We arrived in the Tetons around mid day on the second day of a long road trip around the country. It was an incredible drive in through winding Wyoming roads taking us through the canyons right at the foot of the Tetons.
Jackson was the last really large town we could drive through before going into the National Park, and we were forced to stop for a few important things first. We checked into the cabin, picked up some groceries, and got the car in to be fixed up. It almost took too long to run errands in Jackson, but we hit the road to the park before it got too late.
Sunset behind the Tetons at Jenny Lake creating glowing clouds in 'Glowing Tetons"
It was really great to have been able to catch the sunset even though we couldn't really see the sun at all. The clouds at the peaks of the towering Tetons were lit up and glowing around the jagged rocky cliffs. The lake below was churning more than usual causing it to look very violent in the image adding to the mood.
The exposed area where I found my composition was very cold and windy making me and my friends very chilled. Nobody really brought cold winter gear as it was the start of summer here and we had expected warmer weather. Leaving for the comfort of the car before the sun got too low and stopping only a few times to get some portraits was great though as we planned to get up early for sunrise in the morning.
'Majestic Teton Morning' Captured as the sun rose behind me on a perfect day.
Getting back up at 4 in the morning it was pitch black outside. It was also super cold, and we still had no good cold gear. These things all combined to make it very difficult to find motivation to roll out of bed to drive the hour to location. I did remember that the Tetons offer some of the most brilliant landscapes in the USA as close to the mountains that you can actually get. So, gathering up my things I dressed as warmly as possible and drove to the park.
Teague came along as he had the energy to do so. We did decide to stop off at a gas station for coffee and cheap warm gloves. The sun started to come up just before we got to the lake, but we had time as the mountains still didn't have any light on them yet. The sky's colors came racing across the sky while we were in the parking lot, but there was still some left after the short hike to Jenny Lake.
Taking the images, we pushed out into the lake a few feet getting our feet wet with the ice cold water (a small layer of ice had formed overnight on the surface in the calmer parts of the shore). Standing on the rocks above the water we began to document as the beam of light from the sun kissed the sharp peak of the Grand Teton.
A vertical composition showing off how clear the water is in Jenny Lake as the morning sun kisses the peak of Grand Teton.
After getting everything I was looking for I turned my camera towards Teague seeing that he had gone and adventured out a different direction. I made careful moves to get closer to take an image as my lens mounted was very wide. The sunrise was still casting long shadows making it perfect to shoot a silhouette. I let Teague know what I was planning so he could do some poses that turned out fantastic!!!