My favourite landscape photography trip to date was to Yellowstone in January ‘18. At that time of year the park is carpeted in a thick blanket of snow and the only way in is by tracked snow coaches driven by experienced park rangers - getting stuck with temperatures less than minus twenty would be seriously dangerous.
The landscape is amazing and the coating of snow simplifies it greatly, it’s a dream to photograph. But of course the main attraction are the animals because Yellowstone is home to more than 200 species, from grizzly bears to bald eagles. Bison are the most common and their unmistakable outline against the white snow makes for some great images. I was super lucky to see a wolf pack on a bison kill - the wolves’ howl is something I will never forget.
I need a landscape image for an upcoming competition so I looked through my Yellowstone archive and found this image taken at Mammoth Hot Springs, a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine. It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate. On the day I was there the temperature was minus twenty-two so even hot springs freeze at that temperature. I’ve processed several images from this one morning shoot (very unusual for me) and there’s probably a few more yet - but I think I’ll keep them in reserve so I can have the pleasure of re-discovering them as I did with this one :-)
Minus Twenty-Two #3, Mammoth Springs, Yellowstone