Yellowstone "Hot Spots?"

[shootinsmiles]

I will be travelling to Yellowstone about the 3rd week of June with my family and looking for areas to take photos. I found 2 books on Amazon and B&N websites :
Photographer's guide to Yellowstone and the Tetons
Photographing Yellowstone National Park: Where to Find the Perfect Shots and How to Take Them.Has anyone used these books? Others were quite passionate about the books for Yosemite but what about Yellowstone.

I'm open to any and all suggestions. We will be camping in the park for about 4 days and then 3-4 days in Teton NP. I expect to be out at sunrise every morning but only a few sunsets per park (I have to remember it's a family vacation not a photo shoot). I would also like to do some light to moderate hiking. Where are the best photo locations and hikes? I also want to experiment with some lightpainting and will be looking for locations for this experiment.

Thanks for all your help.

John

[Mike55]

Hi John. I can tell you that you will want to invest/rent a 1.4x converter for your 70-200 2.8 for Yellowstone and Grand Teton, or to rent a 100-400. This is important for wildlife.

I like your idea of splitting Grand Teton and Yellowstone at 4 days a pop. I think your family will be blown away by both parks.

IMHO the best photo locations are up to you. Shoot what you like. But for some classic locations try:

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (near Canyon campground)
Lamar Valley (near Tower, NE corner of park)
Hayden Valley (between Fishing Bridge and Canyon)
Geothermal features (between Madison campground and Grant in Old Faithful area - just drive the road and follow the signs and pull outs)
Yellowstone Lake (Bridge Bay, Grant area)
Mt. Washburn (between Canyon and Tower)
Beartooth Pass (just NE of the NE park entrance/exit at Cooke City - this is a must do)

You will see rivers all over the place. Wildlife is also all over the place.

Grand Teton:

Grand Teton Inside Road from Signal Mountain to Jenny Lake. Mindblowing.
Jenny Lake itself
Snake River Overlook ( outside Grand Teton road)
Oxbow Bend (a couple miles east of Jackson Lake Junction near Colter Bay, famous scene)
Cunningham cabin (famous scene on outside grand teotn road south of Moran entrance station).


Every spot in Grand Teton is picture worthy. You just have to see what you find personally interesting. Lots of wildlife there too.

There are cool day hikes all over the place. Try the short but steep hike up to Trout Lake in Yellowstone near Pebble Creek. For Grand Teton, the string of trails along North Jenny Lake Junction and South Jenny Lake Junction are incredible. Think String Lake trail and Jenny Lake Loop trail.

Storm Point , Mystic Falls and Cascade Lake are three cool day hikes in Yellowstone. So is Trout Lake.

In late June you should be ok with lesser quality sleeping bags. For tenting, I have a couple favorite campgrounds. Jenny Lake in Grand Teton is tenters *only*, and puts you right at the base of the mountains and good trails:

http://www.parkcamper.com/Grand-Teton-National-Park/Grand-Teton-National-Park-Jenny-Lake-Campground.htm

You have to get there early though. I also really like Colter Bay campground in Colter Bay. I thin it's a stunning area of the park and it offers things like gas, a restaurant, groceries, marina and gift shop. It is noisier than Jenny Lake, but it's also more modern too. Just a great place in the park:

http://www.parkcamper.com/Grand-Teton-National-Park/Grand-Teton-National-Park-Colter-Bay-Campground.htm


For Yellowstone, one of my favotire tenting campgrounds is Pebble creek which is WAY in the northeastern corner of the park. However, this place is in the mountains and looks different than the rest of Yellowstone. It's also closer to the Beartooth Pass and the Shoshone national forest for very rugged alpine forest/mountain landscape opportunities. Good wildlife spot too at the end of the Lamar valley and beginning of the true mountains:

http://www.parkcamper.com/Yellowstone-National-Park/Yellowstone-National-Park-Pebble-Creek-Campground.htm

One of the more central located campgrounds in the park is Norris. I find Canyon campground just too crowded for my tastes even though it has a perfect location for seeing the entire park. So I opt for Norris:

http://www.parkcamper.com/Yellowstone-National-Park/Yellowstone-National-Park-Norris-Campground.htm

It is centrally located, very scenic and lots of wildlife. A good place for base camp when wanting to explore the geothermal features or grand canyon of the yellowstone and Hayden valley/Yellowstone lake. Also consider Slough Creek (which fills up super fast - far north central part of the park) and Tower. Tower is small, but has a nice loop up top that tenters only really use.


Bottom line is check out the campgrounds and grab ones that you like. Central location may not matter to you. A good campsite can make or break a trip IMHO. All of the sites are very scenic in both parks.

[sparker1]

You didn't say you were tent camping, but if so, I'd try several different campgrounds. Setting up and breaking camp is faster than driving back to the same camp each day. If you are in an RV, Fishing Bridge has FHU and is centrally located. Colter Bay is a good campground for RV's in GTNP. A lot of people like Gros Ventre. Too many good spots to mention, you already were given some. I will add Mammoth Hot Springs and Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone. In Tetons, Mormon's Row and Schwabacher Landing are classic spots, sunrise and sunset especially. If you want moose, the back road from Moose Junction to Wilson has always been good for me.

[shootinsmiles]

You didn't say you were tent camping, but if so, I'd try several different campgrounds.

We are in between RV and Tent with a pop up camper. Right now we have a reservation at Madison for a few days and that's it (nothing in the Tetons yet). My understanding is that we can show up at other campgrounds near checkout time and secure a spot in that campground. I'm not sure where else to go from Madison but then again I haven't really created an itinerary yet. A lot of that will depend on where I want to be for sunrise and sunset photos so it is the least distraction for the rest of the family.:rolleyes:

I'm looking forward to checking out all these suggestions on the park maps and planning it out. Then comes the debate of plans vs flexibility.

John

[Mike55]

You didn't say you were tent camping, but if so, I'd try several different campgrounds. Setting up and breaking camp is faster than driving back to the same camp each day.


This is true. However, it depends on how many people are in your camp. I have no problem doing that by myself with my two man tent and my minimalistic gear setup. If it's a family, I think that would be a problem, and driving for 15 more minutes or so would be less of a hassle.

edit: Sparker - the OP mentioned that he would be camping in a thread that linked to this.


If you are in an RV, Fishing Bridge has FHU and is centrally located.

Yes ,and the only campground in the park with full Rv hookups. See here:

http://www.parkcamper.com/Yellowstone-National-Park/Yellowstone-National-Park-Fishing-Bridge-RV-Campground.htm

My problem with Fishing Bridge is how it's laid out. You are packed in there like sardines, with no room. You better like being able to spit and hit your neighbor ;)


Colter Bay is a good campground for RV's in GTNP.

Awesome campground. I tent but still love it. The loop up above has amazing views and is preferable for tenting.


A lot of people like Gros Ventre.

Very nice as well.


Too many good spots to mention, you already were given some. I will add Mammoth Hot Springs and Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone. In Tetons, Mormon's Row and Schwabacher Landing are classic spots, sunrise and sunset especially. If you want moose, the back road from Moose Junction to Wilson has always been good for me.


I am always impressed by what these two parks can deliver. There's so much to see and do.

[Rimwalker]

Mike55, great advice! I am also considering a trip camping in the Tetons and Yellowstone for photography, and your advice is exactly what I've been looking for. I won't hijack this thread, but I might pick your brain a little more as I refine my plans.

[shootinsmiles]

Mike55, great advice! I am also considering a trip camping in the Tetons and Yellowstone for photography, and your advice is exactly what I've been looking for. I won't hijack this thread, but I might pick your brain a little more as I refine my plans.

Hijack away, I think we are all looking for the same thing. Personally, I would love to see an area where this information could be stored. It would be nice if people could post favorite areas of a park to shoot along with example photos, timeframe of year, and specific locations in the park (gps coordinates if possible.) Maybe that's an idea for a thread after I come back.

John

[sparker1]

Almost everyone here has a web site or gallery where they post there favorite spots. I always find new places to go and new ways of shooting things by looking at these galleries. Most will have the date shot and EXIF data, sometimes a description of the location.

[mikeivan]

My wife and I went two years ago, had a great trip. However, the photographic opportunities in 2007 were severely limited due to smoke from the forest fires, just a thot. Also, as you probably know, there are some campgrounds in Yellowstone where, due to bears, soft sided campers are prohibited.
This site: http://www.yellowstone-online.com/newspaper.html provides up to the minute news and information.


365633
We actually had more fun in Grand Teton Park. Both are national treasures.

[Mike55]

My wife and I went two years ago, had a great trip. However, the photographic opportunities in 2007 were severely limited due to smoke from the forest fires, just a thot.

Yes, if you take your trip in late summer/fall like I do you run the risk of smoke ruining most landscape shots any year. Shootinsmiles will likely avoid that problem by going at the end of June. Snowpack and moisture looks really good right now so he should be fine.

[shocksyde]

I just came back from the Tetons and Yellowstone. I would recommend spending 2 or 3 days in the Tetons and the rest in Yellowstone. Don't get me wrong, the Tetons were AWESOME, but Yellowstone is much larger and has much more to see.

Check my flickr link in my sig for pics. I had an amazing time.

[ADHD426]

I agree. Yellowstone has much more to see. I absolutely loved the Tetons, but wish I had a little more time in Yellowstone when I went so I could enjoy it a little more and we were in Yellowstone for 4 days.

[Tom Reichner]

Hi, John!

I'm glad you chose Yellowstone and the Tetons. You asked about books on these areas. I don't know much about what books are available, but I do know that there is an absolute wealth of information on the internet.

There is a Yellowstone forum, not unlike this forum (although many, many fewer users). Here is a link to it: http://forums.yellowstone.net//
The folks who post on Y-net really know what they're talking about, and there are many daily trip reports that will tell you what folks are finding in the park right now.

My #1 recommendation is to get active on that forum ASAP, so that you'll have a good base of current knowledge before you leave. If possible, you'll want to take a laptop and get into Gardiner or West Yellowstone where there's some internet access. Get on that forum and see what folks are finding. This can save you hours and hours of unproductive driving time. They will tell you where elk or bison carcasses are - which will get you the best chance of getting good Grizzly or Wolf photos. And they'll tell you where rangers are being anal, and where they're letting photographers get away with "a little extra".

They will tell you where to go for the best scenic photo opportunities. Tips like, "shoot the S bend of the Lamar River now, while the river is brim-full, because images of the S bend don't look as good if taken later in the season when the water level is down".

You can get literally dozens of tips like this, each one making your time in the park more productive (and henceforth more enjoyable).

Heck, if I didn't have a laptop I'd borrow one for the trip, just to be able to get on the Yellowstone forum while there.

If you get on Y-net, check out the posts about the Red Fox den just outside the Park's east entrance. There is currently a female with a litter of kits, and she lets folks get up close for photos. It is not within the park boundaries, so you don't have to worry about rangers closing the area off to photographers. There will be very specific, current info about this on Y-net.

One other thing - Mike55 was right when he recommended the Beartooth Highway. It's a spectacular drive, and one you don't want to miss if you're already so close. At the other end is the town of Red Lodge, where you will be able to get a good hot meal or whatever you want.

I sincerely you have a great trip, and that you return with more excellent images than you ever dreamed possible!

-Tom

PS: Here's a pic of a Badger that I took just two weeks ago. I never would have gotten this without the help of the folks on Y-net. Because of their posts, I learned of a den this female had, and I was able to get there shortly after it was "discovered". The next day, the Rangers closed the area to all human entry, so as to 'protect' the den. That's why it is important to have very current information.

[Mike55]

Hi, John!

I'm glad you chose Yellowstone and the Tetons. You asked about books on these areas. I don't know much about what books are available, but I do know that there is an absolute wealth of information on the internet.

There is a Yellowstone forum, not unlike this forum (although many, many fewer users). Here is a link to it: http://forums.yellowstone.net//
The folks who post on Y-net really know what they're talking about, and there are many daily trip reports that will tell you what folks are finding in the park right now.

My #1 recommendation is to get active on that forum ASAP, so that you'll have a good base of current knowledge before you leave. If possible, you'll want to take a laptop and get into Gardiner or West Yellowstone where there's some internet access. Get on that forum and see what folks are finding. This can save you hours and hours of unproductive driving time. They will tell you where elk or bison carcasses are - which will get you the best chance of getting good Grizzly or Wolf photos. And they'll tell you where rangers are being anal, and where they're letting photographers get away with "a little extra".

They will tell you where to go for the best scenic photo opportunities. Tips like, "shoot the S bend of the Lamar River now, while the river is brim-full, because images of the S bend don't look as good if taken later in the season when the water level is down".

You can get literally dozens of tips like this, each one making your time in the park more productive (and henceforth more enjoyable).


I don't know, Tom. I think discovering things on your own, at your own pace is far more enjoyable. By following the forum instructions of others while in the park, you are getting the exact photos they are, taking the exact scenics and hurrying to these lcoations where no doubt there will be crowds at that point. Everyone is different though. Y-net is defintiely a good Yelowstone forum too. Perhaps following the forum for a couple days, and then balancing that with your own personal discoveries for a few days is a good way to go about it.


PS: Here's a pic of a Badger that I took just two weeks ago. I never would have gotten this without the help of the folks on Y-net. Because of their posts, I learned of a den this female had, and I was able to get there shortly after it was "discovered". The next day, the Rangers closed the area to all human entry, so as to 'protect' the den. That's why it is important to have very current information.

Great pic, and one you obviously would not have had if you did not catch up on the forum.


Very sharp and IF.

[Tom Reichner]

I don't know, Tom. I think discovering things on your own, at your own pace is far more enjoyable. By following the forum instructions of others while in the park, you are getting the exact photos they are, taking the exact scenics and hurrying to these lcoations where no doubt there will be crowds at that point.


You're right, Mike. But in Yellowstone, there's so much to see that even when driving to something you read about on Y-net, you come across the unexpected along the way. Sometimes the unexpected sighting is so cool that you never make it to whatever it was you were originally headed out to see. The Grizzly I posted a couple weeks ago is an example of encountering something unexpected while on the way to a Y-net report.

With wildlife, you can often get a different image than others right there shooting the same subject. At least you can if you can get close to get a different angle than others are getting. Many folks get to an animal, get as close as possible, and take whatever shots they can over the course of a half hour or so. If you're patient and spend several hours with the animal you will get behavior, positions, and backgrounds that the others didn't capture.

In cases where the wildlife is near a road and the rangers come to the scene and 'manage' things, then you're right - everyone is made to stand at the same place and shoot the same pics. And that can be rather pointless.

I think there are perhaps two different approaches to vacationing. One is to enjoy what is there to see, and to relax and take everything in as you come across it. The other is to push yourself to get the absolutely finest images possible, and to get as many of them as is humanly possible in the relatively short time you're in the park. Y-net is great if you're of the latter variety of vacationer. Some of us can't help ourselves - we're obsessed!

[Mike55]

You're right, Mike. But in Yellowstone, there's so much to see that even when driving to something you read about on Y-net, you come across the unexpected along the way. Sometimes the unexpected sighting is so cool that you never make it to whatever it was you were originally headed out to see. The Grizzly I posted a couple weeks ago is an example of encountering something unexpected while on the way to a Y-net report.

With wildlife, you can often get a different image than others right there shooting the same subject. At least you can if you can get close to get a different angle than others are getting. Many folks get to an animal, get as close as possible, and take whatever shots they can over the course of a half hour or so. If you're patient and spend several hours with the animal you will get behavior, positions, and backgrounds that the others didn't capture.

In cases where the wildlife is near a road and the rangers come to the scene and 'manage' things, then you're right - everyone is made to stand at the same place and shoot the same pics. And that can be rather pointless.

I think there are perhaps two different approaches to vacationing. One is to enjoy what is there to see, and to relax and take everything in as you come across it. The other is to push yourself to get the absolutely finest images possible, and to get as many of them as is humanly possible in the relatively short time you're in the park. Y-net is great if you're of the latter variety of vacationer. Some of us can't help ourselves - we're obsessed!


Tom, I think you make a lot of great points. I guess sometimes it just feels way too "paparazzi" to me - just a bunch of robots rushing around, snapping away countless images at a pace not much different from rush hour traffic. The jockeying for postions via car from everyone makes it even more crazy. I think it would do some visitors a ton of good just to walk a half mile off the road with a portable lens, sit at the edge of some meadow and just take in the park, get a feel for it, for the natural rhythm rather than the rhythm of the internet and dash to the crowded latest sighting. I'm not sure if that's the best way to produce art, or if it's jut some race. That guy a half mile off the road may not get a grizzly that day, but he was able to get some shots no one else did, and he didn't have to do it in a crowd.

Like others I crave for many images of Yellowstone animals and the method you describe is a great way of going about it. But I don't see how that can possibly be the entire park experience for someone interested in photography.

As for the rangers, I am friends with a couple and I have to say they do an amazing job. They basically protect the animals and the photographers at the same time, which is not an easy thing to do. I have seen my fair share of photogs running up to grizzly bears, stalking moose on foot during the rut and approaching to close to animals, causing them to flee across the busy roadway. I'm really thankful that the Yellowstone rangers are there. It would be an absolute disaster and would almost always end badly for the animal(and sometimes the human) if they were not.

Also, this desire to race to the hotspot after getting a report(wether online or from another photog in the park) usually involves speeding (I'm definitely not saying this is your case). Having spent up to a month at a time in Yellowstone, I can verify that the speed limits are there for a reason. Mostly they are there to protect the wildlife of the park. There are many examples of animals that have been "clipped" by speeders(often times photogs racing to the next spot). In many cases, these animals will simply have their backs broken, and end up dragging themselves(or trying to) off the road even though they can't move any of their backside, or move at all. I've seen this with red squirrels, fox, deer and coyote. I've had to personally put several animals out of their misery with my own car because people didn't even realize they ran something over in front of me (animals that were smashed onto the road with spine and backlegs broken, unable to move but still very much alive and yelping) and kept going.

Rushing and national parks do not mix IMHO. Now I know not everyone who goes from hotspot to hotpsot rushes or doesn't pay attention. But many do. This is a place to sloooow down, do the speed limit, enjoy the scenery and grab some photos.