Yellowstone and Grand Teton

10.29.2011 | 8:18 pm | General Info, Grand Teton NP, Landscapes, National Parks, Photography, US National Parks, Wildlife, Yellowstone National Park

Bull Elk, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming - Copyright © 2011 - Thayne Shaffer

Here are a few wildlife photos from a quick trip to the Yellowstone and Grand Teton areas a few weeks ago. Unlike my trip in June, it was a slow trip for wildlife. I’ve never seen weather quite like this in the fall – about 75 degrees during the day and not even freezing at night – very warm for the last week of September. I think the relatively hot weather contributed to the scarcity of the wildlife. I’ve been in colder weather in Yellowstone in mid-summer before. On the other hand, the weather felt wonderful, and it was great to be there. As you can see I did get some interesting shots of an elk and a moose exhibiting flehmening behavior, which I’ve never photographed before.

I also took some night sky photos and some scenics at Schwabacher’s Landing to stitch together into panos. I’ll publish those images in a future post once I get them processed.

Follow this link for a full-screen slideshow and additional images.

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Ninety Seconds of Light

02.27.2011 | 5:24 pm | General Info, Grand Teton NP, Landscapes, National Parks, Photography, US National Parks

“Bad weather always looks worse through a window.” – Tom Lehrer. Read More »

Autumn Pilgrimage 2009

10.1.2009 | 7:18 pm | General Info, Grand Teton NP, Landscapes, National Parks, Photography, US National Parks

Mt. Moran and Oxbow Bend

Some twenty years ago I shot an autumn photo of Mt. Moran reflecting in the Snake River from Oxbow bend. It was early in my infatuation with photography and the image was mediocre at best. But the weather was perfect, and I had all of Oxbow Bend to myself – not another soul around. At that time I didn’t recognize how extremely rare the solitude would prove to be. But I remember standing there in the cold autumn air, drinking in the incredible panorama laid out before me. I was hooked. Read More »

Signal Mountain

02.7.2009 | 4:00 pm | General Info, Grand Teton NP, National Parks, US National Parks

Here are some quick photos from my recent backcountry ski trip to spend the night on Signal Mountain in Grand Teton National Park. I’ll write a more comprehensive description of the trip but for now, here are some stats:

Day 1
High Temp: 21°
Low Temp: 12°
Ascent Time: 3:15 hr/min
Distance 3.37 Miles
Weather: Morning Clear – Evening Partly Cloudy

Day 2
High Temp: 31°
Descent Time: 1:00 hr
Weather: Snow

Autumn in the Tetons

01.23.2009 | 9:20 am | General Info, Grand Teton NP, Landscapes, National Parks, Photography, US National Parks, Wildlife, Yellowstone National Park

Beaver in Snake River Beaver Swimming in Snake River Bull Moose at Willow Flats
Autumn at Moose falls Mt. Moran

There were some other things that we did on our Fall trip to the Tetons besides run from bears. We even drove up into Yellowstone for a day. The weather was a mix of snow early and sun later. Temperatures at night weren’t bad. Here are a few of the images captured when we weren’t running for our lives.

Wow! What a Vacation

10.29.2008 | 8:13 am | Grand Teton NP, National Parks, Photography, US National Parks, Wildlife

Grizzly Grizzly

Last week my family and I went on our annual autumn pilgrimage to Grand Teton National Park. We love fall in the Tetons and have visited the park dozens of times during September and October. This year however, we had a unique and unexpected experience that will surely become a family-vacation legend.
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