Tag Archives: 5DSR

November 9, 2019 · 7:31 am

Solitary Geyser

A morning alone with Solitary Geyser, Yellowstone National Park

This pretty geyser is indeed, solitary, sitting all by itself and located a short hike from either the Upper Geyser Basin boardwalk or on the way up or down the trail from Observation Point. This is one of those geysers that people tampered with way back when they didn’t understand geysers or geology that well. They wanted to use the hot spring water so they put a pipe in it, which lowered the water level several feet and caused the then-hot spring to turn into a geyser that erupted every few minutes. They removed the pipe and the water level rose again, but it continued to be a geyser that now erupts every 5-7 minutes (give or take). It’s not a huge geyser, though. It sort of “burbles” and erupts about 3-4 feet (so the nearby sign says). It was difficult to even see it erupt on that chilly day because of all the steam. I could only tell it was going to erupt by watching for ripples in the water in the far left corner of the geyser, which occurred just before that “burble” of an eruption.

Opalescent Pool And Black Sand Basin Landscape

I first visited Black Sand Basin in Yellowstone National Park during the evening on the previous day from this shot. It was overcast and getting dark and I didn’t even notice this little side area next to the entry drive to the parking lot. I didn’t see this until I visited the next morning, a lovely, sunny day. I’ve been reading: TravelBrains’ “Yellowstone Expedition Guide” and learned this interesting fact: the trees you see here are dead, of course. The bottoms of their trunks are white because they absorbed the hot water in the area, which is filled with silica in solution. That silica comes out of solution and is what has colored those trunk bottoms. It’s the first step in petrification of the trees. Oh, and Black Sand Basin gets it’s name from the black obsidian sand grains in the area. Cool, huh?

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Filed under 5DSR, autumn, Canon, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L III, Canon Lens, Geology, National Parks, Photography, Seasons, Travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park

Tagged as 16-35mm, 5DSR, autumn, Black Sand Basin, Canon, geology, geyser, hot spring, National Park, October, Opalescent Pool, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park

October 10, 2019 · 12:23 pm

Artist Paint Pots, Yellowstone National Park

Artist Paint Pots Geothermal Basin with Mount Holmes in the distance, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming

It’s a short walk along a well-trod path to get to the boardwalk beginning the loop around the Artist Paint Pots basin. As I stepped onto the boardwalk, I passed a couple of men talking to each other. Another friend approached and they told him that their wives were off looking at the sights while they remained there, since they were not that enthused about the area. Lo and behold, as I passed the men, their wives returned and one of them said sarcastically “Well, that was a blast.” They were not impressed, either.

I don’t know what those two couples were expecting, but I have a feeling they have not been reading my photo column in the National Parks Traveler, where I urge people to 1) keep their expectations on the low side since it’s likely they will not see exactly what they expect to see, and 2) observe what is around them. Really *look* at where they are and what they see. I am assuming that the couples, like many other people who come to this area, were a little jaded and didn’t stop to think about what they were standing upon: thin crust with a busy geothermal system beneath them. It’s amazing that we can enter a national park that is so geologically active. How many other places in the world can you see so many active geysers, hot springs and fumeroles all in one area? How many other places can you actually hear the hissing of the steam and see the bubbling water and mud pots? I know there are some, but I’ll wager not that many that you can actually get to. When you are someplace like Artist Paint Pots, you are walking beside geysers and hot springs with boiling or near-boiling water.

These couples probably did not appreciate the many colorful hot springs around them (hence the name “Artist Paint Pots”), or the panoramic view that included a snow-iced Mount Holmes in the far distance.

I brought with me the mindset of a geologist and photographer, so I saw beauty everywhere I walked in that small basin. As a matter of fact, that’s what I told a retired gentleman and his wife as he approached the trailhead, with a daughter and active 6-year old in tow. He stopped me and said: “Two questions: how far to get there and is it worth it?” I told him I thought it was worth it but I was seeing everything through a geologic and photographic background. I then told him about the reactions of those two couples. I told him that I’d also seen another couple with their 4-year old child who was managing the walk and the uphill climb to the bridge overlook (which is where I stood to take this photo) with no problems. I said to him that they’d have to judge for themselves as to whether or not the hike and the view were worth it. I certainly thought both were.

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Filed under 5DSR, autumn, Canon, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L III, Canon Lens, Geology, National Parks, Photography, Yellowstone National Park

Tagged as 16-35mm, 5DSR, Artist Paint Pots, autumn, Canon, geology, geothermal, National Park, October, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, travel, wide angle, Wyoming, Yellowstone

September 18, 2019 · 11:05 am

Marymere Falls Framed By Ferns

It’s Waterfall Wednesday! So here’s a photo I took during my recent trip to Olympic National Park. It’s Marymere Falls, an easy .7-mile (one-way) hike on a well-trafficked trail behind the Storm King Ranger Station just a hop and a skip from Lake Crescent Lodge.

I talk about photographing Marymere Falls as well as Sol Duc Falls in my next installment of the Armchair Photography Guide for Olympic National Park, to be published Oct 1st in the National Parks Traveler site, so be on the lookout for Part 2 – The Forests. I mention this now because I’ll be in Yellowstone National Park at that time and don’t know what kind of internet service I’ll have around there.

In the meantime, this shot, taken at the upper level of the overlook, demonstrates the “silky water” technique and making use of the surrounding ferns for natural framing around the photo subject.

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Filed under 5DSR, Armchair Photography Guide, Canon, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L III, Canon Lens, forest, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, nature, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, Washington State

Tagged as 16-35, 16-35mm, 5DSR, August, Canon, ferns, Marymere Falls, National Park, natural frame, Olympic National Park, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, silky water, summer, Washington, Washington State, waterfall, wide angle

September 10, 2019 · 4:28 pm

Kalaloch Beach Afterglow

I was so darned tickled with myself for staying up and capturing the summer sunset on this beach while I was there. I was still wide awake and decided to stick around a little longer. I had a feeling there will continue to be some sort of light show as the sun produced a “last hurrah” of color, and I was right.

I needed my camera on tripod in order to open up the shutter and let the light in. Because the shutter was slower, I might have shaken things up for a blurry photo if I’d handheld the camera. Besides, the slower shutter speed meant the water in Kalaloch Creek (what you see below) would become more “silky.”

The moral of this story is that you should always stay a little longer after sunset. You’ll either get an afterglow like you see here, or you’ll at least photograph the coming of the “blue hour.”

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Filed under 5DSR, Canon, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L III, Canon Lens, National Parks, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, summer, sunset, Travel, Washington State

Tagged as 16-35mm, 5DSR, August, beach, Canon, Kalaloch beach, Kalaloch Creek, National Park, Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, summer, sunset, travel, Washington, Washington State, wide angle

September 5, 2019 · 8:57 am

The Difference Between A Summer Morning And A Summer Sunset

The Difference Between A Summer Morning And A Summer Sunset
Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington

I’ve hammered this in to my National Parks Traveler readers as well as you, I know, but visiting a place more than once, during different times of the day, during different seasons, and/or under different weather conditions can really make a difference in what you see through your camera’s viewfinder.

The first shot was taken around 8:30 a.m. PST. I was just too tired to get up to get a sunrise and I already knew that coastal sunrises along the Olympic Peninsula – at least when staring out in the direction of the sea – are lovely, but not dramatic (at least, not during the time I was there). Sunsets, on the other hand, are spectacular and I’d already gotten sunset shots on two different days at Kalaloch Beach, so I wanted to get a sunset image or two (or a bunch) at a beach with some interesting topography to it. I’d captured images of the actual sunset, and the tide was coming in, so I decided to hike back up the trail to the parking lot. I’d gotten up two-thirds of the way, turned around, and saw the sky an incredible pink-orange color, so I dropped everything and handheld the camera for this shot, taken almost exactly 12 hours later, at 8:32 P.M. PST. That tall piece of rock you see is called Abbey Island.

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Filed under 5DSR, Canon, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L III, Canon Lens, Landscape, National Parks, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, summer, sunset, Travel, Washington State

Tagged as 16-35mm, 5DSR, August, beach, Canon, colorful, morning, National Park, Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, Pacific, Pacific ocean, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, summer, sunrise, sunset, travel, Washington, Washington State

August 20, 2019 · 11:05 am

Tiny People, Big Scenery

I was hiking along the Rim Trail between Sunset Point and Lower Inspiration Point in Bryce Canyon National Park when the summer monsoon clouds started to arrive, providing thunder, lightning and subsequent rain. I captured this shot before hotfotting it back along the trail to the lodge cabins, where I took shelter from the storm.

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Filed under 5DSR, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L III, Canon Lens, Geology, HDR, National Parks, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, Utah

Tagged as 16-35mm, 5DSR, Bryce Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canon, clouds, Inspiration Point, July, monsoon, National Park, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, rim trail, scale and reference, storm, summer, wide angle

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Tag Archives: 5DSR

Solitary Geyser

Opalescent Pool And Black Sand Basin Landscape

Artist Paint Pots, Yellowstone National Park

Marymere Falls Framed By Ferns

Kalaloch Beach Afterglow

The Difference Between A Summer Morning And A Summer Sunset

Tiny People, Big Scenery

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