A spontaneous trip to Glacier National Park in the summer of 2020 took me through some parts of Wyoming and Montana that I'd never seen before, including the “Hell's Half Acre” roadside stop. Kind of in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, it is a great place to get out and stretch one's legs, and perhaps have a snack or some lunch. This place looks strikingly like the more famous Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Check out my images from there and see if you can tell them apart! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
A spontaneous trip to Glacier National Park in the summer of 2020 took me through some parts of Wyoming and Montana that I'd never seen before, including the “Hell's Half Acre” roadside stop. Kind of in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, it is a great place to get out and stretch one's legs, and perhaps have a snack or some lunch. This place looks strikingly like the more famous Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Check out my images from there and see if you can tell them apart! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
I've been meaning to shoot some images from the Beartooth Highway, on the Wyoming / Montana border, for years. A spontaneous trip to Glacier National Park during the summer of 2020 proved the perfect opportunity to do so. I camped half an hour or so from where I took this photo on my way to Glacier, but missed sunrise at this particular location, so I camped much closer on my return journey. The Beartooth Highway is definitely one of my favorite drives in the US, and with scenes like this doing a fair job of presenting much of what the area looks like, it is easy to understand why. Available in the following sizes (Panorama B): 30x12, 40x16, 50x20, 60x24, 75x30, 75x30 Triptych (3 x 25x30), 90x36, 90x36 Triptych (3 x 30x36), 105x42, 105x42 Triptych (3 x 35x42), 120x48, 120x48 Triptych (3 x 40x48), 135x54 Triptych (3 x 45x54), 150x60 Triptych (3 x 50x60).
Sunrise from the Beartooth Highway
I've been meaning to shoot some images from the Beartooth Highway, on the Wyoming / Montana border, for years. A spontaneous trip to Glacier National Park during the summer of 2020 proved the perfect opportunity to do so. I camped half an hour or so from where I took this photo on my way to Glacier, but missed sunrise at this particular location, so I camped much closer on my return journey and made it here with time to spare. The Beartooth Highway is definitely one of my favorite drives in the US, and with scenes like this doing a fair job of presenting much of what the area looks like, it is easy to understand why. Available in the following sizes (Panorama C): 30x10, 36x12, 48x16, 60x20, 72x24, 90x30, 90x30 Triptych (3 x 30x30), 108x36, 108x36 Triptych (3 x 36x36), 120x40, 120x40 Triptych Triptych (3 x 40x40), 144x48 Triptych (3 x 48x48), 162x54 Triptych (3 x 54x54), 180x60 Triptych (3 x 60x60).
A whole bunch of Glacier National Park was closed during my 2020 visit, but the short and beautiful Avalanche Creek hike (it's less than a mile … more of a stroll than a hike) was not. I went here first thing in the morning and got this shot. Most of the hike is on a boardwalk, which has good and bad implications. On the negative side of things, it makes taking long-exposure photographs from a tripod difficult, because people walking on the boardwalk twenty or more feet away can shake the boardwalk and make images blurry. It was a good thing I was there early, because later in the day, the boardwalk would certainly have been too busy for this shot to even have been possible. As it was, I had to wait something like 15 minutes in order to find the 15 or so seconds I needed to get this photo. But as often is the case in photography, my patience ended up paying off, and I was able to get this great photo that really shows just how blue glacial melt can be! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60, 48x72, 54x80, 60x90
I spent some time watching a group of mountain goats from Glacier National Park's Highline Trail during a summer 2020 trip. They wandered around for a bit, but eventually made their way out of the hot sun and onto some cliffsides, where most of them went to sleep. This one, though, kept wandering, and eventually settled on this great spot from which he was able to survey all the land around him. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60.
Glacier National Park is probably best-known for its (disappearing) glaciers, beautiful lakes, mountain vistas, and wildlife. But one other thing Glacier has to offer, and it's something I've never seen anywhere else, is the assortment of multicolored river rocks found along the shores of Lake McDonald, as well as in and along McDonald Creek. When the rocks are dry, they tend to be a grayish brown color, but when they are wet, their beauty truly shines. Purples, blues, and reds appear like magic. While the composition of this shot was easy, it took a bit more work to capture than one might think. I took this photo along the shores of Lake McDonald, and I had to fill up a jug with water from the lake and spill it on the rocks. It was a hot day, though, so I had to keep running back and forth from the lake to the rocks to keep them wet, because they kept drying off before I was able to get the shot I wanted! Eventually it all worked out, though, and I got this awesome shot. I shot at f/22, which produced the many sunstars seen throughout the photo. Nope, it isn't a filter! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48, 80x54, 90x60.
Glacier National Park is probably best-known for its (disappearing) glaciers, beautiful lakes, mountain vistas, and wildlife. But one other thing Glacier has to offer, and it's something I've never seen anywhere else, is the assortment of multicolored river rocks found along the shores of Lake McDonald, as well as in and along McDonald Creek. When the rocks are dry, they tend to be a grayish brown color, but when they are wet, their beauty truly shines. Purples, blues, and reds appear like magic. While the composition of this shot was easy, it took a bit more work to capture than one might think. I took this photo along the shores of Lake McDonald, and I had to fill up a jug with water from the lake and spill it on the rocks. It was a hot day, though, so I had to keep running back and forth from the lake to the rocks to keep them wet, because they kept drying off before I was able to get the shot I wanted! Eventually it all worked out, though, and I got this awesome shot. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48, 80x54, 90x60.
The Columbian ground squirrels in the area around Glacier National Park's Logan Pass Visitor Center are practically tame. Visitors are discouraged from feeding them, and I believe people are much better about this than when I was a kid - I remember people getting squirrels and chipmunks in National Parks to eat out of their hands. Nonetheless, these animals are used to there being so many people around that they'll scarcely pay you any attention. I saw a kid nearly (accidentally) step on one during this 2020 visit. And this particular squirrel stood on a rock with walking paths 3 feet from him in several directions and just chirped loudly for several minutes, all while people walked right by him. It made for a good picture! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60, 48x72.
There are a lot of fully-established trails in the area around Glacier National Park's Logan Pass Visitor Center, and there are also some that are less crowded, such as the path to Logan Creek Falls. When I visited in the summer of 2020, some of the trails were closed, and others were packed with tourists. In the middle of the day, I didn't feel like dealing with crowds, so I went on the less used path to Logan Creek Falls, where I had this view more-or-less to myself. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60, 48x72, 54x80, 60x90.
The construction of the Logan Pass Visitor Center, at the summit of Glacier National Park's Going to the Sun Road, was completed in 1966, when a lot less visitors made it to this absolute gem of a National Park. These days, it is packed with tourists, and if you want to find a parking spot, you need to arrive early. Fortunately, being a nature photographer, I'm out and about hours before most park visitors are even awake, and was thus able to easily get a parking spot when I visited in the summer of 2020. I knew from previous visits that bighorn sheep frequently visit this parking lot, especially early in the morning. This big guy was one of five or six big males that came down to the parking lot to say hello to all their fans before moving off into the surrounding valleys to begin grazing. I followed them (from a safe distance, of course) and began shooting when the parking lot was safely out of sight. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle A): 10x8, 14x11, 20x16, 24x20, 30x24, 40x30, 50x40.
Going to the Sun Road is a – if not the – highlight of Glacier National Park. There are many pullouts along the 2-lane road that afford incredible views of the surrounding area, such as this one of Paradise Valley. I took this photo shortly after sunrise, with the sun coming behind me, and just beginning to paint the tops of the mountains a super-saturated shade of orange. Available in the following sizes (Panorama B): 30x12, 40x16, 50x20, 60x24, 75x30, 75x30 Triptych (3 x 25x30), 90x36, 90x36 Triptych (3 x 30x36), 105x42, 105x42 Triptych (3 x 35x42), 120x48, 120x48 Triptych (3 x 40x48), 135x54 Triptych (3 x 45x54), 150x60 Triptych (3 x 50x60).
Most of my photography steers away from the abstract, but during a 2020 trip to Glacier National Park, when I was hiking along the shores of McDonald Creek, something caught my eye. I'm still not quite sure what it was, but when I looked at this isolated portion of the creek, I was able to envision it as something more like a painting than a photograph. I used what is called a neutral-density filter (basically sunglasses for a camera) to allow myself to take a long-exposure photo and turn the movement of the rapids into something that looks like a painting. Available in the following sizes (Panorama B): 30x12, 40x16, 50x20, 60x24, 75x30, 75x30 Triptych (3 x 25x30), 90x36, 90x36 Triptych (3 x 30x36), 105x42, 105x42 Triptych (3 x 35x42), 120x48, 120x48 Triptych (3 x 40x48), 135x54 Triptych (3 x 45x54), 150x60 Triptych (3 x 50x60).
Most of my photography steers away from the abstract, but during a 2020 trip to Glacier National Park, when I was hiking along the shores of McDonald Creek, something caught my eye. I'm still not quite sure what it was, but when I looked at this isolated portion of the creek, I was able to envision it as something more like a painting than a photograph. I used what is called a neutral-density filter (basically sunglasses for a camera) to allow myself to take a long-exposure photo and turn the movement of the rapids into something that looks like a painting. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48, 80x54, 90x60.
My 2020 visit to Glacier National Park was, because of COVID, limited to the western portion of the Park. I'd hoped to explore some portions of the Park I'd never visited before, but I guess I'll have to save that for another trip. Fortunately, there's no shortage of things to see and do, even when one is limited to accessing only about half of Glacier, and one of the more easily accessible parts of the western side is Lake McDonald and McDonald Creek. There are beautiful rocks that line the shores and bed of Lake McDonald and McDonald Creek, and they are t wonderful subject for nature photography. I took this photo shooting almost directly downward through a few inches of rapidly moving water in McDonald Creek, and love how abstract and strange-looking it turned out. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
McDonald Creek, in Glacier National Park, ultimately feeds into Lake McDonald, on the western side of Glacier. Along its route, it is by turns smooth and calm, and then fast and turbulent as it comes down over various features. McDonald Falls and Sacred Dancing Cascade (shown here) are the two most easily accessible, and therefore famous, of McDonald Creek's features. Most photographs of Sacred Dancing Cascade tend to zoom in on the cascade itself, which is understandable because it's beautiful on its own. However, for this photo, I wanted to showcase some other aspects of the cascade, namely the blue- and magenta-hued rocks that lie below the cascade. Coupled with the turquoise water, it really makes a lovely composition. Available in the following sizes (Panorama C): 30x10, 36x12, 48x16, 60x20, 72x24, 90x30, 90x30 Triptych (3 x 30x30), 108x36, 108x36 Triptych (3 x 36x36), 120x40, 120x40 Triptych Triptych (3 x 40x40), 144x48 Triptych (3 x 48x48), 162x54 Triptych (3 x 54x54), 180x60 Triptych (3 x 60x60).
One of the most photographed parts of Montana's amazing Glacier National Park is the multi-colored river rocks. Just do an image search for something like “Glacier National Park river rocks” and you'll see what I mean. Or, check out the rest of my Montana photos to see some of my other related photos. Anyway, I'd visited Glacier many times before my 2020 trip, but somehow had never taken any photos of these beautiful rocks. I decided it was time to fix that problem when I visited Lake McDonald at sunrise, and put a polarizing filter on my camera. A polarizing filter allows one to increase or decrease reflections on the surface of water, and I used my polarizer to reduce reflections as much as possible for this photo. Looking at the bottom of the photo, it isn't even apparent that there's water covering the rocks. But as one's eye moves further up the photo, the reflection increases, until it is near 100% reflective by the time the mountains are reached. I love this fading effect. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60, 48x72.
I went on a semi-spontaneous Glacier National Park trip in the summer of 2020. I'd been to Glacier several times before my 2020 trip, but there were several parts of the park I'd not yet visited, and had hoped to do so on this trip. Alas, it was not to be. The Blackfoot Nation, which shares a border with Glacier's east side, closed down access due to COVID concerns. I completely understand this reaction and hold no grudges. Unfortunately, it meant I was limited to visiting the western part of the park, and needed to find a camp spot that would allow me to access this part of the park early in the morning (for sunrise), hopefully while avoiding a drive of an hour or more. Fortunately, Kootenai National Forest shares a border with Glacier's west side, so I found a dispersed camp spot in Kootenai, and this was the view I had during the admittedly short times I was camping there. There's just great stuff all around this part of Montana. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
I went on a semi-spontaneous Glacier National Park trip in the summer of 2020. I'm from northern Colorado, so I had to drive through all of Wyoming, and 90% of Montana in order to reach Glacier. My schedule at the time was fairly wide open, and I wasn't in a rush to make it to Glacier, so I took my time and enjoyed the drive, stopping in several places I'd never visited before, including some National Forest land outside of Seeley Lake, Montana. I stopped at a local visitor center and asked for advice on some day hikes, and one recommendation I got was to check out Morrell Falls. The hike was a relatively easy, 5-mile (round trip) stroll through meadows and a burned down forest. The falls themselves certainly didn't disappoint – my favorite feature was probably the multi-colored river rocks in the stream bed below the falls. They reminded me of the rainbow-colored rocks one finds in and around Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park. This photo would work exceptionally well on a tall, narrow wall. Available in the following sizes (Panorama B): 12x30, 16x40, 20x50, 24x60, 30x75, 30x75 Triptych (3 x 30x25), 36x90, 36x90 Triptych (3 x 36x30), 42x105, 42x105 Triptych (3 x 42x35), 48x120, 48x120 Triptych (3 x 48x40), 54x135 Triptych (3 x 54x45), 60x150 Triptych (3 x 60x50).
I went on a semi-spontaneous Glacier National Park trip in the summer of 2020. I'm from northern Colorado, so I had to drive through Wyoming, and took some great roads, including one of my favorites, the Beartooth Highway, which goes from Yellowstone National Park's northeastern entrance to Red Lodge, Montana. I was in no particular rush to carry on when I made it to Red Lodge, and did some research of places to hike and camp in the area. I decided to go to Alpine, Montana, a tiny community on the shore of East Rosebud Lake in the same mountain range as the Beartooth Highway. There's a lot of good hiking in the area, and while it is remains something of a secret spot that involves a few miles of dirt road to access, it remains fairly undeveloped. I ended up camping along the side of a Forest Service road, and this was the view I had from my van. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
