Protecting Our Natural Treasures
A black wolf wanders the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
Wolves are a controversial subject no matter which way you look at it. I can’t even mention "wolf" on my Facebook page without seeing comments erupting into the comment feed about how much they’re destroying the planet, causing global warming, and will be the future cause of the Sun going supernova. The subject reached an escalated tension once wolves were removed from the Endangered Species List, which then opened them up to legal (and illegal) hunting.
Perhaps wolves should not be on the Endangered Species List though, nor even grizzly bears. Instead, such animals would be much more suited to be on a Revered Species List, ensuring protection of them in the same manner that a national park protects the peaks and surrounding areas of the Teton Mountains and the Yosemite Valley. An accurate understanding of wildlife was … Continue reading
Night Photography Basics Part 2 – Full Moon, Star Trails, and Auroras
Moonlight illuminates Glen Canyon and the Colorado River near Page, Arizona.
In Part 1, I discussed the ideal settings for shooting a dark night sky under a new moon, as well as what all those settings mean. If you’re not comfortable working in Manual Mode (M) on your camera, you should go back and read it to make sure you’re up to speed. This section will assume that you’ve got the basic understanding of M Mode and how it works.
This time around, I’ll be discussing how to alter those settings to account for a full moon, how to capture star trails, and also how to photograph the northern or southern lights, aka the Aurora Borealis or Australis, respectively.
Understanding The Histogram
Before moving further, it’s important to understand the histogram as displayed within the camera. Put simply, the histogram shows you the light that was captured in a given … Continue reading
Night Photography Basics Part 1 – New Moon and Milky Way
Light pollution from Jackson, Wyoming extends up into the Milky Way Galaxy.
There’s an expression in photography that goes, "Don’t pack till it’s black," implying that as long as there’s light in the day, there’s still something to shoot. While it’s certainly true, one of the most exciting times for photography is when it has actually gone black, or during night time hours. Whether there’s a new moon, full moon, or something spectacular in the sky, there’s still plenty of light to do something interesting. This is the first part of a two part series that will focus on how to do night photography with a DSLR camera. The first part will focus on the basics, such as recommended gear and ideal settings, and will get into how and why to use it under a new moon, or no moonlight. Part two will focus on what to do during a … Continue reading
Grizzly Bear #610 and Cubs Playing in Grand Teton National Park
Grizzly Bear 610 plays and wrestles with her cubs in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.
Last week, Grizzly Bear 610 of Grand Teton National Park officially emerged from her den. She was out wandering around Signal Mountain for a few weeks prior to that, but it wasn’t until about a week ago that she began to venture farther out to places such as Oxbow Bend and Willow Flats, giving many more people the opportunity to witness her happiness for being out and about.
Grizzly Bear 610 is of course the daughter of Jackson Hole icon, Grizzly Bear 399, who achieved quite a bit of recognition several years ago for successfully raising three cubs along the roadsides near Oxbow Bend and Jackson Lake Lodge, of which 610 was one of. Last year, both bears, who had been frequenting the same areas, each emerged with their own set of new cubs. Grizzly … Continue reading
Is ‘Sacred Land’ Still Relevant?
A springtime snowfall blankets Antelope Flats and Blacktail Butte in front of the Teton Mountains in Grand Teton National Park.
‘Sacred Land’ is a term that’s been so overused and muddied that as soon as we hear it, we think about a Native American tribe quibbling over a section of land or a mountain peak, for example. If we strip away the labels and truly look into its actual meaning, we find that it’s something that each and every one of us have within us, whether it’s a national park that we’ve bonded with, or the current area we reside in. The term ‘Sacred Land’ can really be applied to anything we feel compelled to return to.
For me, Grand Teton National Park and its surrounding areas are what I would consider sacred. It’s why I’m so appalled that hunting is allowed in and around the park because this belief … Continue reading
Things to Know When Visiting Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks
A small herd of elk walk in a line on Antelope Flats in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.
The snow is starting to melt in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and with the reemergence of grass and plants come visitors from all over the world to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, among others. To locals of Jackson Hole, it’s a love/hate relationship mostly because the tourism keeps the local economy quite healthy, but most visitors are completely ignorant of how to behave around wildlife, causing many problems both seen and unseen. Please read on and share this with anyone you know visiting this area, or any national park, so that we can all take better care of our national parks and public lands.
First and foremost, DO NOT FEED THE WILDLIFE. They’ve consistently had plenty of food at the very least for thousands and thousands of years now, … Continue reading
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