When I was a Freshman in College back in the mid 80's, I had an opportunity to travel with my family out West. That trip sparked a passion in me for the West that has never subsided. There is just something about the vast landscape of the West. Compared to the Eastern U.S. where I grew up and reside today, the mountains are so much bigger and the views around every corner just seem to go on forever. One thing the West does not have that we have back East, is the variety of trees. Besides the evergreens in Colorado, the two most prominent trees I can think of are the Aspens and the Cottonwoods. It is just rare to get the variety of Fall colors that we get in the Appalachian Mountains. But the Golden leaves set against the white trunks of the Aspens is a site to behold.
Captured this image from afar with my 100-400mm lends handheld. Saw this when I was driving on a dirt road looking for wildlife. Loved how the setting sun was illuminating the tips of the trees.
Found this area on last day in the Tetons along a dirt road. Would have liked to have been here an hour or so earlier, but flew out the next morning and was not able to revisit. Loved the variety of colors and textures in the foreground and the trees.
You can still find variety here as the tundra tends to take on different colors of reds, yellows, and purple making for a nice contrast to the Aspens. Some places like this are along the roads while others are long drives down rutted out dirt roads that sometimes involve off trail hiking to get to the spot I want.
The one thing about the Tetons is the fact that most of the Sunrise locations are typically right along the roadside. That is both a blessing and a curse. It is easier to get to for people that may not be in the best physical shape. But it also affords a multitude of people to pull in and witness the sunrise, whether they are photographers or not.
My favorite scenes at sunrise and sunset almost always contain clouds in the sky. But many times in the mountains just before the sun peaks above the horizon, the sky turns this beautiful magenta color for a very short time. It does help with the cloudless sky, but I would say I still prefer some clouds that hold some color, texture, and depth.
This area is known as "the Oxbow" on the Snake River and is absolutely beautiful during the Fall Season, especially if the colors are right and the winds are calm. This image was taken before the official Sunrise and even though it was a cloudless morning, the pink and magenta skies made for a beautiful morning. But because of the easy accessibility of the area, we arrived almost two hours before sunrise to get down to the water's edge so we could avoid other photographers from being in our shot.
This was one of two mornings we had clouds, and I had hoped the clouds and color would have been more above Mt. Moran. But in typical fashion, things did not quite line up as I had hoped. Nevertheless, still came away with some nice images this morning.
