Tammy and I had a great vacation to Montana and Wyoming a couple of weeks ago. We stayed in Grand Teton National Park for three days. There was some disappointment as the mountains were somewhat hazy due to all the wild fires in Idaho and the prevailing wind being West to East. Never the less, we took some great pictures and had a great time there. We only had one morning that was overcast and a little drizzly. Otherwise the weather was great! We saw no bears (black or grizzly), but saw plenty of bison, elk, and antelope. We headed out before dawn one morning as I wanted to get some pictures of Mt. Moran as the morning sun was beginning to shine on it. On the way we saw three male elk and two were locking horns! Beautiful sight!

This is the first vacation trip that I have focused on scoping out good spots to take ‘real’ photographs, not just the typical family vacation photos. What I noticed immediately is that the iconic photo locations are typically not surrounded by the views that the photograph represents. For example, the ‘Chapel of the Transfiguration’ (image in this post) is located right beside a park facility that includes housing, etc. The entire surrounding area provides none of the feeling that is evoked by a single photo focusing on the chapel with the Tetons in the background.