears. This is why the Photo Safari has become so popular here. We have a plethora of our avian friends as well, birders are as happy in Yellowstone as are the megafauna aficionados because of the abundance of bald eagles, ospreys, mountain bluebirds and the chance of capturing a western tangier.

Fly-fishermen, Gibbon river, Gallatin Mountains, Yellowstone National Park

The human element offers a role for the Yellowstone photographer as well. Human activity sometimes augments a beautiful natural scene. A horseman riding through a valley under towering mountains adds interest to a scene. A fly-fisherman putting a river to good use is a beautiful subject. Hikers on a mountain trail drive home the fact. The mountains are also a place for people – people with cameras. An image of a canoe traveling across a mountain lake makes the viewer imagine they are there. Thousands of spectators gathering around old faithful tell a story of the wonders of Yellowstone and how they fascinate us all.

There are three resources that should be seen by all Yellowstone photographers. The first being the hydrothermal features, principally the geysers, and hot springs. Yellowstone hosts the greatest number of geysers anywhere on earth. Thermal features can be found throughout the park, yet the highest concentration of geysers and hot springs is in the Old Faithful area. The average photographer to this area can easily find these resources but without a guide may leave without understanding them or documenting them as well as is possible. The second must-see resource is the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River including its two waterfalls 109-foot Upper Falls and the 308-foot Lower Falls. The third resource of Yellowstone is its prodigious wildlife population, and this is precisely what brings most photographers to Yellowstone.

Grizzly Bear resting after a long morning of Spring foraging. Lucky photographers find bears like this in April, May and June close to the road and the safety of their car.

Photographers are increasingly demanding specific opportunities and qualities of their visits to Yellowstone and now many private photography tours can be customized to the wants and needs of the visiting photographer. Hiring a photography guide is not cheap, but a guide often know when landmarks are lit up the best and through their network of nature photography associates they have the best line on where the wolves and bears are most likely to be seen. Guides love sharing park history, ecology, natural history, and instructing nature photography. Private photo safaris and park tours allow the entire trip to be tailored to you and your group. These safaris provide maximum flexibility and personal attention.

Explore America's Serengeti and discover the Animals of Yellowstone National Park on a guided learning photo adventure. Wildlife photo safaris help the visiting photographer maximize their time in the park and see all kinds of wildlife in the Greater Yellowstone geo-ecosystem and providing fascinating educational experiences in a fun and relaxed environment.

The Gallery


Mountains Goats, Beartooth Pass (click on image to purchase)

Photography ~ how to

Early in my photographic education the late, great Galen Rowell was my inspiration and this is a quote from Galen: "I almost never set out to photograph a landscape, nor do I think of my camera as a means of recording a mountain or an animal unless I absolutely need a 'record shot'. My first thought is always of light". In the mid 80s he published a photography book called "Mountain Light that is still selling well today, every nature phtographer ought to read it. .................................. rest of article

Quickstart presentation for Lightroom • Watch this Powerpoint presentation. Lightroom by Adobe is one of the most powerful tools available. This presentation can get you up and running with its powerful color correction and database management tools. It is good to be organized.

Photographic Composition

Photographic composition example rule of thirds

"To take photographs means to recognize — simultaneously and within a fraction of a second — both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning. It is putting one's head, one's eye and one's heart on the same axis." – Henri Cartier-Bresson.

One of the things that differentiate a great photograph from an ordinary one is composition. You don't take a great photograph you make it. Composition is how objects or subjects are placed in the shot. Good pictures result from careful attention the basic elements of composition, there are always two people in every photograph: the photographer and the viewer. Even in front of the awesome beauty of the Greater Yellowstone Landscape one must compose carefully. The sheer ease today with which we can produce a superficial image often leads to creative disaster even in places of stunning beauty. Point and shoot equals apathy, a recipe for mediocrity. Landscape photography is a tool to express our positive assessment of the world so we want to do it well. Wildlife photography is hunting and our goal is to produce trophies. ............................rest of article

Photography ~ The Nature Of Light

"Amateurs worry about equipment, professionals worry about money, masters worry about light" - Vernon Trent

Most photographers create random acts of beauty; enlightened nature photographers deliver consistent encapsulations of light and time. Galen Rowell once said: "The landscape is like being there with a powerful personality and I'm searching for just the right angles to make that portrait come across as meaningfully as possible." Galen did so because of his mastery of light..........................rest of article

Crop-Factor Myth – misconstrued misnomers and disseminated confusion.

Are we confused yet? Many of us with a foundation from the photography of yesterday seeking an understanding of a new paradigm of digital photography have been unintentionally misled. With the switch from film to the original camera sensors we had to get a new understanding of our equipment both new and old. The first digital camera sensors as well as most sensors today recorded an image on a smaller recording surface than the 35mm film image of yesterday. Our images shot with wide-angle lenses of our film days no longer appeared to be wide-angle images. Our telephoto lens images appear to have more magnification. Yes, this was disconcerting so we attempted to understand. Well meaning camera techno geeks explained in terms intended to simplify concepts but only confused. To make matters worse, in the quest to explain, misleading explanations have misinformed those who have never put a film camera to their eye so incorrect construal of Crop-Factor conception is universal as old hands shared bogus information to those who had never known film.

Fall Photography in Grand Teton National Park

Grand Tetons in Autumn from Bridger Teton National Forest, golden aspen, red aspen

Autumn colors of Jackson Hole, the Grand Tetons from Bridger Teton National Forest

October 1st, at dark-thirty shortly before the first hint of dawn, with a crisp nip of fall in the air, I usually find myself at Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park with my ten new best friends. At the Oxbow at this early hour, we are hoping for the first hint of light to reveal an expanse of cirrus clouds above Mt. Moran to stop the warm rays of morning light from spilling over the edge of the world to an un-captureable point beyond the Grand Tetons. Oh, the Oxbow is still a stunning spot, even devoid of clouds, as the first rays of dawn sneak over the eastern horizon, a rose colored blanket of light hovers over the mountains as it shares its wealth of alpenglow with the peaks below, but none the less, we photogaphers are all hoping for natures reflector and diffuser to magnify the magnificence....................rest of story

Photography Stories

Mad Dash For Yellowstone • By Daryl L. Hunter
Santa Clause was good to me this year, and a Canon 400mm 5/6L telephoto lens dropped down the chimney and this little boy couldn’t wait to put that hunk of glass to work. I had a long weekend for the New Year’s holiday, and the kids were out of school so a trip to Yellowstone was nearly possible if Murphy’s Law didn’t rear his ugly head.......................................Winter in Yellowstone is truly a wonderful thing to experience. Its deep snows, bitter cold, abundant wildlife and stark beauty can imprint memories that can last a lifetime, and I have been anxious to share it with my boys. Access to Yellowstone in winter has become problematic since it has become illegal to take a private snowmobile into Yellowstone. So instead of accessing Yellowstone from the south entrance, outside Jackson Hole close to my home, the trip mandated a mad dash for north Yellowstone’s winter road, an eight-hour drive away. I had a hunch that this might be a good time for serendipity to dish me up some wolves for my photo portfolio. --------------------------------------> More

Two Wolves, Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, wildlife, greater yellowstone

Two Wolves Grand Teton National National Park

The Search For Serrendipity • By Daryl L. Hunter
Luck favors the prepared mind, as does serendipity. Webster's definition-Serendipity - an apparent aptitude for making fortunate discoveries accidentally. Audacious, is the photographer who chooses to make his living stalking serendipity from one location to another then back again hoping to capture light as it has never been captured before or tougher yet as they may have captured it in the past. But that is what we do, and that is what we live for.

Armed with our acquired knowledge of the magic hour, cloud diffused lighting, outdoorsmenship, storm lighting, instinct for peak action, wildlife behavior, camera mechanics, changes in seasons, composition, astronomy, etc., we set out to bring the natural world to armchair adventures, outdoor enthusiasts, publishers, and advertisers, and to do so we have to rely on serendipity. Accomplished photographers are serendipiters, a serendipiters are those with an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident--------------------------> More

Living A Richer Life Without Any Money • by Daryl L. Hunter
Since purchasing my first camera, I have been living a visual feast that has cost me a real estate career in a lucrative Southern California market. My scenery seemed to always be just over the next hill somewhere, cityscapes just were not my kind of inspiration, and I soon tired of local beach sunsets.

Black wolf, elk carcass, lamar valley, Yellowstone National Park

Magpies and ravens tormenting a wolf during dinner

So it wasn't long before I was traveling farther a field, weekend trips to Big Sur, Lake Arrowhead, Yosemite, and yes, a three-day driving marathon to the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. I decided that my weekends just were not long enough. I would just have to take more time off work, and then I could make it to Tahoe, the costal redwoods, and the Oregon coast.

All that driving wore out my car; it must be time to move to a prettier place-----------------> More

Yellowstone In Winter • Yellowstone National Park is one of the world’s most popular natural areas. Every year, millions of visitors from around the globe flock to the park to view its scenic grandeur and abundant wildlife. And every summer, the park’s hotels, trails, campgrounds, and roads get clogged with gawking tourists. For the serious nature photographer, it is often difficult to get even a little elbowroom, let alone to find a spot to set up one’s tripod.--------------------------------------> more

Where I Find Photos

Bison, buffalo, old faithful eruption, yellowstone national park, wyoming

Bison impervious to the erupting Old Faithful Geyser beyond.

Photographing Yellowstone

North Yellowstone’s Winter Road • By Daryl L. Hunter
Winter in Yellowstone is truly a wonderful thing to experience, its deep snows, bitter cold, abundant wildlife and stark beauty can imprint memories that can last a lifetime.......................Access to Yellowstone in winter is the problem, it has become illegal to take a private snowmobile into Yellowstone and very few of us have snow coaches of our own or are capable of marathon ski expeditions too access Yellowstone’s winter wonders, but it is not as inaccessible as many think..................................The snowmobiling destination resort of Cooke City and Silver Gate Montana need groceries regularly to keep its citizens alive so Yellowstone Park maintains winter access to these communities. US-212 can be accessed through Yellowstone’s north entrance in Gardiner Montana, so Yellowstone visitors can access a smidgen of Yellowstone’s treasures in winter by car. --------------------------> More

The Hole Picture • (Swan Valley Idaho) Daryl L. Hunter's photography can be seen throughout, this publication "the Greater Yellowstone Resource Guide" as he is the publisher, at his online gallery you can buy framed or unframed photo art of his Greater Yellowstone scenics and wildlife. Daryl L. Hunter has been photographing the Yellowstone Region since 1987, when he packed up his 4X5 view camera, Pentex 6X7, and his 35mm’s and headed to Jackson Hole Wyoming to join hundreds of other wanna be photographers, where he learned the real meaning of poverty with a view. Perseverance has paid off though, bringing his photographers eye to web publishing has brought many new eyes to Daryl’s work.

Portfolio - Images by Daryl Hunter

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