From September 22nd to October 7th, I was in a state of deep work and focus. Without distractions or competing priorities, I was focusing on what brings me the most joy in life, my photography. I was on a rocky mountain road trip. I explored a beautiful part of the US that I’d never seen before. Along the way losing myself in my work. This is my recipe for a happy photographer.
That happiness resulted is some of my best work ever produced – period. Tag along as we explore the:
Rocky Mountain West
What To Expect
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be publishing a few articles (aiming to be published on Thursdays). Each one will document a different part of the trip that I went on. Additionally, I’ll be attempting to document a few things for you. Such as:
- What I learned about the sunset and sunrise angles out there.
- Trail recommendations and what times I’d recommend doing them.
- What my favorite locations were for photography in each place.
Chapter One: Idaho
Our first stop will be Salmon Idaho – about five and a half hours from Salt Lake City. Along those five and a half hours I experienced every type of weather, sun, snow, storms, and clouds.
The photography was a style of photography I love executing, spur of the moment, unplanned, and reactive. I cherished every minute of it. I followed my intuition, and if a scene spoke to me, I stopped and shot it. Letting the photography flow with no pressure or expectations resulted in some of my favorite work of the trip.
Chapter Two: Montana & Glacier National Park
This second chapter was dominated by hiking. By the time that I left Colombia Falls for Bozeman, I’d hiked 45.7 miles. Even though the distance was long I’d have done it no other way. There was so much beauty to see in the park, but you needed to be able to work for it.
Putting in that work and receiving the views I got as pay off was nothing short of euphoric.
Chapter Three: Grand Teton National Park
The third chapter of this trip was the one I had the highest hopes for. Grand Teton was a park that had been on my list to visit since the summer of 2018. I’d been dreaming about going and I remember drooling at pictures of Jenny Lake as I planned a road-trip that summer in Colorado.
The park delivered in every regard.
The Tetons are an absolutely incredible mountain range, and the valley of Jackson Hole lets you get stunning views of them no matter where you are. Whether that be hiking up into the mountains or driving along the highway in the shadow of the giants. You were always privy to something beautiful in Grand Teton.
Chapter Four: Yellowstone National Park
This was the park I had the least context on going in – and it was the park I spent the least time in. Just a single day – no sunrise or sunset.
The scope of the park made it incredibly hard to photography in a timely manner. It’s distance from where I stayed in the final leg of the trip made it hard to justify driving to for sunrise. When what I really wanted to photograph – the Tetons – were just thirty minutes away.
Conclusion
I hope you follow along as we go through the results of this rocky mountain road trip of mine. If you take what I teach throughout these next few articles to heart and keep them in mind when you visit this part of the country there’s nothing stopping you from getting just as good pictures as mine.
Thanks for reading! See you in the next one.