So Cold, It Almost Feels Like …

… Yellowstone’s West Thumb area, in February! After the last 24 hours, I was beginning to think I was once again in Yellowstone in the winter, where the temperatures can dip well below 0 degrees F!

This post was first published 3 years ago, after a weeklong photo trip to Yellowstone National Park. But with recent frigid temperatures throughout most of the continental US, it just seemed like the right time to re-publish it!

 When we first pulled up to the “warming hut” in the West Thumb area of Yellowstone, we were greeted with amazing light … the morning was very cold (remember, it was -38°F when we got up!). Combining with all the steam from the numerous thermal pools of West Thumb, the light filtering through the trees created a very ethereal atmosphere for us:

Light difusing through the trees and steam at West Thumb (Yellowstone NP)

And fell over our Bombardier snowcoaches:

Light filters through the trees at West Thumb (Yellowstone NP)

Light filters through the trees at West Thumb (Yellowstone NP)

You know it’s good whenever it takes 30 minutes just to leave the parking lot! Tomorrow’s post will go beyond the parking lot and will include some images of the West Thumb thermal pools … quite a sight in these conditions!

Photo Equipment Used:

  • Canon 1D Mark 3 body
  • Canon EF28mm-135mm, f/3.5-f/5.6, IS lens
  • Gitzo #G1258LVL tripod (6x carbon fiber), with Kirk Ent. HD Ballhead
  • ISO 200
  • Aperture f/22
  • Shutter 1/100 sec. – 1/1600 sec.

 

 

Posted in Landscape Photography, Nature Photography, Travel Photography
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