Finding the Intimate Scene

Abstract image of terraces near Grand Prismatic Spring.

So, you're out on a big adventure to that national park that you always wanted to visit. Or maybe you're out to photograph birds or some other wildlife at a local park. What happens if the weather isn't cooperating or the light is too harsh? What if the wildlife isn't active and you can't find it? Do you give up and go home? Maybe. Do you let it ruin your day? Hopefully not because you are still out in nature. When I run into these issues I reevaluate and start looking for something more intimate to shoot. I don't want to just go home and not photograph anything. 

This also applies when you get to a grand vista. There are a lot of beautiful places in the world but they just don't make a good or interesting photo. Or those grand vistas have been shot by everyone and you want to get a different photo of it to make you stand out from all the rest. If you look for the intimate scene within the grand vista, you can come away with something all your own that other people aren't photographing. I recommend getting a photo of that large vista so you have it but then look for those smaller scenes within the scene. Find that photo that fits your style that no-one else has. Find that photo that makes people wonder where you were because it's a smaller abstract scene within the larger scene everyone knows.

I was out at Yellowstone National Park and decided to hike to the overlook of Grand Prismatic Spring along the Fairy Falls Trail. As I made my way to the viewpoint, I realized that I wouldn't be able to photograph Grand Prismatic like I wanted to. It was early in the morning and the weather was still chilly so there was a lot of steam rising off the spring. I still enjoyed my hike and looking out over the scene, but I knew I wanted to come away with a photo. I looked across the scene and found an area where there was no steam rising. This area was a terraced area where the cooler water was running away from the spring. I pulled out my 100-500mm lens and zoomed in on this area. What I came away with was an intimate abstract photo of the blue water with the terraces looking like cracks running through the scene. I could have let the bad conditions shut my photography down but instead I allowed the conditions to help me find the more intimate scene to photograph.

An intimate shot of the twisted wood of a dead cherry tree.

One day I was out walking around a woodland looking for birds to photograph and I wasn't having any luck. The birds weren't active and the few birds that were around were in the tops of the trees. I decided to change my approach and look for something more intimate to photograph. I came across this fallen cherry tree that had been laying there for a long time. The bark was rotted off the tree and the orange hardwood was all that was left. The wood was all twisted and very interesting to look at so I took my time to find the right spot that I wanted to frame in my photograph. I came up with this frame where I lined up to allow the cracks in the wood to flow diagonally through the photo. To me, this helps give the photo more interest instead of just allowing the cracks to flow straight across. I love how the light made the colors of the wood really pop and contradict with the green colors of the moss that had grown in some of the cracks. Also, the added interest of the hole in the log that fades into darkness.

A man overlooks the vastness of the Grand Canyon.

Maybe you're at a scene for sunrise and you get that shot that you want. Does this mean that you go home or back to the hotel? Nope, this means you look for the next shot of the smaller scene within the larger scene. This is what I did when I was visiting Grand Canyon National Park. I got the shot of the full landscape but it wasn't the most interesting photo. I looked over the scene while the light was still good trying to find a more interesting and intimate photo. That's when I discovered this man sitting along the edge of the cliff overlooking the Grand Canyon. I pulled out my 100-500mm lens and framed this shot. I love the way that the light is playing with this more intimate scene. By having this man in the scene, it helped give scale to the canyon. That was the problem with my photo of the entire scene, there was nothing to give it scale. Add in the fact that he is wearing a blue shirt making him stand out from the red rocks along with framing him with a shadowed cliff face in the background and I captured my favorite photo from the entire national park. 

Next time you are out doing some photography, don't let bad conditions, no wildlife, getting the grand shot or anything else get in your way of making more photos. Look for the intimate shots and you may come away with a portfolio worthy image that you were not expecting.

Guide to Photography in Yellowstone National Park - Upper Loop

Yellowstone National Park, the first and one of the best national parks in the United States. A park filled with mountains, rivers, lakes, geothermal features and a huge biodiversity of wildlife. Yellowstone National Park really does have it all. I’ve been lucky enough to spend a good amount of time in this park but it never seems to be enough. Yellowstone might be my favorite National Park that the country has to offer and I suggest that everyone who has a chance to visit her, do it and you will not be disappointed.

In this blog I’m going to cover my favorite areas along the upper loop of Yellowstone National Park to photograph landscapes and wildlife. I’m also going to cover the Northeast Entrance Road including Lamar Valley. I will not be covering the North Entrance Road since the last time I was in Yellowstone was 3 days before the historic and damaging floods of 2022. This is not a comprehensive list of everything to see by any means but a list of my favorite areas to photograph and to find wildlife. Thank you for coming along on this journey and I hope this guide helps you find an awesome photographic spot to check out.

In my last blog I discussed my favorite photographic spots along the lower loop and started the journey from West Yellowstone. I will once again be starting this trip from West Yellowstone and working my way north then west through to the Northeast Entrance. This trip is a long one and I suggest taking a few days to explore the upper loop and Lamar Valley areas. If you are anything like me, you could spend a week alone in Lamar Valley photographing all the wildlife the area has to offer.

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Table Of Contents

• Sheepeater Cliff

• Mammoth

• Undine Falls

• Meadows along northern Grand Loop Road

• Calcite Springs Overlook

• Tower Falls

• Slough Creek Campground Road

• Osprey Nest

• Lamar Valley

• Warm Creek to Northeast Entrance

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American Pika sitting in a boulder field at Sheepeater Cliffs in Yellowstone National Park.

Since we are once again starting in West Yellowstone, we will be passing a couple of spots I mentioned in my last blog. I’m not going to go into much detail here as you can read about them in my last blog but they can be added to this journey along the upper loop if you didn’t want to include them as part of the lower loop of Yellowstone National Park. As mentioned in my last blog, the West Entrance Road along the Madison River is full of opportunities to see and photograph various species of wildlife. You are already driving along the road into the park so take full advantage of the opportunity to spot wildlife as you go.

Once you arrive at Madison Junction, make a left onto the Grand Loop Road. This will lead you north taking you past another area mentioned in my last post, Gibbon Falls. I feel this is a stop you should make if you have the time because you never know how the mist or the light may be playing with your scene. Continue north until you arrive at Norris Junction. You will want to stay straight to continue north towards Sheepeater Cliff. This is still a long drive to get to and you will pass many beautiful areas that may be worthy of a photograph.

Undine Falls along the Grand Loop of Yellowstone National Park.

After a long drive you will arrive at a gravel road leading to the Sheepeater Cliff Picnic Area. Follow the short road back to a parking area with bathrooms and picnic tables. The main reason most people come here is for the cliff made of columnar basalt. This is something that is similar to Devil’s Postpile National Monument or Devil’s Tower National Monument but on a much smaller scale. You will notice however some people with their tripods and long lenses pointed into the rocks. These people and myself included came to photograph the american pikas running in and out of the rocks. You will definitely hear these little guys but they can be very difficult to find. While photographing the pikas you will likely also come across yellow-bellied marmots who can be curious. Another animal I came across that was very curious due to this being a picnic area was a golden mantled ground squirrel.

When you get your fill of the cute little pikas, head back towards Grand Loop Road and make a right to head to Mammoth. You will pass Mammoth Hot Springs which is a beautiful and interesting area to explore but I am going to cover the town of Mammoth for the purpose of this blog. The reason being is the amount of elk that call Mammoth home. You will find elk to photograph everywhere in the area but the opportunities and better photographs will come early in the morning or near sunset. You do need to be careful if you are wandering around this area. People have been attacked by the elk due to surprising the elk by coming around the corner of a building. Usually this happens due to the elk having a fawn nearby but this can happen at any time so stay aware of your surroundings and practice keeping your distance from the wildlife.

Calcite Springs Overlook in Yellowstone National Park.

When leaving Mammoth, make sure you take Grand Loop Road towards Tower. You will now be heading east on Grand Loop Road. While driving you will come to a large parking area on the left side of the road after about 4 miles. Pull into this lot and head to the viewing platform. From here you will get a beautiful view of Undine Falls. Undine Falls cascades 60’ over a cliff amongst lodgepole pines and makes a beautiful scene. I recommend coming here on a cloudy day as the sun could be rough to work around as it will be direct on the falls most of the day. This is not to say you can’t come away with a stunning photo in the sunlight however.

Finish up at Undine Falls and continue east towards Tower. This next area isn’t a specific spot or mile marker but all the meadows along this northern section of the Grand Loop Road. Keep an eye out while driving when you come across these open meadows and make sure to check along the tree lines as well. Here you will see some elk but the real draw is the bears. The last time I drove this section of road, I came across 3 different meadows that had a bear foraging with one of them having a cub as well. This could potentially become the highlight of your trip to Yellowstone National Park. As with any wildlife, your best chance of seeing a bear is a couple hours after sunrise or an hour or two before sunset. You could get lucky at any time though so stay alert!

Snow capped peaks shrouded in fog overlooking Lamar Valley including a pronghorn and bison along the river.

When you get to Tower Junction, continue straight. We will backtrack shortly to Tower Junction to head towards Lamar Valley. For now, continue straight until you reach the parking area for Calcite Springs on your left. This may be my favorite landscape to photograph in all of Yellowstone. If you are here shortly after sunrise, you will have the sun at your back illuminating the scene in front of you. I love the way the Yellowstone River snakes its way through the scene. Add in the glowing lodgepole pine trees, the picturesque Bumpus Butte and snow capped mountains in the background and you have one awesome photographic opportunity. You also have yellow rocks that give this park its name. From the parking area, I was also lucky enough to find some wildlife. There were chipmunks in the area running all over the place but the highlight was a black bear with two COY cubs.

Head left out of the parking area for a short drive to the parking area for Tower Store. This is a very large parking area and very busy. There is a short hike to a viewing area for Tower Falls but you can also take a longer hike to get a different perspective of the falls. The longer hike to the base of the falls makes for a better photograph but you can still come away with a beautiful photo from the paved shorter hike. Tower Falls is a 132’ waterfall that is surrounded by pinnacles of rock that make this waterfall worthy of your time and effort to photograph. I recommend coming to this waterfall early in the morning to get the best lighting. Cloudy days also work well for waterfalls to even out the light and allow you to slow down the shutter to get a dreamy photo.

A coyote looking for its next meal stepping in a puddle after a fresh rainfall in Yellowstone National Park.

Now we can head back down to Tower Junction and make a right on the Northeast Entrance Road. There are so many places in Yellowstone National Park worthy of pulling out your camera but the best of the best for wildlife viewing is this road all the way to the Northeast Entrance Station and even beyond the borders of the park. I could spend an entire month just taking in all the wildlife of this area and I’d still want to keep coming back for more.

The first area that I’ll talk about is the gravel road that leads back to Slough Creek Campground. You can park in a small area close to the vault toilets but I recommend driving back the road to find larger pull offs and clearer views. This area is known for being able to see a wolf den on the mountain across Slough Creek. The den is pretty far away but with a spotting scope or telephoto lens, you may get a glimpse of a wolf pack. You never know, they may also come closer if they are on the hunt. I wasn’t lucky enough to see any wolves during my time here but I was able to enjoy a wide variety of other wildlife. I was able to see bison, uinta ground squirrels and my favorite of the area, badgers. I was able to find a badger den with a momma and adolescent. If you are into birding, there were plenty of songbirds, osprey and even golden eagles flying in the area.

If you head back out onto the Northeast Entrance Road and head about half a mile, you will come across a couple small pull offs in Lamar Canyon. Here the Lamar River is going through a canyon making for some nice whitewater but the show is in a tree on the other side of the canyon. Here an osprey has a nest that is used on a yearly basis. You can get some nice views and pictures of the ospreys throughout the day and they may even have a baby or two in the nest. The last time I was there in 2022, the mother and father were both going out to catch fish and returning to the nest to feed their chick.

A moose grazing along Wark Creek just inside the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

Continue east and you will arrive in the famed Lamar Valley. The entire drive through the valley will offer you extended views and many opportunities to see and photograph various species of wildlife. You will find bison everywhere and will likely come across pronghorn, elk, squirrels and coyotes. You will also have the chance to potentially photograph black bears, grizzly bears, badgers, fox and potentially wolves. In the skies you will likely find bald eagles and other birds of prey along with songbirds. You are also likely to get caught in a bison jam or two while driving through Lamar Valley.

Continue through Lamar Valley and you will end up going a long a more wooded area along Soda Butte Creek and later on Warm Creek. These areas are good for finding mule deer and moose. I was able to find a moose within a mile of the Northeast Entrance Station but heard reports of them being seen as far west as Pebble Creek Campground. Keep an eye out because moose are rare to find inside Yellowstone National Park.

Is there any places in the northern part of Yellowstone that I missed? Feel free to comment below with your favorite spots and favorite subject to photograph. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope that something I said helps you out on a future trip to Yellowstone.

Guide to Photography in Yellowstone National Park - Lower Loop

Yellowstone National Park, the first and one of the best national parks in the United States. A park filled with mountains, rivers, lakes, geothermal features and a huge biodiversity of wildlife. Yellowstone National Park really does have it all. I’ve been lucky enough to spend a good amount of time in this park but it never seems to be enough. Yellowstone might be my favorite National Park that the country has to offer and I suggest that everyone who has a chance to visit her, do it and you will not be disappointed.

In this blog I’m going to cover my favorite areas along the lower loop of Yellowstone National Park to photograph landscapes and wildlife. I’m also going to cover the West Entrance Road, South Entrance Road and East Entrance Road. This is not a comprehensive list of everything to see by any means but a list of my favorite areas to photograph and to find wildlife. Thank you for coming along on this journey and I hope this guide helps you find an awesome photographic spot to check out. I’m going to work my way counter-clockwise around the lower loop starting with the West Entrance Road.

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Table Of Contents

• West Entrance Road

• Firehole Falls

• Fountain Flat Drive

• Grand Prismatic Spring

• Upper Geyser Basin

• South Entrance Road

• West Thumb

• Hayden Valley

• Lower Yellowstone Falls

• Gibbon Falls

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Uinta ground squirrel searching for food along the Madison River

If you are staying in West Yellowstone then you are most likely going to enter the park through the West Entrance Road. This is the best way to enter the park especially if you are planning on doing a trip around the lower loop. The road is 14 miles from the entrance gate to where it joins the lower loop at Madison Junction. This is a beautiful drive along the Madison River with photographic opportunities the entire way. I feel the best area to concentrate on though is the 7 miles of road between 7 Mile Bridge and Madison Junction. This can be quite the wildlife hot spot with many species to photograph. I’ve been fortunate enough to photograph bison, coyote, elk, squirrels and chipmunks along this stretch of road. You will also find many species of birds along the river from canada geese to ravens and even several kinds of ducks. This may be an entrance road but I could spend a whole day driving back and forth photographing the wealth of wildlife it has to offer. By the way, the landscape around you is beautiful too.

Once you arrive at Madison Junction, make a right onto the Grand Loop Road. You will not have to drive far before you reach a side road named Firehole Canyon Road. I suggest driving this one way road and taking in the canyon views. This is a beautiful 2 mile drive through a canyon created by the Firehole River. The best part of the drive however and the reason it is on this list is Firehole Falls. This is a 40’ waterfall with a beautiful landscape surrounding it. There is even a small parking area next to the falls so you don’t need to wander far.

Elk looks back at two cowbirds sitting on her back along the Madison River

Once you finish driving through Firehole Canyon, head south again on Grand Loop Road. You will pass many beautiful areas while driving along the Firehole River but the next area I have had great luck with is Fountain Flat Drive. If you are into hiking, you can park at the back lot here and take a 10 mile roundtrip hike to Fairy Falls. There is also a beautiful little picnic area as soon as you turn in off of Grand Loop Road as well. My favorite thing about this area though is the amount of bison that I’ve been able to encounter in this area. All along the road there are pull offs that you can explore the area along the river and utilize for the bison viewing. There are also plenty of songbirds in the area and waterfowl in the river. You could easily spend a few hours here taking in the beauty around you and photographing the abundant bison in the area.

Head back out to the Grand Loop Road and head south some more and you will reach Grand Prismatic Spring. I highly suggest walking the boardwalk trail that leads you right next to many geothermal features in that area but if you want to photograph Grand Prismatic, this is not the place to be. After taking a nice walk on the boardwalk head south some more on hte Grand Loop Road and pull into the Fairy Falls Trail parking area. Hike back this gravel path until you reach a split in the trail. If you take the left fork, you will hike up a steep but short side trail that takes you to an overlook of Grand Prismatic Spring. The views from here are beautiful and allow you to take in the scale and colors of the spring. Hopefully when you go you will be luckier than me as there was a lot of steam coming off of Grand Prismatic making it hard to see a clear view of the whole thing. This is the best place to photograph Grand Prismatic and the surrounding geothermal features and if you are lucky, you may get to see some bison too.

Steam rises from Morning Glory Pool in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park

The next area worth checking out is the Upper Geyser Basin. This is the area that has Old Faithful but thats not why I suggest coming here. Yes, Old Faithful is awesome and worth seeing but it is not the most photographic geothermal feature in this area. If you walk the boardwalks and trails in the area you will come across tons of beautiful features in the area. The one that I would like to point out is Morning Glory Pool. This pool has beautiful colors and is surrounded by lodgepole pines making for an incredible scene. Morning Glory can be hard to photograph depending on the time of day and how much steam is coming off the pool. You do need a wide angle lens to capture the entire pool as the boardwalk that you’re on is very close to the pool. I only had my 24-70mm lens and I could barely fit the pool into my shot. I was there in the morning and I felt like that was a great time to photograph it. Just be weary of your shadow and the shadow of the railing appearing in the photo if you are too early in the morning as the sun will be rising at your back. As you are walking in the area be on the lookout for wildlife. Bison are often in the area and there are tons of songbirds to be seen. If you’re lucky, you may even come across a bear but I haven’t been that lucky yet.

When finished at the Upper Geyser Basin head back out to the Grand Loop Road. Continue heading towards West Thumb and you will cross Craig Pass. This is a beautiful drive and will give you a nice view overlooking Yellowstone lake as you descend from the continental divide. When you arrive at West Thumb, to continue on the Grand Loop Road you would make a left but for this guide I am going to cover the South Entrance Road first. I recommend continuing on the loop if you are trying to see the entire loop in one day and save the South Entrance Road for a separate day where you can follow it all the way down into Grand Teton National Park. There are many beautiful views and hikes along this stretch of road but my favorite to photograph is Moose Falls. This is a short hike from a small parking area along the South Entrance Road. This is not a busy place and is often overlooked but the falls are beautiful. The waterfall itself is only 30’ but is surrounded by lodgepole pines that make a stunning scene. I recommend coming here on a cloudy or foggy day. The sun can be harsh and make it hard to photograph if you are there midday.

Coyote catches a squirrel meal in Yellowstone National Park

If we jump back to West Thumb, as soon as you turn to continue on Grand Loop Road, there will be a developed area for West Thumb Geyser Basin. This is a great area to see some more geothermal features but in my opinion, this is one of the best areas in the park to see elk. Every time that I’ve been there, I have come across a bunch of elk all along the boardwalk trail and even in the parking lot. I’ve even been lucky enough to come across a mother and it’s fawn. If you are more into birds, there are also tons of songbirds in the area along with ravens. And if you are like me and enjoy the smaller mammals as well, chipmunks are all around playing and searching for food on the deadfall. You can also get some landscape images here as you are along Lake Yellowstone and the Absaroka Mountain Range looms in the background.

Continue north now along Grand Loop Road until you get to Fishing Bridge. Here you can turn off the loop to head towards Cody, Wyoming via the East Entrance Road. I’ve never had the chance to drive this road but I’ve always heard how beautiful the drive is and that there are good spots for finding bears along it. As I do not have any fist hand experience I will skip over the East Entrance Road but in my future travels, it is very high on my list to see. From Fishing Bridge, continue straight on Grand Loop Road until you get to Hayden Valley. This is a large open valley with the Yellowstone River flowing through. This is a hotspot for wildlife photography and is a destination for many who come to Yellowstone. You can find bison, bears, elk, and even wolves in the valley and hillsides along the river. Birding is also good hear with an abundance of waterfowl in the river and in ponds within the valley. You cannot go wrong coming to Hayden Valley early in the morning or near sunset when the wildlife is more active.

Lower Yellowstone Falls from Artists Point

Right up the road from Hayden Valley is Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls. This is a gorgeous canyon that the Yellowstone River flows through. Lower Falls gets most of the attention but Upper Falls is a cannot miss as well. There are many viewpoints for each falls but my favorite view is Artist Point overlooking Lower Falls. You get a beautiful view up the canyon showing you why Yellowstone got its name. If you come for sunrise the sun will be rising behind you illuminating the falls and the canyon making the colors really pop. If you are lucky enough to have some clouds in the western sky, they may also pop with some color making the scene even more magical. You really can spend a long time exploring the different viewpoints of each waterfall and I recommend doing so to find your favorite view. You may also find some wildlife in this area from birds to squirrels and also some chipmunks.

After leaving Yellowstone Falls to head back towards West Yellowstone, you will need to take Norris Canyon Road. This is a beautiful drive but I have no particular areas along it that I have photographed. You will get to Norris Junction after a 12 mile drive. At the junction you will have 3 options. Right will take you onto the upper loop of Yellowstone National Park. Going straight will take you into Norris Geyser Basin which is full of geothermal features including the parks largest erupting geyser, Steamboat Geyser. For this guide we will be taking a left back onto the lower loop towards Madison Junction. Before arriving at Madison Junction however is another waterfall spot. This is Gibbon Falls which is a picturesque waterfall that is easy to access. There is a parking area along the road with just a short paved walk with many viewpoints of the falls. The falls and the tree and cliff lined river leading to the falls make this a shot with high potential.

Gibbon Falls framed by mist

When finished at the falls, continue back south to Madison Junction where you can take the West Entrance Road back out to West Yellowstone. Keep your eye out for more wildlife along this stretch. To do the lower loop in one day is doable but is long. Add in doing photography and searching for wildlife and it is even longer. I suggest taking a few different days to explore the lower loop so you can get the best light on each subject you want to photograph and to put yourself out there at the best times to view and photograph the wildlife. Make sure to bring some snacks or a picnic and enjoy your time in Yellowstone National Park.

Is there any places I missed that you would like to recommend? If so, please leave a comment below! I will be going over the Upper Loop, North Entrance Road and Northeast Entrance Road (including Lamar Valley) in a future blog.