TWO

I haven't been to the Tetons since I was a little kid and I just loved it there. These tremendous spires just skewer the sky without any warning. There aren't any foothills that roll up the plains, just 7000 feet of in-your-face incline. When I was driving into town, I got there after dark and there was no moon, but it seemed I could feel the mountains to my West, so I pulled the truck off the road, shut off my lights, and stood outside. As my eyes adjusted to the starlight I started to make out the light grey peaks by the light of the Milky Way. I stood there in the cold watching satellites cross the sky and listening to elk bugle until the shivering took over.

Milky Way over the Tetons

I really wanted to get a shot of the Milky Way rising above the peaks, but alas, a Rebel and kit lens just aren't capable without an objectionable amount of noise. I guess I need that 5D II with a 14mm F2.8 after all. Its funny how the light pollution from Driggs is visible with the camera, but when you are there, the sky is soooooo black and the stars are so bright.

This is shot I took in the morning overlooking the Snake River Valley and, of course, the Tetons. I guess I am going to have to figure out how to load the link to a flickr post instead of loading on Blogger directly (like The Beckster recommends). This is just a portion of a 7 shot panorama I did. It is 250MB and has a 20" x 104" print size. I shrank it down and printed it on my large format printer. It is one of my best so far. The colors were so intense. Usually aspens and birch just get this pale yellow to brown, but the colors in the morning just popped when the sun cleared the hills behind me. I almost have to turn down the saturation to make it all look real.

Teton Panorma