Grand Teton National Park
I try to get to a couple of National Parks a year to just escape the rush of the life in the city. This year we chose to head to Grand Teton National Park in the Northwest corner of Wyoming. The park itself stretches for miles along the base of the mountain range, and sitting right at the foot of the mountains are a few lakes that provide a beautiful experience unlike any park I have been to yet. The lakes feed the Snake River which winds its way through the park. We spent a week at the park, and feel like that was barely enough time to scratch the surface of the entire park. This is definitely a spot I plan on returning to in the future.
One of the most serene landscapes can be seen at schwabachers landing where beaver dams have slowed the flow of the river, and allowed for gorgeous, uninterrupted reflections of the Grand Tetons.
Mormon Row is an old settlement that has been maintained throughout the years, and offers a very unique perspective of the jagged peaks. As with most parts of the park this is best seen in the morning hours.
Oxbow Bend at sunrise with a swan swimming towards Mount Moran.
Fall (Part 2)
“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. ”
~Stanley Horowitz
Every season evokes an emotion, and that emotion comes to life in the form of memory. The very nature of the season is slowing, and life taking a pause until the days can grow longer and it the sun shows its warm face again. The breeze rustles through the branches clinging to the colorful jewels it took all season to create, and gently carries it to the ground. I have been lucky over this season, to be able to be an audience to such quiet events. I will share with you today, what I have been witness to in the past few days. Take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the fall season.
Fall (Part 1)
“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.” – Albert Camus
Over the next few weeks it is my goal to try and capture the essence of this changing season. Fall is upon the mid-west, and while may not have the signature status of a New England Fall, it has every bit of color and warmth that our neighbors to the North East have. I will be trying to show that, along with a little of the character of Kansas/Missouri. Let me know what you think.
Moraine Park
Lying at the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park, is a giant, lush green meadow formed thousands of years ago by glaciers. Small boulders area scattered throughout the meadow as a reminder of the ice giant responsible for sculpting the landscape into what it remains today. Wildlife runs rampant in the park, and Moraine Park seems to attract everything from Chipmunks and Marmots all the way up to Elk, Deer, and Moose. Finding out early in our stay that the park is best viewed in the early morning hours, we spent one of our mornings taking in a sunrise in Moraine Park. A river snakes its way through the lush meadow grass and marsh at the beginning of its journey away from the Continental Divide. This was one of my favorite locations to shoot in the park, and I hope it shows!
Ryan Estes Photos 