Wildflowers and Aspen Trees and Shooting After Sunset

Geranium and lupine wildflowers bloom beneath aspen trees in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

While camping out at Shadow Mountain outside of Jackson, Wyoming last weekend, I found a campsite exploding with wildflowers, as much of the valley is doing at this time. Nestled on the boundary between Bridger-Teton National Forest and Grand Teton National Park, the site is a popular getaway for locals and offers fantastic views of the Tetons. At this time of year especially, however, grand views of Jackson Hole and the Teton Mountains aren’t required when you’ve got wildflowers blooming everywhere. Once the sun had set behind the mountains my search began for new things to photograph. I noticed a soft, indirect light hitting the sides of the aspen trees, and upon looking right below them, found infinite possibilities for more shots right at my feet as lupine and geranium wildflowers such as these were blooming everywhere.

One of the most important thing to remember is that it doesn’t matter what time of day it is, there is always a shot somewhere around you. At a time when most photographers would have called it quits, at least until over a few dozen stars were visible, I was capturing plenty of scenes like this one. It’s ideal conditions for scenes such as this. There’s still plenty of light to make a successful photo, however with the sun behind the horizon, the light becomes an extremely ideal soft, indirect light, much like you’d find on a very cloud day. Just keep that in mind after you watch a sunset and you see everyone packing up their gear and heading home: there are still plenty of shots to be had in such wonderful, soft light.

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