Yellowstone Landscapes - "The whole point of taking pictures is so you don't have to explain things with words." Elliott Erwitt

Hello there!  

Welcome to another installment of my Grand Tetons/Yellowstone National Parks series.  We're almost at the end!  I'm so enjoying reliving all these wonderful memories of my time in these beautiful parks. 

As always, please click the links below to see the rest of the series!

Previously in the Grand Tetons/Yellowstone series:

Jackson Hole, Grand Tetons Day 1, Jenny Lake Campground, Elk Herd

Beautiful Jenny Lake, Foxes and Bears

Lovely Vistas full of Bison and Horses

Mormon Row, Pronghorn Antelope, and Ravens

Wildlife Art, Yellow-bellied Marmot, Colter Bay, and Ground Squirrels

Colter Bay to South Yellowstone

Black Sand Basin and Bison

More Bison, Old Faithful, Biscuit Basin, and Beginning of Artemisia Trail Hike

Hike to Morning Glory Pool! Plus Bison with Red Dogs, Elk, and Coyotes

Grizzly and Wolf Center in West Yellowstone

Fountain Paint Pots and Grand Prismatic Spring

Mama Elk for the Win! Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Surrounds

It's Elk! It's Birds!  It's Mammoth Hot Springs Campground! 

Tour around Mammoth Hot Springs!

I'm going to do things a little differently.  I am going to try a little less verbalizing and let the photos speak for themselves.  Most of them are in the North of Yellowstone under the snow that blanketed the area the night before.  But there are some that I will note the location, etc.  I also want to include some cool quotes.  😺

And like last post, I want to start with a little video.  This time it's a slightly extended but still short video of magical snow falling around me at a few places in the park.  

1. At Slough Creek where the wolf watchers were out in force and everything was green!  Except for some of the watchers cars.
2. Mammoth Chapel.
3. The amazing Roosevelt Arch and North Entrance of Yellowstone.

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”
― Ansel Adams

Undine Falls

“As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing...and get as near the heart of the world as I can.”

– John Muir

"I feel a great regard for trees; they represent age and beauty and the miracles of life and growth."

― Louise Dickinson Rich

I had to stop and take a picture at the 45th Parallel again.  This time with snow!

Sheepeater Cliff's columnar basalt with lichen - so beautiful!

Rustic Falls - side view and head on view.

“The earth is art, the photographer is only a witness.”
― Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Earth from Above

Maybe you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth, but like every American, you carry a deed to 635 million acres of public lands. That's right. Even if you don't own a house or the latest computer on the market, you own Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and many other natural treasures.

John Garamendi

Thanks for going on this journey with me.  See you later!

xoxo

Nikon D600 with Nikkor 28-300 lens

Nikon D7200 with Sigma contemporary 150-600 lens

Birdwatch - The Art of Sandhill Cranes - Cosumnes River Preserve February 2020

Sandhill Cranes are a beautiful, fascinating, awkward-looking bird.  When you catch them in person at dusk, it can be an awe-inspiring encounter.  

I had the perfect opportunity when cruising the back roads of the Cosumnes River Preserve mid-February of 2020.  I drive along these roads from time to time but had never seen a crane here before.  I guess the timing was right as I drove along slowly with my borrowed Olympus camera and 300mm lens in hand, windows down, and heard the familiar sound of cranes flying overhead.  

I quickly pulled over in the misty twilight and saw cranes coming in  to land.  I jumped out and steadied the camera on a fence to take some shots of the lavender-tinted wonderland I found myself in and the cranes did their nightly fly-in to the shallow water for safety from nighttime predators. 

Magical.

xoxo

Olympus E-M1 Mark 11 M.Zuiko 300mm lens

Sunflowers at Sunset - Woodland, California June 21, 2020

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows follow behind you

~Maori proverb

More social distancing with flowers!  This time in Woodland at three of many sunflower fields growing in Yolo County this time of year. I came to see some sunflowers but got sidetracked by a little bird watching place nearby that my co-worker Yvonne had told me about.  More on that in another post. :)

When I finally tore myself away from the Egrets and Herons and made my way to my planned location just a bit up I-5, it was getting dark and the sun had pretty much set.  But the sky was a beautiful orangey-pink, the mountains were blue, and the fields were bright with green and yellow. 

It's a bit late in the season and it's been HOT so a lot of the flowers were going to seed and starting to brown and droop.  But they were still a gorgeous sight to behold. 

I learned a little something from Reddit recently regarding the two different sunflowers seen in the photo below.  

The smaller, multi-clustered flowers (that we sometimes notice on the side of random roads here in California) are the male pollinators.  The tall, strong seed-bearing sunflowers are, of course, the females.  Girl power baby!

You know me and know I have to do a couple "stylized" photos every time.  :-)  To me, there is beauty in every stage of life.  Not always the stereotypical "beauty", but beauty none the less. 

This picture is similar to the first one, I know.  But I just loved the way some sunflowers have their heads held high to catch the last rays of the setting sun.  And this time I found three more closer to me!

More "style"! 

This is the backside of the sunset.  Pro tip:  After the sun has set (or risen), look to the opposite horizon to catch the last bit of the beautiful show of light and color!

Here is another example of the male and female flowers.  This farmer's field had a thick row of male flowers planted between every 10 or so rows of females.  

This is the opposite side of the road.  Strong and beautiful females tower over there male pollinators with the orange Western sky and beautiful trees in the background.  

And this is probably my favorite shot of the day so I saved it for last.  So gorgeous.

Such a peaceful and perfect way to end a Sunday night after a pretty stressful/anxiety-filled week/weekend.  

Till next time.  

xoxo

Sony A350

Note: all photos taken by Jeanette H. (author/photographer) at sunset/blue hour with handheld DSLR at 400 ISO (Sorry for any grainyness). I've learned that the used 300mm zoom lens I bought has a lot of chromatic aberration which sucks to a certain extent (especially with birds and wildlife) but isn't a deal breaker for non-pro photos.

Summertime at Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

In the shadows of stunning Mt. Shasta lies a beautiful National Wildlife Refuge known as the Lower Klamath NWR.  It's an amazing, amazing place to see wildlife and beautiful scenery along with its sister NWR, Tule Lake.  

Before we get started, you can check out my previous posts from Lower Klamath during the Pacific Migration in the Winter and Spring Here and Here!

But in this post, we'll focus on the vistas of the sweeping landscapes that make up this Northern California area and some of the birds that live here.

Such as Great Egret

Every time I'm out here I'm struck by how artful nature is.  Is that a word?  You turn a corner and there's a watercolor painting right in front of you.

Another amazing and eventful day in Northern California.  Be sure to read my next few posts for some "animal closeups" including a beautiful coyote that just loved posing for me!

xoxo

Nikon D600