Grand Teton trip

In the beginning stages of planing my first ever trip to GTNP and my first ever photography trip in general and was wondering if anyone had any tips or advice to help with the planning? Planning to spend at least 7 days in the area and would like to go this fall. When is the best time to go in the fall? Where would you recommend staying? Would you recommend going on any guided tours? For gear I was considering renting a 500 IS II and 1.4x III teleconverter and keeping that on my 7D and bring my 60D with the 100-400. Would you recommend any other gear/accessories? Currently I do not own any tripods or anything like that and only own polarizing filters. Thanks for any advice!

We stay at the relatively new Hampton Inn that is south of the town square on the main road. In front of the hotel is a bistro that is OK.

We are usually there in late Sept to early Oct. Depending on the weather cycles for a given year, you should be able to catch both Aspens and Cottonwoods turned golden around the area. We usually fly into Salt Lake and drive up to the area. I rent a 4WD vehicle as you never know if there will be snow, especially in the mountains....and...you just might want to get off pavement onto dirt roads in the nearby national forest. We always drive out Gros Ventre road well past Slide Lake to some camp grounds and ranches. That road is the original wagon road into Jackson Hole. It now ends around 30 miles outside town in the mountains. Shoot Mormon row when there are good clouds...don't waste time on a blue bird sky...unless you will clone in clouds later.

Very good chance you will see bear (black and brown), moose, bison, elk, coyote, mule deer and others. Since you will be there around a week, you have planty of time to explore. I personally would not think a guide is needed. If you were only there for a day to two...that could be different. Have fun!!!!

Add a tripod to your gear. You'll want that for scenics in the area, especially Oxbow Bend. Autumn is a good time to go, late Spring is also good. You'll start seeing foliage color changes as early as September. I like GTNP, over YNP, for photography - although, you might want to spend a couple days in Yellowstone based on your trip length.

Lots of wildlife in the area, especially if you are patient and get out early and stay out late. A good area is the back road between Moose Jct. and Teton village.

If you want good early morning shots of the Tetons, get up early, and go about 12 miles east of Moran Jct., towards Dubois - a few small pull-outs along that highway. Later in the day, the light is too flat for good photos of the Tetons. If you want to get well-lit evening photos of the mountains, you will need to go over Teton Pass, into Idaho, then back into WY at Alta (ask locals for directions). You can get good sunset photos at Oxbow Bend, but the mountains will mainly be just silhouettes unless you do some HDR.

Another good area is to take the back road between Moose Jct. and the Signal Mountain area; you may even want to drive to the top of Signal Mountain - a good view of the area from there.

Personally, I wouldn't go with a guide service - but, then, I know the area fairly well. If you do get a guide, I wouldn't do so for more than just one day. The guide service probably would know locations of the various wildlife in the area.

Other than adding a tripod (or two), your gear list sounds fine. When I'm in that area, I keep the 150-500 on one camera, and the 28-105 on the other. You might have moose, bison, etc. be 100 yds. away, or right outside your car window.

4WD is a good idea - Wyomin' weather is quite unpredictable. Also take warm clothing - temperatures will definitely be in the 40's at night, possibly even 30's and 20's.

Have fun - it's a great area for scenery and wildlife.

On day we drove over to Dubois for lunch at the Cowboy Cafe on main street. Dang good cafe for lunch...not a dump.

The trip was great fun. All sorts of mule deer in the pass to shoot. Lots of side roads to explore...with 4WD.

My two cents.

I think your gear sounds good, but if you are going to rent a lens, you might as well rent the 600mm. I typically shoot with the a 600mm and the 1.4 tele on a 7D all of the time and a 100-400 on another 7D. You will need a good tripod with a solid head to support either the 500 or the 600.

I also like being there at the end of September to middle of October. The hotels are cheaper, the length days are still fairly long, but the weather can be hit or miss. One year warm, the next year cold. Wonderful time for fall colors. Just keep in mind driving distances. From Jackson to the Oxbow bend is about a 30 to 40 minute drive, so if you want sunrise shots, you need to leave the hotel early. Also scout the location ahead of time. The last time I shot there, I figured getting there 45 minutes before sunrise should be good. Arrived and there were almost 40 cars parked, and of course the spot we wanted was already taken.

Also look into the Moose-Wilson Road. Almost guaranteed sitings of moose and black bears that time of year. However, this is a very popular area, and this year the Park Service may institute a one way road policy, one way from Moose to Wilson. I love driving back and forth on this road looking for wildlife, but if it is one way, to get back to the start would be more than a 30 min drive.

As for lodging locations, I am out and about away from Jackson most of the time. I normally stay at the Wyoming Inn. They no longer offer free breakfast, but that is OK with me, as I typically leave before they started serving anyway. There is a McDonald's across the street that I normally pick up a biscuit at for the day.

I also would generally say you do not need a guide, if you drive around a bit and talk with other photographers, you will become familiar with the locations to find wildlife. If you do decide on a guide, check out Teton Science, I think.

If you need more specific questions, feel free to PM me.

Things got put on hold a bit but, I'm finally back ready to make this trip happen and ready to start booking things. Right now I know going this fall won't happen so my plan is to head there in the spring, when is the best time to go in the spring both weather wise and for seeing animals (preferable bear, they are what I'm most hoping to see this trip)? There is a good chance I'll be making the trip solo, so having all the information I can will be a big help. Is there any different key spots to visit in the spring vs what's listed above? My gear has changed a lot since this thread began but I think I'm pretty well covered other then a tripod and possible renting a 500L or 600L.

You can bring a tent and camp directly across from the Tetons Ii the Bridger Tetons National Forest for free and be within 100 feet of the NP. Not only will you save a lot of money, but you will save a huge amount of time which means sleep. Driving in and out from Jackson every day is a pain!!

Here is a photo of our campsite--we were staying in our vans, below it is a map to the campsite:

Spring is the best time for wildlife! I was there in early June and again in August and June was better for wildlife. In June the high country is all still snowed in and the animals are hungry from near-starvation over winter.

With the high country snowed in and the valley snow-free all the game is down in the valley feasting.
Here are two books I recommend. Do what they say and you will do as well as a tour and save tons of money!

Dirt Cheap Photo Guide to Grand Teton National Park by Jeff Clow http://smile.amazon.co​m …onal-ebook/dp/B005EN738U/

Grand Teton Photography and Field Guide by Daryl L. Hunter
Bob

My wife and I went last fall. It was a great time. I was able to find moose fairly consistently on Gros Ventre Road. There was a large bull hanging around the campground and it took some work but if you hike the river a touch, (just off the road) they can be found crossing morning and evening time. Never found any moose on Moose wilson road but a couple of black bears made life very interesting. The elk move around a lot. Keep your eyes open. They can pop up about anywhere. We found a large group north of the Chapel of the Transfiguration. In less then 45 minutes they moved north and crossed the cotton wood creek and I could not follow in my car. They do move!! We found a few scattered pronghorns on antelope flats.
Again, that was last year. The area got snow around the 22nd of September so go prepared for anything.