Best of 2014

The year 2014 was a year of change for me. I started off in school, graduated with a Bachelor’s of Art, and moved to Wyoming and eventually Montana!

Here are my picks of the best shot from each month. These latest months were hard to pick from, there were just so many shots from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks! It’s slowed down a bit in November and December, with everything shut down, but I managed a few from my iPhone.

Feel free to share this post with your friends, and let me know which month is your favorite image!

 

January – Sunset on Mission Farm, North Carolina

IMG_6556

 

February – Fires Creek Road, North Carolina

IMG_6810

 

March – Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina

IMG_7911

 

April – Picken’s Nose, North Carolina

IMG_8941

 

May – Grizzly bears in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

IMG_0316

 

June – Brink of the Lower Falls, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

IMG_0808

 

July – Elk in Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park, WY

IMG_0931

 

August – Firehole Lake Drive, Yellowstone National Park, WY

IMG_8607

 

September – Fountain Flat Drive, Yellowstone National Park, WY

IMG_9176

October – Hot Cascades, Yellowstone National Park, WY

IMG_9282

 

November – Skiing at Big Sky, Montana

FullSizeRender

 

Be sure to leave a comment with your favorite!

Yellowstone – August 7

Yellowstone trip from August 7th. Enjoy! I didn’t feel much like writing today, so these pictures will have to speak for themselves.

 

Upper Geyser Basin

IMG_8554

IMG_8555

 

Old Faithful

IMG_8562

 

Iron Creek

Black Sand Basin

IMG_8565

 

Excelsior Geyser Crater

Midway Geyser Basin

IMG_8573

 

Grand Prismatic Hot Spring

Midway Geyser Basin

IMG_8575

Midway Geyser Basin

IMG_8582

 

Great Fountain Geyser

Firehole Lake Drive

IMG_8588

 

White Dome Geyser

Firehole Lake Drive

IMG_8594

 

Pink Cone Geyser

Firehole Lake Drive

IMG_8600

 

Hot Lake?

Firehole Lake Drive

IMG_8607

 

Madison River

IMG_8621 IMG_8629

Yellowstone – August 25

 

Yesterday was my first “full” Yellowstone trip with the new Canon 6D and 17-40L lens. This trip started in Big Sky, through the lower loop, and then back. Stops included Firehole Lake Drive, the Midway and Upper Geyser Basins, Old Faithful, Hayden Valley and the Mud Volcano, Artist’s Point on the Yellowstone River, and lastly the Norris Geyser Basin.

 

Firehole Spring

This hot spring on Firehole Lake Drive was boiling intensely.

IMG_8768

 

Grand Prismatic Spring

Closeup detail on the bacterial mats of Grand Prismatic Spring

IMG_8776

 

Dwarfed trees in the Biscuit Basin have soaked up the surrounding minerals, turning the trunks white around their base.

IMG_8794

 

Mud Volcano Area

IMG_8802

 

Hayden Valley

A lone bison resting on the hills of Hayden Valley

IMG_8807

 

Artist’s Point

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

IMG_8831

 

Norris Geyser Basin

The next few photos are from the highly active and unstable Norris Geyser Basin, under a colorful sunset.

IMG_8848 IMG_8851 IMG_8853

Be sure to follow Trent Sizemore Photography on Facebook

Subscribe by email

Yellowstone – July 5

After leaving Grand Teton National Park, on the way to Big Sky, I stopped through Yellowstone for most of the day.

 

At first light, I reached the Mud Volcano area, near Hayden Valley. Explorers in the late 1800s heard sounds here, “resembling the reports of distant artillery”. The “volcano” isn’t quite as loud now, nor is it actually a volcano. 

IMG_0896

 

This bull elk was in the valley, with a couple of bison, under a perfect golden morning light.

IMG_0931

 

This bison was also alone in the area, just standing in one of the pull-offs munching away at some grass.

IMG_0960

 

The always impressive Yellowstone Lower Falls under a warm, morning light.

IMG_0965

 

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, viewed opposite of the falls from Artist’s Point.

IMG_0968

 

Norris Geyser Basin

IMG_0990

 

Another view of Norris Geyser Basin, and a milky blue colored pool.

IMG_1019

 

Steamboat Geyser

Steamboat, when active, is the world’s tallest geyser

Temperature: 198°F

Interval: days to periodic dormancy

Duration: minutes-hours

Height: 100-380 feet

IMG_1025

 

Vixen Geyser

Temperature: 195°F

Interval: minutes to hours

Duration: seconds to 50 minutes

Height: 5-30 feet

IMG_1076

 

Mammoth Terraces

IMG_1088

Be sure to follow Trent Sizemore Photography on Facebook

Subscribe by email

 

Yellowstone – June 18

This Yellowstone trip was short, but no less spectacular than the rest. It happened to be snowing this day, so I went to the park for a few hours to see what I could see! This time I visited a new area of the park near the Upper Geyser Basin, called the Black Sand Basin.

 

Colorful thermal feature runoff, Redbull can not included.

IMG_0846

 

Emerald Pool

Temperature: 154.6° F 

Dimensions: 27×38 feet

Depth: 25 feet

IMG_0868

 

Cliff Geyser, Iron Creek

Temperature: 191.8°F 

Interval: irregular

Duration: 30 minutes to 3 hours

Height: 40 feet

IMG_0857

Be sure to follow Trent Sizemore Photography on Facebook

Subscribe by email

Yellowstone – June 5

Enjoy some of my favorites from a June 5th trip to Yellowstone National Park!

 

The first shot is a unique angle of the Firehole River in the Upper Geyser Basin, showing tourist walking across the boardwalk above. Processing this image as black and white really makes this look like some other planet!

IMG_0746

 

A bright blue colored pool in the area of the Midway Geyser Basin.

IMG_0759

 

If you know a little about Yellowstone, there’s no mistaking this as the famous Grand Prismatic Spring. This was photographed from a trail that runs along the mountain behind the spring. You can see the boardwalk where most tourists see the enormous spring from a low angle, doing no justice the the actual size and colors!

IMG_0757

 

Here’s another of Grand Prismatic Spring, this time from the boardwalk, showing the mountain from where the last shot was taken. The saturated colors of the inner and outer areas of the hot spring reflect on to the steam with bright blue and orange, respectively. Look closely and you’ll see the ripples of the water being expelled by the spring, eventually reaching the river. 560 gallons of hot water is put out every minute!

IMG_0783

 

Another perspective of Grand Prismatic, showing the scale of the plumes of steam next the crowds on the boardwalk.

IMG_0796

 

By far the most heart dropping sight I’ve ever seen, this is the view from the “Brink of the Lower Falls” on the Yellowstone River. Besides the thermal features, this view IS Yellowstone National Park. The bright volcanic rock walls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the mighty Yellowstone River, the mounds of snow still left over in June, and just the naturally raw quality of all of it together. This is quite the trek down the side of the canyon to a viewing platform above the falls, and this trail has taken lives. People just do not understand  the dangers here, and treat it more like an amusement park than a national park. Another visitor was killed earlier this year on the mountain trail above Grand Prismatic Spring shown earlier in this post, from a falling tree.

IMG_0808

Be sure to follow Trent Sizemore Photography on Facebook.

Subscribe by email by clicking here.

Moving to Big Sky

As many of  you know, and some may not, I moved from working in Grand Teton National Park in May and June to Big Sky, Montana. I’m still working at a lodge, but this one is open year round, including a ski resort in the winter. This place has a much more laid back environment.

The best thing about living here is the easy access to Yellowstone, as well as miles and miles of some of the country’s best fishing. It’s only a 30 minute drive or so to the northwest section of the park, and although this road stays open during the winter, there’s not nearly as much to see as the rest of the park. There should still be great trail access in the park this winter, with a  good chance to see some migrating wildlife that retreats to the outskirts of the park to escape the harshest winter conditions. The famous Gallatin River runs through Big Sky, originating in the mountains of Yellowstone, and eventually reaching Bozeman.

Winters here will be nothing like Georgia since we’re at an elevation of 7500 feet at the lodge. Snow for the season can range upwards of 300 total inches and temperatures can stay below zero for a dozen days each year. If you can believe it, there’s a chance of snow this Saturday night. Snow in August!

If you’re unfamiliar with the location of Big Sky, it’s in Montana, right next to the northwest corner of Wyoming.

Follow Trent Sizemore Photography on Facebook to get the latest updates!

Biscuit Basin, Upper Geyser Basin – May 31

Here are some photos from my Yellowstone trip on May 31, 2014.

The first region I hit on this trip was the Biscuit Basin, just north of the Upper Geyser Basin and Old Faithful.

 

This first geyser is Jewel Geyser, which seems to be pretty active, but not huge.

Temperature: 199° F

Height: 10-30 feet

Duration: 60-90 seconds

IMG_0528 (1)

This colorful feature is the Sapphire Pool, also in Biscuit Basin. The “layers” of different depths showed a deeper shade of blue the farther down you look. The orange surrounding the edges of the pool created a great contrast for the photo below! Sapphire pool was once quiet, but the 1959 Hebgen Earthquake caused the feature to turn in to a 150 foot geyser for about a decade, until it doubled the size of its crater, returning it to this boiling pool today.

Temperature: 200-202° F

Size: 18×30 feet

IMG_0533 (1)

This brightly colored pool is actually named the Black Opal Pool, also in the Biscuit Basin.

IMG_0534 (1)

There’s no mistaking this photo as the world famous Old Faithful, in the Upper Geyser Basin! The black storm clouds contrasted well with the white spray and steam of the geyser, making for an awesome black and white finished piece.

IMG_0536 (1)

The photo below of the Firehole River in the Upper Geyser Basin area does a great job of showing not only the bright colors of the thermal features, but also the scale compared to the visitors!

IMG_0539 (1)

Photos are available as prints at https://trentsizemore.com/prints

Hidden Falls and Jenny Lake – May 29

Jenny Lake is a smaller, glacial lake, south of the much larger Jackson Lake. It can be accessed by the Teton Park Road that runs near the base of the Teton Range.

This hike included taking the shuttle boat across Jenny Lake, hiking south and west to Hidden Falls, the back north along the western shore of Jenny Lake.

Huge amounts of snow melt caused these little creeks to become raging and swollen.

IMG_0481

Hiking on this side of Jenny Lake brings you right to the base of the Teton mountain range.

IMG_0485

Wildflowers mixed in with leftover snow banks at the end of May.

IMG_0486

Hidden Falls just barely visible behind thick trees.

IMG_0488

Hiking up a steep rocky trail to great views all around.

IMG_0494

The crystal clear water of the snow melt runs down this tiny creek in to the lake.

IMG_0498

The marmots are shy but still friendly!

IMG_0497

A little creek running straight out of a steep, rocky valley of the Tetons.

IMG_0503 IMG_0505

A much larger creek looks like prime fly fishing territory.

IMG_0522

An odd looking moose hiding in the bushes.

IMG_0524

Follow on Facebook –  Trent Sizemore Photography on Facebook

Subscribe by email – Trent Sizemore Photography Email List

Upper Geyser Basin, Midway Geyser Basin, Fountain Paint Pots – May 27

Getting back to what may be the best national park in the country just couldn’t wait very long. Here are a few photos from my second trip to Yellowstone National Park. This is just a tiny collection of the 10,000+ geothermal features in the area.

Upper Geyser Basin – Old Faithful Area

This first photo is of Shield Spring. Notice how thin the crust is right around the edges of the water. This is why it’s important to stay on the boardwalks, because you can and will fall through if you get too close!

IMG_0412

Castle Geyser is a larger geyser, erupting up to 90 feet every 10-12 hours.

IMG_0413

Crested Pool is one of the more colorful features, with the sudden change from orange to blue. This is one of my favorite features in the Upper Geyser Basin.

Depth: 42 feet

Temperature: 199 F +

IMG_0417 (1)

Belgian Pool was once named Oyster Spring, but was renamed when someone from Belgium fell in and died in 1929.

Depth: ?

Temperature: 151-180 F

IMG_0421

The size and color of Morning Glory Pool, on the north end of the Upper Geyser Basin make it well worth the walk to get there.

Depth: 23 feet

Temperature: 157-162 F

IMG_0455 (1)

Midway Geyser Basin

North of the Upper Geyser Basin is the Midway Geyser Basin. The grounds surrounding Grand Prismatic Spring are painted with more unusual colors than one could possibly imagine.

Depth: 160 feet

Temperature 160 F

Discharge: 550 gallons/minute

IMG_0461

The Firehole River is the final stop for water from many of the parks thermal features.

IMG_0473

Fountain Paint Pots Area

Silex Spring

Temperature: 175 F

IMG_0477

Follow on Facebook –  Trent Sizemore Photography on Facebook

Subscribe by email – Trent Sizemore Photography Email List

Grizzlies on Lunch Tree Hill

Directly adjacent to Jackson Lake Lodge is a short loop trail called Lunch Tree Hill. There are almost always people hiking here, and it would be considered a relatively safe trail, even to hike alone. One evening around 6, a group of people were watching this mother grizzly bear and her two cubs walk around the Willow Flats that is probably 100 feet below the patio at the lodge. When the three bears started walking away from the lodge, the group walked up the hill to stay in front of them for a better view. Eventually the three bears went out of sight below the steep hill. To everyone’s surprise, the bears appeared halfway up the hill, coming straight towards the group of onlookers. The large group split in to two groups, giving the bears enough space to calmly walk by. Being less than 30 yards from these huge grizzlies, this situation could have been much worse, but the momma bear is smart enough to know she is safe from male bears when she’s around the lodge and people.

Follow on Facebook –  Trent Sizemore Photography on Facebook

Subscribe by email – Trent Sizemore Photography Email List

Two Ocean Lake

Now that the road to Two Ocean Lake is open for the season, I drove up to check out the fishing. It was freezing cold and windy, but it looked like some fish were eating off the surface when the wind calmed down. I’ll definitely be going back when it’s warmer!