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Hayden Valley Evening



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Evening is approaching and the sun gets lower over Hayden Valley in Yellowstone National Park.

Evening is approaching and the sun gets lower over Hayden Valley in Yellowstone National Park.
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2 Comments | Report
Vash01Photo Platinum
 
Vash01Photo January 12, 2015
Yellowstone is one of my favorite places. Visited it a dozen times within 3 years.
adiestiano
 
adiestiano December 29, 2020
Cool
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Behind The Lens

Location

This photograph was made at a popular viewing location along Grand Loop Road in Yellowstone National Park, looking out over a portion of Hayden Valley. (Latitude: 44°38'57.44"N, Longitude: 110°27'41.02"W)

Time

This was taken August 1, 2013, at about 7:30 pm.

Lighting

I used a G-type main-sequence star (G2V) to illuminate the landscape in this image [we are looking westward towards sunset here]. The use of this yellow dwarf star (also known as our Sun) was the only choice I felt appropriate for this particular scene - especially considering that it was already there. ;-)

Equipment

I shot this using a Canon T3i with the original kit lens, an 18-55mm lens at 18mm, manually focused, for 1/50th second at f5.6. This was shot from a tripod.

Inspiration

I had actually passed by this earlier in the day with my family and we spent some time at a stop a few miles down the road. But, this scene stuck with me, and I was compelled to come back to grab a few quick shots as the Sun was sinking. The clouds, the golden fields, the curve of the Yellowstone River all combined that evening to make for an especially beautiful scene.

Editing

This particular shot was post-processed by creating a set of three virtually-bracketed images from the single original and recombined into a subtle HDR photograph using PhotoMatix Pro. I had the resulting image printed on a 20"x30" canvas and that has been on display at The Walnut Gallery in Louisville, Colorado, for several months. However, recently I rediscovered that I had taken several images at that location. I created a panoramic image using this image and an adjacent one. Additionally, I used a portion of another image taken at the same time to "fix" the clouds from this image, which at a couple of points saturated the sensor and blew out the highlights. I also removed the sign at the left in this image. I used Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to balance and process the resulting image, and using no HDR processing at all I produced an image that I like much better. The new image was recently uploaded here to ViewBug: http://www.viewbug.com/photo/52358011. As of 4/23/2015 a matted and framed version of the new panoramic photograph replaces the original photograph printed on canvas at The Walnut Gallery.

In my camera bag

When hiking in the Rocky Mountains and in Yellowstone I carry my camera equipment in a Lowepro Flipside Sport 15L AW backpack. Inside are my Canon T3i, three lenses covering the range from 18mm through 250mm, filters including two ND filters, polarizers, etc., extra batteries and SDRAM cards, a Rode stereo video mic pro, two small flexible tripods, and a water bladder. On the outside are my larger Slik tripod, an umbrella, and bear spray (important!).

Feedback

Hayden Valley is an incredibly target rich environment for photography, and the character of the lighting changes nicely through the day. It would also be worth spending an entire day there, as there is a rhythm that the wildlife follows in the valley. While Yellowstone National Park is very popular and the campsites are filled to capacity in the summer months, if one gets up early in the morning (well before sunrise) and ventures out one would have the roads to themselves. In the early morning before and just after sunrise is when the animals are very active, and the human visitors are not. I visited Hayden Valley twice in the early morning during the week I visited in the summer of 2014. The first morning I saw wolves from two separate packs calling from opposite sides of Hayden Valley, as well as a coyote that snuck up on me from behind. The second morning I visited a bison carcass that had attracted several grizzly bears and photographed them feeding on that - from a safe distance of course. (See: http://www.viewbug.com/photo/42569891). So, the best advice I can offer is to visit Yellowstone and stay at a campsite - preferably for several days or even a week. Get up early (I rose at 5 am). Get out on the road and learn about the rhythm of life in Hayden Valley and along the Grand Loop Road. What you learn will instruct you for the next day. Ask the rangers about any sightings - as well as about safe practices. Carry bear spray, and follow all recommended safety practices. This is very important - one person was killed in Hayden Valley last year by a grizzly bear, as I recall. One more thing: I knew that for this trip I was going to need better lenses than I owned at that time. I did go ahead and rented lenses - a long telephoto lens and a wide angle lens - that were of higher quality. One can rent high quality lenses at fair prices, and I was pleased with the results I got.

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