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Fall in the Tetons – 2020

Nov 03, 2020 Portfolio, Trips

After the trip to Rocky Mountain National Park we headed to Grand Teton National Park. I had been all around Grand Teton – to the north, east, and south – but never actually to Grand Teton National Park proper.

What better time to check it out than during fall. Below are a few of my favorites from early October. 

My favorite photo of the trip, taken after arriving our first evening. The soft, golden light. The iconic Grand Teton. The hint of fall colors. All the ingredients for a great photo were there that evening.
Perhaps the most photographed barn in the world, the T.A. Moulton Barn. You’ve undoubtedly seen a photo like this one before, and I can understand why it’s so frequently photographed. Sometimes you have to stand side-by-side (I mean, 6′ apart, of course) with dozens of other photographers just to capture the scene for yourself.
T.A. Moulton Barn may get all the fame, but there are so many other barns in the area, many still a part of working ranches.
The iconic images of the Tetons are mostly taken from the east side. I wanted to capture something a little less typical – and away from the crowds – so we drove to the Idaho side one evening before sunset to capture the backside of the Tetons. After much meandering of backroads – we really didn’t know where exactly to go – we were rewarded with a great sunset for the effort. 
The famous Oxbow Bend area of the Snake River. You may not have seen this exact image before, but I bet you’ve seen the seen the images of Oxbow Bend with Mt Moran in the background. This image was taken a few hundred yards away from the iconic shooting location. The steam rising off the river at sunrise, combined with the yellow aspens, provided for a little less common of photo from this area.
As I mentioned, there are many active ranches in the area and one goal I had was to photograph the horses out in the fields. 
So many moose. Between this week and the previous week in Rocky Mountain, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many moose in such a short window of time. This guy was laying down at sunrise when I was photographing a panoramic of the Tetons at sunrise nearby. He looked like an out-of-place rock laying there, but after a closer look I was pretty sure it was a moose. We left, but circled back a short time later to spot him up and moving around. 
Checking each other out through the tall grass. Pronghorn, sometimes mistakenly called antelope, are numerous in Wyoming and distant relatives of deer (and, oddly, even closer relatives to giraffes, I believe), which is fitting given their general skittishness. Their tendency to check you out can make for easier shots like this one where she looked up and directly at me.
Unexpected wildlife encounters are almost always welcomed (well, not with all wildlife…). Driving back to camp after sunrise I spotted a group of pronghorn in a field. With warm light on the grass, and the hills still in shade in the background, the scene really caught my attention. After much waiting and trying to position myself better, all the pieces came together with this simple, clean composition. 
Another photographer at sunrise at THE barn. It’s rare that I like a photographer in my scene, but when I saw this photographer backlit I knew I had to capture it. And given the popularity of this location it’s probably more accurate to capture it with a photographer than without – there were probably 20+ photographers at various points this weekday morning.
More photographers. These were at positioned at the famous Oxbow Bend on the Snake River, photographing Mt Moran, out of view, in this scene. 
Patiently waiting for me to take photos.

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