The Rocky Mountains traverse much of the western interior of North America, but few of its peaks match the beauty of the Grand Tetons. The highest of the distinctly sharp peaks of the Tetons exceed an elevation of 14,000 feet, or 7000 feet above the valley of Jackson Hole. While this mountain range alone is magnificent, icons of the Old West, including near-century-old barns, chapels, and buckrail fence dot the valley landscape.

One of the most iconic of these landmarks is the historic Thomas A. Moulton Barn. This barn is part of the Mormon Row Historic District, a cluster of homesteads, including barns, corrals, and drainage ditches, built by Mormon settlers during the early part of the 20th century. The barn is all that remains of Moulton's homestead.

One day this past spring, as the early morning light from the rising sun first struck the Teton peaks and barn, I made this panorama by taking eight consecutive vertical exposures and later blending them digitally to create a very high resolution image. I could print this image on canvas to a length of 14 feet with little loss of detail. If you look very closely, you'll see a couple of horses in the far distance drinking from the stream on the left.

Another morning at Grand Teton National Park brought me to the banks of the Snake River at Schwabacher Landing. This particular location along the river is basically a beaver pond and typically calm, offering nice reflections of the Cathedral group of the Tetons. Again, I was rewarded with the best light just as the first rays of sunlight hit the peaks of the mountains.

I was drawn to this composition due to the many forms of symmetry present. The most obvious element of symmetry is due to the reflection in the river. There is also an approximate symmetry vertically down the center involving the peaks of the Cathedral group as well as the arrangement of the trees on the opposite bank of the river. Particularly interesting is the inverse relationship of the apparent size of these trees to the distant peaks moving from the center of the image to the side edges.

I captured many more photographs of this majestic national park this past spring and look forward to sharing more in the near future . . .

If you're sick and tired of winter and longing for greener places and times, you'll enjoy this photographic excursion from my usual North Shore subject matter. These 15 images were shot during my various travels in the Western U.S. during the past two years.

Glacier National Park

The following seven photographs were captured in Glacier National Park in Montana in 2009. My first view of the Rocky Mountains was in this park, where snow-covered slopes majestically rise above pristine alpine lakes and streams. During my mid-June visit, a spring storm rolled through the park, dropping rain and, in the higher elevations, snow. It is surprising to many that the main park road - Going-to-the-Sun Road - is often partly closed well into June because of snow removal operations still taking place.



When driving in a national park, if a number of vehicles are suddenly pulled to the side of the road, it is often an indication of a wildlife sighting. I came across this situation and, not knowing what to expect, I also stopped. I soon laid eyes on the first moose I had ever seen in the wild. This moose had entered the marsh to take a drink. After satisfying its thirst, it slowly climbed the hill behind the marsh and disappeared into the woods.




On the western side of the park lies its other large lake, Lake McDonald. It too is surrounded by several prominent peaks.



Seattle

Situated between Puget Sound and the Cascade Range, the Seattle Metropolitan Area is the urban center of one of the most beautiful regions in the U.S.



Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is the first, and probably best known, national park in the U.S. The Old Faithful geyser is the park's star attraction, but the park's variety of geographic features truly makes it a gem. Geysers, hot springs, boiling mud pots, a large alpine lake, mountains, a grand canyon, high waterfalls, and diverse wildlife are just some of the park's treasures.




Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, the Badlands of South Dakota is filled with sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires. A mixed-grass prairie fills the spaces around and between the eroded formations. A surprising aspect of the badlands formations is that they are not rock, but dry soil essentially. One can literally kick the edges of the formations and expedite the erosion process by knocking loose small amounts of the soil. The Badlands is an amazing place to experience.



Grand Canyon National Park

It's hard to describe the Grand Canyon with words; it's not much easier with pictures. Its most interesting dimension is depth, but its length and width are also of grand proportions. Over millions of years, the Colorado River has carved through the Colorado Plateau to form the canyon as it is seen today. The erosion process continues and will do so indefinitely.

The image below is from the South Rim at the eastern end of the canyon at Desert View.


I rarely create black-and-white photographs, but I like this image sans color. The Junipers seem to be growing directly out of the rock.


After a visit to Yosemite National Park in California, nothing else quite measures up. It is truly the crown jewel of the National Park System with huge granite monoliths surrounding a beautifully lush valley. The park contains North America's highest waterfall, Yosemite Falls (pictured below), with a total height of nearly a half-mile. The height of the longest drop (Upper Yosemite Falls) is 1430 feet.

Here, I used the light of the full moon to illuminate Upper Yosemite falls during this nighttime exposure.